Categories: uncategorized
Date: 29 May 2012 16:31:26
Three cathedrals in just over a week, and unbroken sunshine to accompany our tour - what a wonderful Welsh / English Border holiday. At Chester, before walking around the walls of the city, we were treated to a fine set of organ duets by Rutter, Hesse, Callahan and Bolting. It's unusual to hear a recital solely of duets, and we had the added advantage of a large screen to see the two organists (from Wiltshire) playing.
At St. Asaph, it was the turn of the girl choristers - some fine treble singing, considering they are only a part-time choir from the tiniest city in Britain, augmented by a minimalist back row (two tenors, two basses and only one alto). We managed not to join in the well-known repertoire - Byrd responses, Noble in B minor and Schubert's Kyrie - then stayed to enjoy the intricacies of the organ (Fantasia super Komm Heiliger Geist, Bach).
Llandaff, with their rather larger pool of choristers to draw on, showed with ease how it should be done, both in the Stanford in C Mass and in the anthem (Come Holy Ghost, Attwood). We are very fond of the new Llandaff organ, but were not so fond of the voluntary (Fete, Langlais), although it did show off the power of the instrument to great effect.