Category Archives: singing in concerts

a colossal nightingale

Posted on February 17, 2010 by vhk10

This was Heine’s description of Berlioz and I can’t improve on it, so I’m borrowing it for the title of this post. A few years ago I learnt some of Les nuits d’été, including Le spectre de la rose. The … Continue reading →

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Te Deum Laudamus

Posted on December 12, 2009 by vhk10

Two settings of this text framed the Chandos Singers’ most recent concert in St. Bartholomew’s, Oldfield Park. We started with Haydn’s Marie-Thérèse setting, which was actually a suggestion of mine when we were looking for a piece to complete the … Continue reading →

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some plans for 2010

Posted on November 23, 2009 by vhk10

We have now sorted out a weekend visit for the Cathedral Chamber Choir in 2010. Over the Low Sunday weekend we will be at Sherborne Abbey. Their bell-ringers seem to move in as soon as the Abbey choir takes a … Continue reading →

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Deborah

Posted on July 28, 2009 by vhk10

The Chandos Singers paid tribute to the Handel anniversary by performing this early oratorio. It’s a curious piece, based on one of the biblical episodes that you don’t usually hear about in church; not very much judging under the palm … Continue reading →

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a quiet June/July

Posted on June 24, 2009 by vhk10

I seem to have been going to concerts more than performing in them. This part of the year is quieter than usual and there are various reasons, among them a couple of concerts I might have sung in and didn’t. … Continue reading →

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the Festival opening night

Posted on June 3, 2009 by vhk10

Various family members were involved in this and I found myself dashing all over town to keep up. It began by watching, and then following, my son in the procession of children carrying their artwork on a ‘sea’ theme down … Continue reading →

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Kodály and Fauré at St Stephen’s Lansdown

Posted on May 12, 2009 by vhk10

This church is a local landmark, but I haven’t sung in it for a long time (previous visits were to sing Holy Week devotional works with aggregations of local church choirs). I returned to augment A Handful of Singers (conducted … Continue reading →

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the view from choir 8

Posted on April 28, 2009 by vhk10

I’ve written before about singing in Spem in Alium, I admit partly to see if it resulted in an invitation to sing the work in Tallis’ anniversary year of 2005. But I had to wait until now, with a performance … Continue reading →

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another anniversary

Posted on March 27, 2009 by vhk10

Bet you didn’t know it was the tercentenary of Pergolesi’s birth this year! His dates are usually given as 1710-36, but the first of this is the registration of his birth in early January, rather than the birth itself, so … Continue reading →

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The Lion, Reading

Posted on December 20, 2008 by vhk10

Not Kingsley but the title of a movement in True and False Unicorn, part of the Chandos Singers’ tribute to Finnish independence day. We began with Freedom on Saint Nicholas’ Day by Hyvönen, a composer whose career sadly ended when … Continue reading →

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a Messiah and a carol service

Posted on December 18, 2008 by vhk10

I’ve got a bit behind with performances. Just before Advent began we had a come-and-sing Messiah in church, for which I joined the chorus. This was an informal performance so we could wrap up well and I dug out my … Continue reading →

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Requiem (2): Britten

Posted on November 22, 2008 by vhk10

On November 9th I sang in Britten’s War Requiem for the first time in the Colston Hall, Bristol. (A first for my setting foot in the Colston Hall, too!) This was the second of a pair of performances with many … Continue reading →

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