Author Archives: vhk10

Gloomy Mahler (1): Prom 72

Posted on October 1, 2017 by vhk10

I happened to have a ticket to London on the day the Vienna Philharmonic under Daniel Harding were performing Mahler’s Sixth Symphony. Just that – the need to fit a 2-hour concert later in the evening meant that even with … Continue reading →

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the season begins

Posted on September 12, 2017 by vhk10

I don’t normally have much of a ‘close season’ for singing. Erleigh Cantors at the end of July are followed by Cathedral Chamber Choir towards the end of August, and then church choir and Bristol Choral resume in the first … Continue reading →

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my Proms début

Posted on August 16, 2017 by vhk10

I don’t take occasions like this for granted. After many years of going to Promenade concerts I was finally on the other side of the stage in the choir stalls as an ‘extra’ with the BBC National Chorus of Wales. … Continue reading →

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#purcelgar

Posted on August 5, 2017 by vhk10

Acknowledgement to Dave Alkan for the hashtag, too good not to take over. When I get to sing in the Prom on Wednesday I expect I’ll want to write about the experience rather than the repertoire, so here are some … Continue reading →

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Bax and Josquin in St Davids

Posted on August 4, 2017 by vhk10

The Erleigh Cantors started out doing day-trips from Reading but have gradually ventured further afield. St David’s was definitely the furthest we’d been, though there are rumours that the choir’s next step might be to conquer the North. And then … Continue reading →

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Durham ups its game

Posted on August 3, 2017 by vhk10

On the Friday night of our visit to St David’s, many of the Erleigh Cantors went to hear the choir of University College, Durham give a recital of ’20th and 21st century music’ in the Cathedral. I was rather expecting … Continue reading →

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I sell my soul to a Prom

Posted on July 15, 2017 by vhk10

I have a long-standing ambition to sing at a Promenade concert, and one of the things that attracted me to Bristol Choral Society was the occasional involvement of its members in these concerts (most recently in 2016 and before that … Continue reading →

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sung once before, long ago (3): the Chichester Psalms

Posted on June 29, 2017 by vhk10

Bristol Choral Society’s final concert of the season was a programme performed to a large audience in Bristol Cathedral. I didn’t know Eric Whitacre’s Five Hebrew Love Songs, an early work originally written as solo songs for his future wife, … Continue reading →

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avoiding the Prayer Fayre

Posted on June 24, 2017 by vhk10

The Cathedral Chamber Choir sang at Wells Cathedral for the weekend of Trinity Sunday. Well, sort of, as on the Sunday afternoon we made way for a ‘prayer fayre’ in the Cathedral and decamped to St Cuthbert’s Church, together with … Continue reading →

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Not for dancing

Posted on June 19, 2017 by vhk10

We didn’t get to very much in this year’s Bath Festival, though the programme was good. In fact apart from ‘Party in the City’ and the Kingswood gig in Green Park Station, it amounted to me going to a couple … Continue reading →

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