It was fortunate that this concert was when it was, as almost any other weekend around now would have not allowed me to take part. I was invited back to join in some pieces in the concert in St. James’s Priory church in Bristol. Last time I sang there the church was about to be refurbished, and it now looks impressive in a rather austere sort of way (although the information boards somehow elide the centuries of Anglicanism in its history).<\/p>\n
There were just a few of us ‘extras’ and I expected there to be more, but I think many of the former members of the choir were students who’ve moved away. I’ve never really found a replacement for this choir, and I didn’t want to leave it, so it was good to be temporarily part of it again. I hope that there might be future occasions when it is expanded, rather as Bath Camerata sometimes invites former members back for its Good Friday concerts. This particular concert was a special occasion and we also all enjoyed a party on the previous evening.<\/p>\n
Some of the pieces I sang were very familiar, others less so. Among the latter was The Hills<\/i> by John Ireland, which I once encountered many years ago (it was proposed as an anthem, though would be suitable only for somewhere like St. James’s Piccadilly). I would never have thought that Ireland could have set words by James Kirkup; I pigeon-hole composer and poet in totally different time periods, but it turns out Ireland did write a few pieces after 1940 and this piece dates from the early 1950’s.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It was fortunate that this concert was when it was, as almost any other weekend around now would have not allowed me to take part. I was invited back to join in some pieces in the concert in St. James’s … Continue reading