Tag Archives: Rutter

a Remembrance concert

The Chamber Choir was involved in Bath Abbey’s concert for Remembrance for the first time. This concert was logistically quite an undertaking as the various pieces used different combinations of performers. Indeed Vaughan Williams’ Five Mystical Songs (the third recent … Continue reading

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Brahms in Doynton

Sadly two supporters of the music at our church died recently and were commemorated with appropriately musical services. Dawn, a gifted pianist who had given up playing professionally when she married, had lived in Doynton and her well-attended memorial service … Continue reading

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a choir which should have existed years ago

Ever since moving here I’ve been frequently asked ‘Do you sing in Bath Abbey?’ And for a long time I not only didn’t, but couldn’t, as there was no Abbey choir containing adult women. But that has changed with the … Continue reading

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railway bitonality

My recent visit to Japan (the previous one was just before I started this blog) didn’t have a great deal of musical content, but I was able to observe again one feature of travel there: the use of distinctive melodies … Continue reading

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singing alto in a building site

It’s some years since I sang alto in earnest in a performance (other than filling the odd verse of a hymn for variety, or being asked to sing a phrase or two of the alto part to balance parts). Although … Continue reading

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Bax and Josquin in St Davids

The Erleigh Cantors started out doing day-trips from Reading but have gradually ventured further afield. St David’s was definitely the furthest we’d been, though there are rumours that the choir’s next step might be to conquer the North. And then … Continue reading

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three more funerals in May

I sang at four in all this month. I have already mentioned the first – the second was that of an old friend back in Cambridge. We sang Byrd’s four-part Mass, and I heard a voice from heaven by Tomkins, … Continue reading

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music for Royal occasions

This was the theme rather loosely applied to the Erleigh Cantors’ concert (with interspersed readings) in St Peter’s Caversham, where we’ve returned after some years decamping to Earley. We included some pieces from recent Cathedral visits such as Jonathan Dove’s … Continue reading

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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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the frivolous time of year

At this season the music I’m asked to sing tends to lighten up a bit. First up was Rossini’s Messe Solennelle with Bristol Choral Society – the first time I’d performed with them in Bristol Cathedral, so there was new … Continue reading

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