Author Archives: vhk10

Handel in the hymnbook and out

Posted on January 20, 2004 by vhk10

It is at this time of year that I wonder ‘What is it about the hymn Brightest and best that attracts tunes with awkward intervals?’. What I think of as the standard tune, ‘Epiphany’, is straightforward enough. But I have … Continue reading →

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Westminster Abbey (2)

Posted on January 12, 2004 by vhk10

On January 2nd most of us were back again, this time for a service where I’d sung neither canticles nor anthem before (a rare thing!). Our canticles were Stanford in F. On singing them I realised why I hadn’t done … Continue reading →

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Westminster Abbey (1)

Posted on January 7, 2004 by vhk10

On New Year’s Day/Jan 2nd I was singing Evensong in Westminster Abbey with the Cathedral Chamber Choir. Our programme for the first service was especially appealing to me: the Gibbons 2nd service and Gibbons’ anthem ‘See, see the Word is … Continue reading →

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my musical resolutions for 2004

Posted on December 31, 2003 by vhk10

a) to sing some more things on the wishlist b) to get to sing at last with the Bath Festival Chorus c) to sing in at least one new Cathedral. As I have bookings for Gloucester and Sheffield, this resolution … Continue reading →

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homegrown CDs

Posted on December 29, 2003 by vhk10

Just before Christmas I received something I’d forgotten all about – a CD of some of the music I sang at Salisbury in August. It’s now much easier to produce short runs of CDs at a sensible price than it … Continue reading →

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a radiophonic Christmas

Posted on December 26, 2003 by vhk10

Like many people, I got a digital radio for Christmas. It won’t really increase the number of classical music channels I can receive, but it will allow me to hear what there is with better quality sound anywhere in the … Continue reading →

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9 lessons and the Pump Room

Posted on December 22, 2003 by vhk10

The Chantry Singers concert in the Pump Room happened on Saturday night. Despite fears about the ever-increasing number of Christmas concerts by other choirs (at least 3 others in the area that night), it more or less sold out. Vocally … Continue reading →

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Il Trovatore at the Hippodrome

Posted on December 19, 2003 by vhk10

I went to hear ‘Il Trovatore’ at the Bristol Hippodrome last week, done by the Welsh National Opera. WNO doesn’t have the 4 best singers in the world that this opera is said to require, but the principals were all … Continue reading →

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cutting the Messiah

Posted on December 12, 2003 by vhk10

On Saturday I went to hear the Bath Choral Society perform the Messiah in Bath Abbey. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard anyone else sing this work live before as I get to perform it myself every three years or … Continue reading →

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Bath Abbey

Posted on December 2, 2003 by vhk10

The Rector of Bath Abbey, Simon Oberst, has just resigned with immediate effect. I can’t comment further on this but I am sorry to see him go and I hope it doesn’t take as long to find a new Rector … Continue reading →

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John Rutter

Posted on November 28, 2003 by vhk10

Chantry Singers are doing 3 pieces by John Rutter in our concert. As someone once said to me ‘We don’t have Christmas-tide any more – it’s Rutter-tide’. I’m not a huge fan (there’s only so much ‘oo’ and ‘ah’ ing … Continue reading →

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things I’d like to sing (1)

Posted on November 21, 2003 by vhk10

I haven’t much time this week, so I’m posting a list of pieces of church music which I’d really like to sing and which I’ve been sending to the conductors of some of the choirs I sing in when they’ve … Continue reading →

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