Author Archives: vhk10

2009 and 2010’s resolutions

Posted on December 31, 2009 by vhk10

I have to admit that 2009 was a quieter year than I’d have liked on the vocal front. There were some highlights: I revisited Spem in Alium for the first time in a long while, and though between New Year … Continue reading →

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Alex Ross, The Rest is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century

Posted on December 22, 2009 by vhk10

Cross-posted from my other public blog, Egg and Dart. I’m not going to attempt a systematic review, as those can be found elsewhere and in any case I’m unfamiliar with some of the territory Ross covers in his survey of … Continue reading →

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Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland

Posted on December 21, 2009 by vhk10

I don’t feel that the Advent/Christmas season has properly started unless I’ve played a CD that I was given a few years ago. It contains Bach’s Advent cantatas BWV36, BWV61 and BWV62 nicely performed by Collegium Vocale Gent and Philippe … Continue reading →

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in the gallery – or not?

Posted on December 15, 2009 by vhk10

I went to hear Bath Minerva Choir conducted by Gavin Carr perform their seasonal concert, An English Christmas, in St Swithin’s Church, Walcot. This was the first time I’d been to a concert in this church (I gather that they … Continue reading →

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Te Deum Laudamus

Posted on December 12, 2009 by vhk10

Two settings of this text framed the Chandos Singers’ most recent concert in St. Bartholomew’s, Oldfield Park. We started with Haydn’s Marie-Thérèse setting, which was actually a suggestion of mine when we were looking for a piece to complete the … Continue reading →

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a return to Puccini

Posted on December 10, 2009 by vhk10

The first opera I ever saw was Tosca (in a Glyndebourne touring production in Oxford). Since then I haven’t been to a performance of any opera by Puccini, until WNO’s Butterfly. This is clearly the year of the monochrome opera, … Continue reading →

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some plans for 2010

Posted on November 23, 2009 by vhk10

We have now sorted out a weekend visit for the Cathedral Chamber Choir in 2010. Over the Low Sunday weekend we will be at Sherborne Abbey. Their bell-ringers seem to move in as soon as the Abbey choir takes a … Continue reading →

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Bath Mozartfest 2009

Posted on November 21, 2009 by vhk10

Between us we attended four concerts at this year’s Bath Mozartfest. There were quite a few others we might have gone to, including Mozart’s Requiem in Bath Abbey, which some people I know were singing in and which caused me … Continue reading →

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carillons

Posted on November 13, 2009 by vhk10

Our half-term excursion to the Netherlands didn’t include any musical performances, but I did notice one musical aspect of Dutch life; the carillon melodies played by church clocks. In town centres you never seemed to be very far from a … Continue reading →

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plainchant in Winchester

Posted on November 10, 2009 by vhk10

The weekend after Salisbury I was in Winchester Cathedral with the Erleigh Cantors. I don’t know whether this was a deliberate choice, but several pieces we sang were used or were inspired by plainchant. These included Naylor’s Evening Canticles in … Continue reading →

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follow the Vann

Posted on October 27, 2009 by vhk10

I rejoined the Peterborough Chamber Choir after a gap of a couple of years for a weekend in Salisbury Cathedral. We began with a Weelkes evensong which paired his Short Service with Alleluia, I heard a voice. I have the … Continue reading →

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another memorial service at Merton

Posted on October 16, 2009 by vhk10

I wrote earlier in the year about a memorial service I went to in Oxford. I was back again on Saturday for another such service, this time commemorating a contemporary and friend of mine who died before his time. We … Continue reading →

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