Author Archives: vhk10

Requiem (3): a new one

Posted on April 14, 2022 by vhk10

The third Requiem of the spring was a premiere performance of a work by Richard Gabe, a member of the choir at church and connected by marriage to a late friend of mine. Like the Rutter it mixed some words … Continue reading →

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Requiem (2): Fauré

Posted on March 30, 2022 by vhk10

A week on: another Requiem and another setting of Psalm 23. This was Gloucester Choral Society’s double-bill of Fauré and Stanford in Gloucester Cathedral. I would have liked to have illustrated this post with another in the sequence of windows … Continue reading →

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Requiem (1): Rutter

Posted on March 26, 2022 by vhk10

Somehow I found myself singing three concerts with a Requiem in, within four weeks. The first was the return of CanZona (I sang in their last concert in December 2019) to perform Stainer’s Crucifixion and Rutter’s Requiem. I sang the … Continue reading →

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the sounding of thy bowels

Posted on March 24, 2022 by vhk10

The phrase in the title used sometimes to be replaced by other words in performances of O Lord look down from heaven by Battishill, but not when I heard Merton College choir sing it at evensong in Bath Abbey earlier … Continue reading →

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no raffle at Onegin

Posted on March 20, 2022 by vhk10

Almost the last musical event I attended in before lockdown was a Bath Opera performance, and two years on it was time for another, Eugene Onegin. I’ve been to three performances of this – one a few years ago at … Continue reading →

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m=approx 365(1-exp(-N/365))+1

Posted on March 2, 2022 by vhk10

It was my birthday earlier this week and in the evening I went to choir. Every few weeks on average this particular choir sings ‘Happy Birthday’ to one of its members, and I wondered whether this happened for any choir … Continue reading →

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no Tenebrae at the Bachfest

Posted on February 23, 2022 by vhk10

We had tickets to hear Tenebrae at the Bath Bachfest, but the concert was cancelled as it proved impossible for the choir to reach Bath on the day when Storm Eunice struck. I was not the only person in Bath … Continue reading →

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Francis Jackson and the missing anthems

Posted on February 6, 2022 by vhk10

I really thought that Francis Jackson might be immortal, but sadly he wasn’t. I have sung a fair amount of his music and have been struck by his liking for fourths. His Communion in G was a staple at my … Continue reading →

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a Epiphany carol service

Posted on February 5, 2022 by vhk10

This was a new development at Bath Abbey and the Chamber Choir was singing. One novelty for me The Magi’s Dream by James Whitbourn, better known to me as a producer of Choral Evensong broadcasts, with words by Robert Tear, … Continue reading →

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a review of 2021

Posted on January 2, 2022 by vhk10

For obvious reasons most of my musical activity in 2021 was concentrated in the latter part of the year, and in the autumn I became almost ridiculously active (at one point I had 4 rehearsals on successive days in 4 … Continue reading →

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