The day after my excursion to Ross-on-Wye I made a day trip to Cambridge for a choir reunion at my old College, Corpus. This happen occasionally, and I last went to one five years ago. I thought hard about the amount of travel and singing involved in one weekend; but in the end the pull of the music was strong enough to make me go.
The repertoire was Sumsion Responses, Howells’ St Paul’s Service and appropriately enough for Corpus Lo, the Full, Final Sacrifice by Finzi. The old members, plus a spouse or two, had a run-through on our own; the College has now been mixed long enough for such a gathering not to be almost entirely male, unlike some earlier reunions I attended. Then we were joined by current members of the choir for a rehearsal in the stalls with organ and we had a decent congregation for the service itself.
I didn’t get round to contacting my contemporaries in advance, but there were a couple of people from my time, including one of the organ scholars. We had a generous reception (forced indoors by the intermittent heavy rain that day) after the service and also tea in the DoM’s (the senior organ scholar’s in my time) rooms. Each time I return I learn a little more about the history of the Chapel; this time it was that the bequest which paid for Corpus’ organ was originally intended to greatly expand the Chapel, including a cloister! I’m afraid my work on the timeline of the chapel choir’s history hasn’t progressed much recently.
I was also able to catch up with friends from Little St Mary’s Church and meet the newly appointed director of music there, Andrew Reid. He is not entirely new to that church however, as he played its organ for our wedding!