Author Archives: vhk10

Mozartfest 2012 (2): Alisdair Beatson and the Jerusalem Quartet

Posted on December 12, 2012 by vhk10

I went to two more concerts in the Mozartfest. Firstly Alisdair Beatson played a song-inspired programme in the Guildhall. The centrepiece was Schubert’s Wanderer Fantasy. I’m not sure I’d ever heard this live before. It was played with great vigour … Continue reading →

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The Art of Fugue on a Fazioli

Posted on December 8, 2012 by vhk10

We went to hear Angela Hewitt make one of her fairly frequent visits to Bath to give a recital in the Mozartfest. Last time I went she moved some distance from her usual stomping ground of Bach; this time she … Continue reading →

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Singing by numbers

Posted on November 22, 2012 by vhk10

So I’ve had my audition. This choir uses a system I hadn’t encountered before: you are marked by the musical director in various categories and this is distilled into a single score out of 10, which you are told. I … Continue reading →

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Note clusters in Ely

Posted on November 19, 2012 by vhk10

I made a swift return to Ely Cathedral, this time for a weekend of services with the Erleigh Cantors. We weren’t able to do introits and we weren’t at full strength, because it wasn’t half-term for some people, so our … Continue reading →

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Bath gains a music shop

Posted on November 13, 2012 by vhk10

Early last year Bath lost its sheet music shop. Now it is about to regain one, as Music Dynamics are expanding from their base in Stroud and about to open a shop in Broad St. It’s a shame it wasn’t … Continue reading →

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choir emails

Posted on November 12, 2012 by vhk10

I’ve had two opposing experiences with choir emails recently. One was a list created for a concert I was at one time interested in singing in. I received a 6MB message from this list, almost all of it being a … Continue reading →

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Friendship but no food

Posted on October 24, 2012 by vhk10

Last year my family thought making me a ‘Friend’ of the Bath Mozartfest would be a nice birthday present. The privileges included early booking, a free programme and an invitation to the ‘Friends’ and Patrons’ Lunch’, and they thought the … Continue reading →

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at the Exultate Singers 10th anniversary reunion

Posted on October 13, 2012 by vhk10

It was fortunate that this concert was when it was, as almost any other weekend around now would have not allowed me to take part. I was invited back to join in some pieces in the concert in St. James’s … Continue reading →

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Prom 57: a sprint from Ely

Posted on October 13, 2012 by vhk10

Somehow I managed to get away after 4 p.m. evensong at Ely Cathedral, made it to the railway station, leapt onto another train at Cambridge and then arrived at the Albert Hall around 7 o’clock to be there for the … Continue reading →

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a reunion with Cambridge Voices

Posted on September 21, 2012 by vhk10

On the Sunday of my Ely visit, Cambridge Voices (described in their publicity as ‘one of Europe’s finest choirs’!) came to rehearse Bach’s B minor Mass in the Lady Chapel under the direction of Ian de Massini. I dropped in, … Continue reading →

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going up the Octagon

Posted on September 21, 2012 by vhk10

I have never been able to go up the Octagon in Ely Cathedral before, but it is now open to the public on guided tours, and some of us in the Cathedral Chamber Choir seized the chance to do so … Continue reading →

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a Cathedral organist in a village church

Posted on September 11, 2012 by vhk10

The small village of Rumengol in Finistère has no amenities other than a bar and a church. However it’s no ordinary church, as twice a year it holds a pardon (religious festival with processions). The Assumptiontide pardon co-incided with our … Continue reading →

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