Category Archives: going to services

rejoining a couple of former choirs

Posted on November 13, 2018 by vhk10

I did a bit of moonlighting at a couple of churches I used to sing in. First came a service for All Souls’ Day in Bathwick. We were in the side aisle, but this time for the good reason that … Continue reading →

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two religions in Kentucky

Posted on October 7, 2018 by vhk10

We went on a very short trip to the USA to attend a family wedding in Lexington, Kentucky. This was conducted according to Indian tradition, with a two-hour Hindu ceremony one morning and a secular reception the following day. Much … Continue reading →

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being outed as a singer

Posted on September 2, 2018 by vhk10

Our recent summer holiday included a couple of occasions where I revealed myself to be a singer or at least someone knowledgeable about music. We were in SW France near the border with Spain, and in fact both occasions were … Continue reading →

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9 Lessons and Candles

Posted on January 14, 2018 by vhk10

Most 9 Lessons and Carols services are not lit by candles held by the congregation, the reason being that it is hard work keeping one alight for nearly two hours (in practice they have to be lit a little before … Continue reading →

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sung once before, long ago (3): the Chichester Psalms

Posted on June 29, 2017 by vhk10

Bristol Choral Society’s final concert of the season was a programme performed to a large audience in Bristol Cathedral. I didn’t know Eric Whitacre’s Five Hebrew Love Songs, an early work originally written as solo songs for his future wife, … Continue reading →

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A Cathedral Christmas

Posted on January 23, 2017 by vhk10

I don’t think I’ve ever spent Christmas within easy reach of a Cathedral before. But this year I managed it by staying just outside St David’s, with a 10-minute stroll through some lanes to the Cathedral. I went to three … Continue reading →

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when the conductor is ill

Posted on November 12, 2016 by vhk10

I went along to hear Priory Voices sing Evensong with music by Stanford and S S Wesley at Wells Cathedral. The founder and usual conductor is not able to conduct at the moment so members of the choir are (very … Continue reading →

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introit vs anthem

Posted on September 9, 2016 by vhk10

I went along to hear a choir drawn from an RSCM course sing at Bath Abbey (they are resident at Kingswood School every year). Looked out for the distinctive cassocks of St. Ann’s Manchester (no one else wears that shade … Continue reading →

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The Three Choirs evensongs

Posted on August 25, 2016 by vhk10

I went to most of the Choral Evensongs at the Three Choirs Festival. These of course are the real Three Choirs – the Cathedral choirs of Gloucester, Worcester and Hereford – and it’s clear that for many festival-goers the evensongs … Continue reading →

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Gibbons for the Gaudy

Posted on May 3, 2016 by vhk10

I went back for a Gaudy at my old Oxford College, Merton. It was the first Gaudy I’d been invited to for 9 years, and the first since the choral foundation was set up. A selection of choir members sang … Continue reading →

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