Author Archives: vhk10

Confirmation bias

Posted on June 2, 2019 by vhk10

A late-night series of trains got me to Cambridge from Reading a little after midnight, ready for my godson’s confirmation in King’s College Chapel on the Sunday morning, part of a group from King’s College School. The presiding Bishop was … Continue reading →

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an Anglo-Spanish concert in Caversham

Posted on May 27, 2019 by vhk10

The Erleigh Cantors’ May concert this year reunited a number of pieces from recent Cathedral visits, by English and Spanish composers. It wasn’t all familiar territory to me, however. Having missed last July’s weekend in Hereford, I hadn’t previously sung … Continue reading →

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in praise of …. Supraphon

Posted on May 7, 2019 by vhk10

Supraphon is generally agreed to have been the best of the labels originating behind the Iron Curtain. It is very well represented in the LP collection I’m putting on CD, and only partly because of the former owner’s devotion to … Continue reading →

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two Requiems in Winsley

Posted on April 28, 2019 by vhk10

This spring is a time for rediscovering Requiems that I haven’t sung in ages. First it was Mozart, now Howells, which I have only sung once before, in my Cambridge days. (There are other Requiems that have long awaited another … Continue reading →

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one-recording ensembles

Posted on April 16, 2019 by vhk10

I’m slowly working my way through putting another collection of LPs on to CD. Most of them are by famous names, but there are a few recordings which seem to be the only ones, or almost so, made by those … Continue reading →

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in praise of … the hire score

Posted on April 2, 2019 by vhk10

I have a rule of thumb that if it costs no more than twice as much to buy a score as to hire it, I’ll buy. (This seems to happen increasingly often.) There are advantages to singing from a score … Continue reading →

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A Badminton racket

Posted on March 29, 2019 by vhk10

The title was chosen for the sake of the pun, not because of the sort of noise I think we made! I sang at the funeral of a former assistant priest at a church in Bath, who had earlier been … Continue reading →

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this blog’s first Mozart Requiem

Posted on March 21, 2019 by vhk10

It was gratifying to sing once again to a full Cathedral for Bristol Choral’s most recent concert. Our first half was a piece I’d never sung before: Handel’s Dettingen Te Deum. I recall this being quite popular on concert programmes … Continue reading →

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a view of the marina

Posted on March 5, 2019 by vhk10

The song room at Christchurch Priory must have one of the nicest views of all: across to the inlet of the river Stour where there is a marina full of yachts. I’d never been to the Priory (or indeed the … Continue reading →

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a coachload come to the Bachfest

Posted on February 25, 2019 by vhk10

Stile Antico’s concert at the 2019 Bach Festival in Bath was very well attended. I noticed a coach outside St Mary’s Church afterwards to take people away, and have learned that some local tour companies block-book at popular concerts. This … Continue reading →

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an icy trip to the Abbey

Posted on February 9, 2019 by vhk10

I picked my way through the icy and barely thawed streets to go and sing evensong at Bath Abbey with the choir of St Peter’s Caversham, visiting for the day. As in October, we were in temporary stalls in the … Continue reading →

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a new chapter for the South West Festival Chorus

Posted on January 26, 2019 by vhk10

I used to sing quite regularly with this choir, which puts on ‘all-comers’ concerts preceded by intensive rehearsal twice a year. But I haven’t done so since 2013. I dropped out partly because various friends no longer sang in the … Continue reading →

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