A lot of choirs have programmed Parry’s I was glad in concerts around the time of the Platinum Jubilee, and it’s been natural to include the often-omitted ‘Vivat’s’, as the Erleigh Cantors did this year in their concert at St Peter’s Earley. The anthem does work better with them, as there is otherwise a rather abrupt key change.
This was not the only big sing in the concert, as I renewed my acquaintance with Bruckner’s Ecce Sacerdos Magnus, performed as part of a sequence of his motets. Previously I’d sung it back in my student days – I’ve never done it with the trombones, only organ.
We brought out some pieces from the recent Bristol weekend: the Soler Magnificat, our commission from Andrew Millington and the Nunc from Richard Shephard’s Salisbury service. Another piece came from a Cathedral weekend I missed: John Tavener’s Hymn to the Trinity, which was originally written for a choir I used to sing for, the Cambridge Taverner Choir. I missed being in the premiere by five years or so.
We did some earlier pieces too, including Gibbons’ Hosanna to the Son of David and The King shall Rejoice by Handel (another big sing – I suppose it goes with pieces written for royalty). Not to forget Stanford’s three Latin motets, which will reappear in another post shortly.