Tag Archives: Bristol Choral Society

The Serenade to Music

Posted on November 12, 2018 by vhk10

Vaughan Williams’ Serenade to Music has been another piece on my wishlist. A while back there was a proposal to perform it in Bath with me and 15 other singers, but it didn’t happen. It can be done also with … Continue reading →

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memory test

Posted on April 28, 2018 by vhk10

It is my boast (and this is a bit of a boast) that I almost never totally forget a piece of music that I’ve performed, however long the interval until I perform it again. Unfortunately I usually don’t remember it … Continue reading →

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taking Duruflé to Lisbon

Posted on April 24, 2018 by vhk10

I have not been on many foreign choir tours – on average, it’s been about once every four years – but two of the few that I’ve done involved Duruflé’s Requiem. Perhaps it’s because it is a substantial work for … Continue reading →

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channelling my inner Benny Hill

Posted on March 22, 2018 by vhk10

Carmina Burana is never going to be a favourite of mine, but this time round I enjoyed it rather more than before. Maybe with a woman conductor there’s a bit more of an air of complicity? At any rate, I … Continue reading →

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a new rehearsal room

Posted on January 14, 2018 by vhk10

Our choir is going to be rehearsing somewhere else next season, as our current venue will be for University use only after the summer. I’m not part of the process of choosing a new rehearsal location, but here are some … Continue reading →

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a change from Messiah

Posted on January 12, 2018 by vhk10

This year Bristol Choral Society didn’t do Messiah, but put on a programme called ‘An English Christmas’. I was glad of the change as, apart from the anthems we sing in church and bits of carol singing, I don’t get … Continue reading →

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Cheerful Mahler: dodging cymbals in the 2nd Symphony

Posted on November 26, 2017 by vhk10

I’ve almost lost count of the times I’ve passed up opportunities to sing Mahler 2. When I first came to Bath I was invited (via the Chantry Singers) to sing it in the Bath Phil’s Mahler cycle, but I declined … Continue reading →

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hearing your own choir

Posted on November 16, 2017 by vhk10

I dashed over to Colston Hall from Wells to Bristol Choral Society’s concert. I didn’t arrive in time for the first half (Schumann Lieder) but went for the second half – Brahms’ German Requiem. I had had a nasty cough … 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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Messiah back on the book

Posted on January 12, 2017 by vhk10

The annual Bristol Choral Society Messiah came round again. The choir started singing the piece from memory while Adrian Partington was musical director, building it up with a few more choruses each year. With a change of conductor and an … Continue reading →

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Aaaaaah …. Neptune

Posted on December 31, 2016 by vhk10

I thought I had sung in enough major orchestral works for the first time for one year, but another came up at short notice; the wordless chorus in the final movement of Holst’s Planets suite. This was put on by … Continue reading →

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Belshazzar’s Feast with a pounding heart

Posted on December 22, 2016 by vhk10

On to Belshazzar (I would say ‘onwards and upwards’ but I don’t think there is any ‘upwards’, in any sense, after the Missa Solemnis). I have had terrible difficulties driving to rehearsals in Bristol this term, and tried to get … Continue reading →

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