Author Archives: vhk10

a quiet June/July

Posted on June 24, 2009 by vhk10

I seem to have been going to concerts more than performing in them. This part of the year is quieter than usual and there are various reasons, among them a couple of concerts I might have sung in and didn’t. … Continue reading →

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National composers

Posted on June 24, 2009 by vhk10

I can’t get much of a musical angle on my recent short trip to Norway. I didn’t for example see the new opera house in Oslo or attend a church service (this country provides plenty of work for organists). Another … Continue reading →

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the LSO Chamber Ensemble

Posted on June 7, 2009 by vhk10

The day after my trip to the South Bank, I was back in Bath to hear Nikolaij Znaider and the LSO Chamber Ensemble play two string sextets: Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht and Brahms’ first sextet. I heard the Schoenberg when it … Continue reading →

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City of Dreams

Posted on June 7, 2009 by vhk10

I was back at the Royal Festival Hall on May 28th for another programme combining Berg and Mahler, in this case the Violin Concerto (with Christian Tetzlaff as soloist) and the Sixth Symphony, conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen. I last heard … Continue reading →

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Some concerts from the 2009 Bath Festival

Posted on June 4, 2009 by vhk10

I will mention these briefly, as I passed up the opportunity to go because of a residual tickly cough, and let others in the family hear them instead. First up were the Jerusalem Quartet, playing Haydn Op. 77/1, Bartók’s fourth … Continue reading →

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the Festival opening night

Posted on June 3, 2009 by vhk10

Various family members were involved in this and I found myself dashing all over town to keep up. It began by watching, and then following, my son in the procession of children carrying their artwork on a ‘sea’ theme down … Continue reading →

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MusicFest, Oxford and WNO

Posted on May 29, 2009 by vhk10

The Bath International Music Festival has started – not that it’s easy to tell if you walk around Bath. Apart from four banners decorated by children hanging on the south side of the Abbey, I’ve seen no street decorations at … Continue reading →

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my Assembly Rooms fantasy

Posted on May 26, 2009 by vhk10

I can’t go to a concert in Bath’s Assembly Rooms without imagining what it would be like to swing on one of the large chandeliers that hang in the middle of the room. How heavy would you have to be … Continue reading →

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Kathleen Ferrier 1912-1953: A Memoir

Posted on May 17, 2009 by vhk10

ed. Neville Cardus. I think this book must have sold in large numbers (the proceeds from sales went towards the Kathleen Ferrier memorial scholarships), because it is often to be found in second-hand shops. My copy was the 9th impression … Continue reading →

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Kodály and Fauré at St Stephen’s Lansdown

Posted on May 12, 2009 by vhk10

This church is a local landmark, but I haven’t sung in it for a long time (previous visits were to sing Holy Week devotional works with aggregations of local church choirs). I returned to augment A Handful of Singers (conducted … Continue reading →

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the view from choir 8

Posted on April 28, 2009 by vhk10

I’ve written before about singing in Spem in Alium, I admit partly to see if it resulted in an invitation to sing the work in Tallis’ anniversary year of 2005. But I had to wait until now, with a performance … Continue reading →

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10 < x < 40

Posted on April 21, 2009 by vhk10

I spent a chunk of the weekend rehearsing Tallis’ Spem in Alium, and as I did so, I realised how very many more parts it has than any other piece of English Tudor church music (I am aware of its … Continue reading →

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