Category Archives: singing at services

Frank Martin in St Edmundsbury

It is a long time since I’ve been to St Edmundsbury Cathedral. In the meantime it’s sprouted a tower, accommodated a visitor centre and joined the trend for installing lifts (rather better integrated with the building than York Minster’s). It … Continue reading

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a Bairstow and Stanford-fest

I took part in the latter part of the Cathedral Chamber Choir’s visit to York Minster. (Rather annoyingly, this meant that I missed meeting the Precentor, a college friend of mine). The visit was a little subdued because one of … Continue reading

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at the home of the Garter

It was a long time since I’d sung at St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle – previous visits were quite social affairs with a drinks party for us in the conference centre next to the Chapel. This time the Erleigh … Continue reading

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Dropping the chamber organ

I hadn’t sung with Priory Voices since 2013 but the chance came to join them at Canterbury Cathedral. It was nearly taken away again, as the original dates were double booked; fortunately we were able to transfer to the following … Continue reading

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Holy Week 2015

We had quite a lot to do this year. On Maundy Thursday we trooped up the hill to sing at the Eucharist at St Stephen’s, which was in the context of an actual meal. I hadn’t sung Bruckner’s Pange lingua … Continue reading

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The Down Gin service

I joined the choir of St. Peter’s Caversham to sing an evensong at Bristol Cathedral. Most of the music was familiar (Clucas responses, with his rather less familiar Lord’s Prayer, Bainton, Bairstow), but the canticles were new to me: Bob … Continue reading

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a sad visit to Cambridge

I am not yet at the age where one regularly attends funerals of friends who were no older than oneself, but one such occasion took me to Cambridge early in the New Year. I had once been a member of … Continue reading

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retaining the tonality of A

I can’t actually remember which tonality we had to retain during the Gospel reading at Worcester Cathedral, but our musicianship was tested by having to remember the note needed for the response afterwards. For the third time in my last … Continue reading

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2014 and 2015’s resolutions

2014 certainly had some very high points – comparable to if not better than the annus mirabilis of 2007. These include, in approximately chronological order: singing Messiah in Bombay and Goa with the South West Festival Chorus performing the Glagolitic … Continue reading

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some new pieces for Advent and Christmas

Our well attended Advent and Christmas carols services brought some new music for me to sing. We made a dramatic entrance at Advent singing ‘Unborn’, the opening of Alec Roth’s oratorio The Traveller. Not often you get a text in … Continue reading

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They shall laugh & sing

This is the inscription outside the new song room at Norwich Cathedral, which I visited for a weekend with the Erleigh Cantors. It was good to be somewhere with plenty of space, proper replica stalls and a decent accompanying instrument, … Continue reading

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Starry anthems in Gloucester

I joined the Cathedral Chamber Choir on and off for part of its week in Gloucester Cathedral. On the Tuesday we sang Jonathan Dove’s Seek him that maketh the seven stars. I’d guess that this isn’t in the repertoire of … Continue reading

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