Category Archives: repertoire

Ten favourite anthems

Posted on September 14, 2014 by vhk10

I’ve been invited to name my ten favourite anthems. Like most people I can’t come up with a definitive list, though I think half of the following would be on any list of mine. I have excluded liturgical settings, even … Continue reading →

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my top 10 moments in the Grande Messe des Morts

Posted on July 3, 2014 by vhk10

@gloschor I spent last Saturday rehearsing Berlioz’ Grande Messe des Morts in preparation for performances in the autumn. I’m still smitten by this piece and present my short list of favourite moments. N.B. I don’t want to imply that the … Continue reading →

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a local première of the Glagolitic Mass?

Posted on March 11, 2014 by vhk10

@bristolchoral I’ve been going round saying that our forthcoming Glagolitic Mass is the first in the Bath/Bristol area for at least 20 years. Then I started to wonder whether it was in fact the first ever. Unless you have a … Continue reading →

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My 13

Posted on February 18, 2014 by vhk10

The new Op13 music shop in Bristol has some posters inside, each showing 13 composers chosen by local musicians, some known personally to me. I couldn’t see them without thinking of what my own list would be and have used … Continue reading →

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How to improve on Handel

Posted on March 20, 2013 by vhk10

I don’t often get so grabbed by a half-heard piece of music that I have to drop everything to listen properly, but it happened the other day. I was in the kitchen defrosting the fridge and across the hall Radio … Continue reading →

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My fantasy Mass

Posted on February 7, 2012 by vhk10

I’m going to put together a Mass setting for my own amusement (and I suppose that of my readers) of some of my favourite settings of these familiar texts. Two constraints: no composer is to be repeated, and the movements … Continue reading →

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LPs batch 27: forever in the catalogue

Posted on May 7, 2011 by vhk10

Not much early music among our LPs, but I hit a chunk of it here with two lots of Monteverdi. Sadly, I think the eponymous Monteverdi Choir’s performance of the Vespers of 1610 (the earlier, studio, recording) is in too … 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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Don’t mention the anniversaries!

Posted on January 26, 2009 by vhk10

It’s impossible to listen to Radio 3 so far this year and not notice that anniversaries of Purcell, Handel, Haydn and Mendelssohn are being commemorated in 2009. I normally remark on occasions when I perform anniversary composers, but I think … Continue reading →

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one-piece composers

Posted on October 14, 2008 by vhk10

After evensong for dedication festival we had an organ recital where requests were played. One piece was Pachelbel’s Ciacona in D minor, which set me thinking that it is unfair that Pachelbel is thought of as a one-piece composer, as … Continue reading →

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requirements for the Langlais Messe Solennelle

Posted on August 27, 2008 by vhk10

I sang this in Gloucester Cathedral in July (writeup to follow) and was asked by the conductor of another choir to say whether I thought it would be viable for one of his cathedral weekends. Here’s the list of minimum … Continue reading →

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Pauline texts

Posted on January 22, 2008 by vhk10

I subscribe to the Yahoo email list for lay-clerks/choral scholars, and the following is adapted from a reply I recently made to a query on the list. There was a request for anthems associated with St. Paul. When I last … Continue reading →

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