After my awful experience with the toaster last time, I made sure that the programme for the Bristol University Singers’ concert was unaccompanied. They interleaved Frank Martin’s Mass for double choir with Tallis’ Lamentations of Jeremiah, in a demanding programme of some 50 minutes of continuous singing.
I have never sung the Martin, although I have been in choirs which have sung it, or which could sing it (I think it would be a lot easier to do if some choir members had performed the piece before). As a result, I associate mainly it with my godson’s christening on an Easter Day in King’s College Chapel. The main difficulty seems to be the rhythmic complexity. Apart from this piece, Martin’s music seems to have disappeared from the repertoire these days, or are there other compositions I’ve missed?
The Tallis came off rather less well. This piece juxaposes beautiful mellifluous music, including that wonderful monotone, with a text describing total devastation. I felt the words needed more emphasis here. I suspect the Martin had taken up most of the rehearsal time and effort.
Incidentally this concert was very well attended, so much so that the programmes ran out. The programme notes for these concerts are well researched and worth reading, so fortunately I was able to find a copy afterwards that had been left behind.