Author Archives: vhk10

après l’entracte, le Déluge

Posted on December 9, 2005 by vhk10

Last Saturday I joined the Chandos Singers again for a programme of French (composer or language) secular music (nice to have a concert in December that isn’t taken over by Christmas). I’d never sung any of it before. I say … Continue reading →

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what’s the choir called?

Posted on December 2, 2005 by vhk10

From time to time I’m recruited to a performance at a sufficiently late stage that I don’t find out the name of the group I’m singing with till the day! This happened last Saturday when I joined the Marshfield Bach … Continue reading →

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Mozartfest 2005 (2)

Posted on November 25, 2005 by vhk10

I went to hear the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson trio in the Guildhall. This concert made me realise that with some famous exceptions my knowledge of the piano trio repertoire is very limited and there is lots of wonderful stuff that is unfamiliar. … Continue reading →

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Mozartfest 2005 (1)

Posted on November 18, 2005 by vhk10

How much alcohol is there in a Mozartkugel? I had to ponder this question when about to buy one for my daughter as an interval treat. (Although there is some rum or similar flavouring, I suspect that flavouring is all … Continue reading →

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performing in costume

Posted on November 10, 2005 by vhk10

A trip to Vienna and Venice last month showed up something common to the musical lives of those two places: a profusion of concerts in period costume. In Vienna this usually means the time of Mozart (I expect next year … Continue reading →

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casing the joint at Exeter

Posted on November 4, 2005 by vhk10

As two years ago, the Erleigh Cantors’ autumn half-term venue anticipates that of the Cathedral Chamber Choir for the following summer. I had the usual transport problems as at Winchester and Lichfield, to say nothing of Sheffield, in past years: … Continue reading →

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choir folders and keeping a place

Posted on November 2, 2005 by vhk10

I’ve had to take time out from choirs for the birth of children and each time this has raised the questions of whether I should return to the one I was in before, or indeed whether I would be able … Continue reading →

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What brings people here?

Posted on October 21, 2005 by vhk10

I did some analysis of the apache logs for this site to see what search terms had led people here. The commonest search was for guitar chords to The Wheels on the Bus. I’ve put such seekers out of their … Continue reading →

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planning ahead

Posted on October 10, 2005 by vhk10

Over the last couple of weeks I’ve been trying to plan some singing engagements for the next few months. Two fixtures I haven’t sung in recently may reappear: a Requiem in Paddington on All Souls’ Day and Good Friday in … Continue reading →

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two children’s books

Posted on October 6, 2005 by vhk10

Among various books which have been given to the children by an American friend are a couple with a musical theme. Opera Cat is a preposterous tale about a cat, Alma, who belongs to a Milanese opera singer, Madame SoSo. … Continue reading →

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Webern nights

Posted on September 25, 2005 by vhk10

I made a belated first visit to the Wiltshire Music Centre recently to hear the Doric String Quartet, the Centre’s quartet in residence. The Centre has a lovely clear acoustic, though the interior of the concert hall is very spartan. … Continue reading →

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the missing church choirs of Manchester

Posted on September 16, 2005 by vhk10

In a previous post I described what happened when I tried to join a chamber choir in Manchester in the mid-1990’s. To summarise, there seemed to be a great shortage of places in such choirs, at least for sopranos. Now … Continue reading →

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