Category Archives: category-defying

music in the Eye

Posted on October 3, 2018 by vhk10

When we get Private Eye every fortnight, one of the first pieces I read is the Music and Musicians column. It isn’t that easy to find as it wanders around the magazine, usually in the front matter, next to Ad … Continue reading →

Posted in category-defying | Leave a comment

2017 in review

Posted on January 14, 2018 by vhk10

2017 was a much quieter year musically than 2016, though not uneventful. The most notable single event was that I fulfilled my ambition to sing in a Promenade concert. A rather unusual programme, but it was well received. I am … Continue reading →

Posted in category-defying | 1 Comment

another calendrical plea

Posted on December 30, 2016 by vhk10

I made this request at the end of 2005 and here it comes again. Every year I buy a calendar with photographs of British Cathedrals. The format has varied – perhaps they haven’t all been produced by the same publisher … Continue reading →

Posted in category-defying | Tagged | 2 Comments

what has this blog achieved & a shocking admission about Bath

Posted on July 20, 2016 by vhk10

It’s now a significant anniversary of when I moved to Bath, and I’m looking back on how this blog (which I’ve kept for most of that time) has fitted in. Has it achieved what I hoped for, apart from the … Continue reading →

Posted in category-defying | 1 Comment

Baroque pitch

Posted on March 22, 2016 by vhk10

Our performance of the St Matthew Passion was at ‘baroque pitch’ i.e. a semitone low. I found this hard to get used to, and have been trying to work out why, given that in 2012 and 2013 I performed Messiah … Continue reading →

Posted in category-defying | Leave a comment

rejecting the proof reader

Posted on March 9, 2016 by vhk10

Last year I was approached by a proof reader offering me their services (assisted by a special app which speeded up the process). As a sample of what they and their app could do, they pointed out a couple of … Continue reading →

Posted in category-defying | Tagged | Leave a comment

You know you’ve just sung the Sea Symphony when…

Posted on January 25, 2016 by vhk10

… you cannot see the ‘Following’ button on Twitter without hearing the end of the Scherzo.

Posted in category-defying | Tagged | Leave a comment

Windows for Finzi

Posted on December 7, 2015 by vhk10

A set of 8 stained-glass windows by Tom Denny commemorating Gerald Finzi will be installed in Gloucester Cathedral next June. I was given a flyer at choir practice, but I think this has not been widely publicised and deserves to … Continue reading →

Posted in category-defying | Tagged , | Leave a comment

remembering at All Souls’ tide

Posted on November 8, 2015 by vhk10

It’s the season of All Souls (I sang Fauré’s Requiem at a service), and sadly my thoughts turn to several people whom I got to know through music who have died in the last year. I suppose this will happen … Continue reading →

Posted in category-defying | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A chorister watches The Theory of Everything

Posted on March 8, 2015 by vhk10

It’s a strange experience to watch a bio-pic of someone who used to have the singing lesson after yours. Members of Stephen Hawking’s family crossed my path in various ways when I was in Cambridge. I don’t think I ever … Continue reading →

Posted in category-defying | Tagged , | Leave a comment

An idea for a Bath concert hall?

Posted on October 10, 2014 by vhk10

Oxford, like Bath, lacks a purpose-built concert hall for anything larger than chamber concerts, using the Town Hall, Sheldonian Theatre and churches and chapels. This is due to change as St. Edward’s School is planning to open a concert hall … Continue reading →

Posted in category-defying | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

The Assumption in Milan

Posted on September 1, 2014 by vhk10

I have been fortunate to be in Milan for some major festivals of the Church year, and this year we were there on the feast of the Assumption. I went to Vespers, which included a procession around the building for … Continue reading →

Posted in category-defying, going to services | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment