Categories: uncategorized
Date: 14 April 2009 10:56:53
The vicar was busy over the Easter weekend (no, surely not!) so we had to see ourselves into the services. Judging the correct time to walk in proved difficult, but we generally made it in time for the first hymn. The secret, apparently, is to look confident and as if we know exactly what we are doing.....
It was a joy to sing the 'Gloria' again on Maundy Thursday, together with the usual 'A new commandment' (Shephard).
Numbers were very low on Good Friday - down to a choir of 10, which is almost unheard of. Fortunately, there was a spread of parts to sing 'We glory in your cross O Lord' (Shephard), and 'Christ has no body now but yours' (Ogden) was sung in unison - we could have done with more Sopranos in order to have a descant. The soaring oboe accompaniment to the Ogden provided an enjoyable contrast to the unison singing.
There was a stimulating buzz in church on Easter Day, with 300 adults and 47 children in the congregation. Hallelujahs abounded, both in the hymns and in the Hallelujah Chorus (Handel) - some, but not all, of the missing choristers had returned, so we gave it our best shot.
It was good to welcome back three returning choir members who have since moved away - so there was an encouraging turn-out for Festival Evensong. The Sweeney responses and Stanford in C are, by now, well-known, and we brought out 'This Joyful Eastertide' (Wood) for its annual outing. There is something rather comforting about the familiarity of Evensong. That is, until the organist decides to spook us all out (the vicar included) with the rather jarring voluntary: 'Alleluyas' by Simon Preston.