Categories: uncategorized
Date: 01 July 2007 20:35:58
We were treated to a musical spectacular by the joint choirs of Bristol (soon to get a girls' choir), Wells and Exeter at Exeter Cathedral last night. Rutter's Gloria sounded particularly spectacular with brass players from Wells Cathedral School - it's the first time I've heard it performed live. But the special treat was the massed singing of 'Locus Iste' (which my own choir sang last week): over a hundred choristers singing to send shivers up your spine.
Today during the morning Eucharist we sang Elgar's 'Ave Verum' from the back of the church but with organ accompaniment - it sounded as if there was a time lag; we are much more used to singing from the front (near the organ) if not singing a capella. The choir master must have felt like he was conducting jellyfish on a piece of elastic.
The Chorister's Prayer (Bless O Lord us thy servants....) has been set to music by Martin How, which we sang at Evensong. It's a simple little piece, somewhat reminiscent of the Prayer of Richard of Chichester ('Day by Day', also by Martin How), in two parts. We sang the first verse SA and the second ST/AB. Our diction was obviously not too good as one member of the congregation complained that, although she enjoyed the tune, she couldn't make out the words until we got to 'Amen'. An ex-chorister herself, she has standards.