Author Archives: vhk10

my top 10 moments in the Grande Messe des Morts

Posted on July 3, 2014 by vhk10

@gloschor I spent last Saturday rehearsing Berlioz’ Grande Messe des Morts in preparation for performances in the autumn. I’m still smitten by this piece and present my short list of favourite moments. N.B. I don’t want to imply that the … Continue reading →

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the frivolous time of year

Posted on June 26, 2014 by vhk10

At this season the music I’m asked to sing tends to lighten up a bit. First up was Rossini’s Messe Solennelle with Bristol Choral Society – the first time I’d performed with them in Bristol Cathedral, so there was new … Continue reading →

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At the enthronement

Posted on June 23, 2014 by vhk10

(adapted from an article written for my church magazine) On June 7th I attended the ‘installation’ (rather as if he were a boiler or a modern artwork) of Peter Hancock as Bishop of Bath and Wells. The doors of Wells … Continue reading →

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Trwy’r anialwch

Posted on June 10, 2014 by vhk10

One of the most famous poetic evocations of the Israelites’ journey through the wilderness is in Welsh (look in your hymnbook). So it seemed appropriate to see Moses und Aron in Cardiff, complete with Welsh surtitles. Really though I was … Continue reading →

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after the 2014 Festival

Posted on June 5, 2014 by vhk10

@KirstenTElliott The Bath International Music Festival has been and gone, Alasdair Nicolson’s second and last as Artistic Director. I have been told a fair amount about the last couple of festivals by several people closely involved, but should not repeat … Continue reading →

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inside the Masonic Hall

Posted on May 28, 2014 by vhk10

I’d never been in a Masonic hall before, but Bath’s was used for a series of late-night concerts in the Festival. These were informal, in that you could take your drink into the concert hall and the seats were unreserved. … Continue reading →

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Shopping songs

Posted on May 27, 2014 by vhk10

I was very proud to see my youngest child performing along with others in his class in the Bath Festival in a free lunchtime concert of music written for children by Peter Maxwell Davies and Alasdair Nicolson, the Festival’s director. … Continue reading →

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See Australia!

Posted on May 25, 2014 by vhk10

Some of us in the Erleigh Cantors felt that Tourism Australia should have sponsored our concert at St. Peter’s Earley, because of its potential for subliminal advertising. One piece we performed was Bob Chilcott’s setting of the Ave Maris Stella … Continue reading →

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Violetta’s back-story

Posted on May 19, 2014 by vhk10

One of the most poignant moments in the current (actually 20-year-old) Royal Opera House production of La Traviata comes even before the curtain rises; during the overture, images of 19th-century poverty-stricken girls are projected on it, to suggest Violetta’s origins … Continue reading →

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When our families are broken, when our homes are full of strife

Posted on May 9, 2014 by vhk10

The above text has just been added to the list of inappropriate/tasteless things I’ve sung at weddings (most singers I know have such a list). It was the first line of a verse of a hymn we sang during the … Continue reading →

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Dedicating the Dobson organ

Posted on April 30, 2014 by vhk10

It’s not every day you get to go to a 750th birthday event. I attended the dedication evensong for the new organ in Merton College Chapel in Oxford, at which one of my friends and contemporaries was preaching. The choral … Continue reading →

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Good Friday and Easter 2014

Posted on April 29, 2014 by vhk10

This was actually my first Good Friday singing in the church choir (I’d been away the last two years), and this year the service took the form of Stations of the Cross with musical interludes. There were some new pieces … Continue reading →

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