Author Archives: vhk10

Where’s the audience for Haydn?

Posted on April 10, 2015 by vhk10

Bristol Choral Society’s latest concert was Haydn’s Creation in Colston Hall. We were joined by soloists Helen-Jane Howells, Paul Badley and David Ireland and accompanied by the Bristol Ensemble (I was particularly impressed by their flutes warbling and trilling their … Continue reading →

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different strokes for different folks

Posted on April 9, 2015 by vhk10

I find myself doing something I haven’t really done before – rehearsing the same piece with two different groups of people at the same time. I must have done it a couple of years back with Duruflé’s Requiem, but then … Continue reading →

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a first hearing of the Bath Cantata Group

Posted on April 3, 2015 by vhk10

The Bach Cantata Group perform at least once a year in St. Stephen’s Church very near us but I’d never been to hear them. They gave a concert under the direction of Neil Moore accompanied by an orchestra led by … Continue reading →

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couples in the choir

Posted on March 31, 2015 by vhk10

Most adult choirs contain at least one couple, and some several more. This is usually a positive thing, but there are certain situations where it can be a liability in some ways: a) the conductor’s partner who does the choir … Continue reading →

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The Bachfest 2015

Posted on March 22, 2015 by vhk10

The Bachfest is the descendant of the Bach festivals which were once built around the Chantry Singers, and which has outlived them. My husband went to hear the Academy of Ancient Music under Bojan Čičić playing mostly J. S. Bach … Continue reading →

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Coned off

Posted on March 13, 2015 by vhk10

I’d never been to a performance by Bath Opera although various people I know have been involved with the company. But when they put on Peter Grimes (an opera that they also staged some 20 years ago) I felt I … Continue reading →

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What is it about Hereford Cathedral?

Posted on March 9, 2015 by vhk10

The lead time for booking a visiting choir at a Cathedral gets ever longer. I have been sorting out a week for August 2018 and have booked one of a couple of available weeks in Winchester. A couple of other … Continue reading →

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A chorister watches The Theory of Everything

Posted on March 8, 2015 by vhk10

It’s a strange experience to watch a bio-pic of someone who used to have the singing lesson after yours. Members of Stephen Hawking’s family crossed my path in various ways when I was in Cambridge. I don’t think I ever … Continue reading →

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The Down Gin service

Posted on February 22, 2015 by vhk10

I joined the choir of St. Peter’s Caversham to sing an evensong at Bristol Cathedral. Most of the music was familiar (Clucas responses, with his rather less familiar Lord’s Prayer, Bainton, Bairstow), but the canticles were new to me: Bob … Continue reading →

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Toward the Unknown Region

Posted on February 17, 2015 by vhk10

This piece was only a name to me until I signed up for Bristol Choral Society’s Come and Sing, which this year featured the music of Vaughan Williams. It’s a ‘song’ for choir in a genre which has now gone … Continue reading →

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The wheel turns again?

Posted on February 8, 2015 by vhk10

Back in the early years of the millennium, there was a shortage of choral singers in Bristol, with choirs all fishing in the same limited pool. After some defections and outright poaching, the Brandon Hill Singers could not recruit new … Continue reading →

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an extraordinary corset

Posted on February 8, 2015 by vhk10

Cinecasts of opera performances are popular these days, but I’ve never been to one until last week, when we went to Andrea Chénier, beamed from the Royal Opera House to our local Odeon. I admit to having a soft spot … Continue reading →

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