Author Archives: vhk10

a Facebook challenge

Posted on April 16, 2017 by vhk10

I found this list of categories on a friend’s Facebook page and feel moved to add my own contribution. I suspect I will have to duck as people read it. It runs as follows: Opera I hate: Arabella Opera I … Continue reading →

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sung once before, years ago (1): Mozart’s C Minor Mass

Posted on April 6, 2017 by vhk10

As my bucket list of the works I have never done and want to do is shortened, I find that in the next few weeks I’m revisiting several pieces I have sung before but only once, and that not recently, … Continue reading →

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Flats into sharps at Gloucester

Posted on March 18, 2017 by vhk10

Rather on the spur of the moment I decided to join a singing day at Gloucester Cathedral, organised by Gloucester Choral Society and featuring four settings of the Evening Canticles. It was a rare chance to sing this repertoire with … Continue reading →

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Sharps into flats at Salisbury

Posted on March 5, 2017 by vhk10

After a gap of a few years, I rejoined Peterborough Chamber Choir for a weekend in Salisbury Cathedral (which I also hadn’t visited for a few years). The highlight of this weekend was another chance to sing Howells’ evening canticles … Continue reading →

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a command performance

Posted on March 4, 2017 by vhk10

At Bath Opera’s Beatrice & Benedict I felt as if the performance had been laid on for my benefit. When I bought my ticket I chose a seat in the middle of the second row next to some that had … Continue reading →

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why go on foreign choir tours?

Posted on February 8, 2017 by vhk10

I haven’t actually been on many choir tours overseas. I like singing and I like travel, but I don’t necessarily enjoy mixing the two, because on a choir tour one’s free time and opportunity to explore and meet local people … Continue reading →

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Breaking Free

Posted on February 1, 2017 by vhk10

I was one of those who were concerned about the ‘dumbing down’ of Radio 3. (My personal pet hate being the long life stories of listeners that are phoned in during the morning drivetime slot. I’m just not interested in … Continue reading →

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why I avoid Spem

Posted on January 28, 2017 by vhk10

2017 began with an unexpected (I was replacing someone who had to work that day) trip to St Cuthbert’s, Wells, to join a choir specially convened to rehearse sing Tallis’ Spem in Alium informally as a birthday celebration. I have … Continue reading →

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review of the year – 2016

Posted on January 24, 2017 by vhk10

And what a year it was. I sang in the Three Choirs Festival Chorus. I sang lots of choral masterpieces (and Carmina Burana) for the first time. I made my débuts in several new venues, sang before a member of … Continue reading →

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A Cathedral Christmas

Posted on January 23, 2017 by vhk10

I don’t think I’ve ever spent Christmas within easy reach of a Cathedral before. But this year I managed it by staying just outside St David’s, with a 10-minute stroll through some lanes to the Cathedral. I went to three … Continue reading →

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a lot of carol singing

Posted on January 12, 2017 by vhk10

I got through quite a lot of carols and Christmas hymns this year. We had the usual Advent and Christmas carols services at church, and the Christmas one brought some new pieces: Philip Stopford’s setting of the Coventry Carol and … Continue reading →

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Messiah back on the book

Posted on January 12, 2017 by vhk10

The annual Bristol Choral Society Messiah came round again. The choir started singing the piece from memory while Adrian Partington was musical director, building it up with a few more choruses each year. With a change of conductor and an … Continue reading →

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