Author Archives: vhk10

the Great Service

Posted on October 20, 2019 by vhk10

Long-term readers of this blog will know that Byrd’s Great Service of evening canticles has long been on my wishlist of church music that I’d never sung. In the usual way, after years of waiting, and just as I was … Continue reading →

Posted in singing - other | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Mahler meets Mr Profile

Posted on October 8, 2019 by vhk10

The recent work on our church organ was shown off in an inaugural recital by David Briggs, who also performed on it after a major rebuild a few years ago. The first part consisted of the well-known Toccata and fugue … Continue reading →

Posted in film | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

my Prom for 2019

Posted on September 28, 2019 by vhk10

I try to get to at least one Promenade concert every year, and this year picked a Sunday evening concert with a predominantly East European programme. This was the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra conducted by Ilan Volkov. I chose it … Continue reading →

Posted in going to concerts | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

a belated return to Truro

Posted on September 20, 2019 by vhk10

Truro was one of the first Cathedrals that I performed in, but that was a one-off: a concert I sang on tour with the Exon Singers. I’d never sung a service there until I returned with the Cathedral Chamber Choir … Continue reading →

Posted in singing at services | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

My first Tridentine Mass

Posted on August 30, 2019 by vhk10

This summer we went to Austria, my first visit there which did not include a stay in Vienna. We were in the far west of the country, and the local church is one of a few dozen in Austria which … Continue reading →

Posted in going to services | Tagged | Leave a comment

Steal away

Posted on July 30, 2019 by vhk10

Not the spiritual this time, though I wish it had been. On my railway journey to sing with the Erleigh Cantors at Liverpool Cathedral, my overnight bag was stolen from the train between Bristol and Birmingham. (Memo to Cross Country … Continue reading →

Posted in singing at services | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

In the beginning

Posted on July 12, 2019 by vhk10

Bristol Choral Society’s 2018-19 season, themed around ‘War and Peace’, ended with reflection on hope and new beginnings in Bristol Cathedral. I’d never sung (or I think even heard) Copland’s In the Beginning before. It’s a setting of the Genesis … Continue reading →

Posted in singing in concerts | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

the hangover orchestra

Posted on June 28, 2019 by vhk10

A Dutch string orchestra, named after the French translation of a German expression meaning a sickie taken as a result of a weekend hangover. This is the Lundi Bleu orchestra which gave a concert in church as part of a … Continue reading →

Posted in going to concerts | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

my Bath Cantata Group début

Posted on June 12, 2019 by vhk10

The Bath Cantata Group has for years rehearsed near my home, and since a change of conductor a few years ago, I’ve taken more interest in its concerts. When I heard they were doing The Kingdom, I made some enquiries … Continue reading →

Posted in singing in concerts | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

a free ticket to the Festival

Posted on June 10, 2019 by vhk10

The Bath Festival 2019* rather passed me by, though I made the usual excursion to the opening-night gig in Green Park Station. But we did get some free tickets (courtesy of a member of Bath Cantata Group) to a midday … Continue reading →

Posted in festivals, going to concerts | Leave a comment

no more anachronistic absinthe

Posted on June 4, 2019 by vhk10

I haven’t been to the Royal Opera for a while, and took the opportunity to break my return journey from Cambridge to catch the opening night of the revival of their production of Andrea Chénier. The closing days of the … Continue reading →

Posted in going to operas | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Shostakovich’s afternoon in Corpus

Posted on June 3, 2019 by vhk10

Still in Cambridge on the Monday, I had the Rare Books Room of the University Library almost to myself while I consulted back numbers of the Letter of the Corpus Association for information about Corpus chapel choir. I am trying … Continue reading →

Posted in choirs | Tagged , | Leave a comment