Categories: uncategorized
Date: 02 May 2005 10:37:41
At last, a day off after a very busy musical week. Highlights of this included a visit to the boys' school musical production of Orpheus in the Underworld - the orchestra only got the music one week before the opening night, but frantic last-minute rehearsals fortunately paid off and I was rewarded with a thoroughly enjoyable evening.
The Tavistock Sings! music festival took place over the whole weekend and included a lunchtime recital of early music, played on original instruments (violin, lute and French bagpipes) followed by an evening performance by the Ten Tors Orchestra, with soloist Elaine Cocks on clarinet. This instrument was a rare bassett-clarinet which plays additional low notes, enabling the alternative version of Mozart's Clarinet Concerto in A Major to be played. Wonderful, inspiring music and so well-executed!
Our main commitment was on the Sunday of the Festival. We had our usual morning Eucharist ('If ye love me', by Tallis), then an afternoon break before the Festival Evensong and Choral Concert. The evensong music was an introit by Millington, 'Sing we merrily', Canticles set to Wood in Eb and 'With a Voice of Singing' by Shaw. Apart from a wobble half way through the Magnificat, the Canticles went well enough; the Shaw anthem sounded good, if a little muted (I heard this best in a full Cathedral with SATB parts separated into four areas of the nave. Ordinary parish choir singing doesn't quite manage to recreate this effect!)
Much wine, juice and sausage rolls were consumed in the interval - we had to be careful not to overindulge in the wine being mindful that we had to stay sober for the choral recital. Fortunately, the programme didn't have to be changed at the last minute to 'Roll out the Barrel' and 'What shall we do with the drunken Sailor', and robed solely in red cassocks we paraded in looking quite smart. The programme included the anthems: 'You shall receive power' (Sumsion); 'Thou art Peter' (Morgan); 'Ave Verum Corpus' (Elgar); 'O how glorious' (Harwood); 'Evening Hymn' (Balfour) and 'Blessed be the God and Father' (Wesley). The only major hiccup was the rather flat first phrase of 'Blessed be the God and Father' which made the organ entry appear rather interesting, to say the least. We really ought to get that organ tuned! ;)
Far more exciting than our singing were the Organ interludes between items: 'Toccata and Fugue in D Minor' (Bach), 'Humoresque' (Yon), and 'Carrillon de Westminster' (Vierne), which all sounded magnificent even through my present deaf-in-one-ear state. The strangest sound was the sound of applause at the end of the Concert - I am so not used to being applauded for singing church music......
Tonight, I'm off to hear how the Tavistock Sings! workshop people got on with rehearsing choruses from the Bach B Minor Mass. It will be a pleasant relief to sit back and enjoy listening to someone else sing, and give my own voice a rest.