Author Archives: vhk10

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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Bath Abbey in December

Posted on December 23, 2021 by vhk10

To complete the picture of what I was up to in December, I sang more services with the Bath Abbey Chamber Choir. Almost all the music the choir has sung this term has been already known to me, but an … Continue reading →

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three carol services and a wedding

Posted on December 22, 2021 by vhk10

After the Christmas Oratorio at the beginning of December I didn’t have any more Christmas concerts, but I had more carol services than usual: Advent, a special one on behalf of the local hospital, and the church Christmas one (which … Continue reading →

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my first performance of the Christmas Oratorio

Posted on December 21, 2021 by vhk10

Somehow I’d managed to miss doing more than odd movements of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio. Apart from the first chorus in isolation in a New Cambridge Singers December concert many years ago, and the chorale which turns up in Carols for … Continue reading →

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RIP Malcolm

Posted on December 14, 2021 by vhk10

I was sorry to hear of the death of Malcolm Hill for whom I used to sing in the Chandos Singers. In the half-dozen years I was in the choir I sang a huge number of different pieces from outside … Continue reading →

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Front-row for 2 × 4 Seasons

Posted on December 11, 2021 by vhk10

Thanks to our association with a sponsor of the concert, we were offered front-row seats in Bath Abbey for Bath Minerva Choir and Bath Philharmonia presenting two cycles of the four seasons. The first part was the familiar Vivaldi, with … Continue reading →

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as long as the sun and moon endureth

Posted on December 9, 2021 by vhk10

These were rather appropriate words in our psalm at evensong in Bath Abbey today. An installation consisting of a large suspended model of the Moon has appeared in Bath Abbey, similar to the one of the Earth that was doing … Continue reading →

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