Recitals at St Paul's Cathedral

[Guest]

May i ask if anyone here has attended a recital of any kind at St Paul's Cathedral, and what they thought of it? By which i mean either the recital itself, or the experience as a whole.

[Donnie Essen]

Heard Mahler 8th in there. Not so good. Sound turned to mush. CD version sounds good, though.

[MrGongGong]

When the Halle used to play their annual gig in Lincoln Cathedral (in exchange for the lending of a Strad fiddle !) the critic in the paper always used to say
"the cathedral was cold and over resonant " !!!

WTF do you expect ?
you need to match the music to the acoustic ................
bring on the Ligeti I say

I visited Liverpool Cathedral at the weekend and remembered hearing Stimmung there , awesome
also Tangerine Dream in the 1970's equally fantastic .........

[BBMmk2]

They have the campers outside still, eh? I lover St Paul's organ. Has a wondrous glorious sound!Isn't Andrew Carwood there now?

An ancestor of mine is buried there.

[gradus]

Not a recital but a disastrous concert in which I could barely hear the music for the truly atrocious acoustic. Perhaps a small scale performance might work slightly better if you are seated close to the performers.

[MrGongGong]

Not a recital but a disastrous concert in which I could barely hear the music for the truly atrocious acoustic. Perhaps a small scale performance might work slightly better if you are seated close to the performers.

My point was that its NOT an "atrocious acoustic"
its a big cathedral

why not this music ?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_Listening_Band

[gradus]

OK its a big cathedral acoustic ..... but it was atrocious where I sat, simply because you couldn't hear the music for the vast echoing acoustic.

[MrGongGong]

OK its a big cathedral acoustic ..... but it was atrocious where I sat, simply because you couldn't hear the music for the vast echoing acoustic.

That's cheered me up no end
what you have just said is effectively that "you can't hear the music because of the sound it makes in the particular space " !!!
wonderful, can I use this for pedagogical purposes ??

people often make bad choices of what to play
music isn't always "transportable"

[OldTechie]

That's cheered me up no end

We went to the Gillian Weir/Birmingham SO/London Symphony Chorus concert this year (Poulenc/Saint Saens.) We sat in the south transcept, fairly close to the orchestra and choir. Yes, it was a big cathedral acoustic, but it was OK where we were. We enjoyed it - but you have to enjoy the occasion and be prepared to accept the sound as belonging to the context. Review here: http://www.bachtrack.com/review-orga...auls-cathedral .

[BBMmk2]

I really must get to hear the organ playing there sometime.

[gradus]

Perhaps we were particularly unlucky in our St Paul's seats, but it really was impossible to hear what the performers were doing because of the acoustic.

[old khayyam]

I really must get to hear the organ playing there sometime.

This brings me to one of my points. On Sunday afternoons a free organ recital is given; each week a different piece with a different organist. I have to say the acoustic is the best i have ever experienced. If you get the right seat (and i wont tell you where it is!), you will get the experience of the first notes travelling across toward you and, when followed by the others, blossoming out into the vast space like ink in water. You are then awash in heavenly sound, as God intended.

[MrGongGong]

This brings me to one of my points. On Sunday afternoons a free organ recital is given; each week a different piece with a different organist. I have to say the acoustic is the best i have ever experienced. If you get the right seat (and i wont tell you where it is!), you will get the experience of the first notes travelling across toward you and, when followed by the others, blossoming out into the vast space like ink in water. You are then awash in sound. Heavenly.

So basically, what you are saying is
that its pointless us going to listen as only YOU know where the "right" seat is
make sure you keep your head straight or you will upset the phase relationships............. like with Ambiasonics



now Volumina in StPauls would be good

[old khayyam]

So basically, what you are saying is that its pointless us going to listen as only YOU know where the "right" seat is

Merely issuing a playful challenge along the way, in order that anyone in the habit of attending these may perhaps try all the seating positions and examine their aural environment more closely, for the benefit of mankind

[bluestateprommer]

Merely issuing a playful challenge along the way, in order that anyone in the habit of attending these may perhaps try all the seating positions and examine their aural environment more closely, for the benefit of mankind

Well, not all of us live in London, or the UK (ahem), so it might behoove one to show a bit of charity at this time of year regarding the "location, location, location" question .

That aside, I did attend an organ recital at St. Paul's once, on my summer vacation last year, where I admit that I don't remember exactly where I sat. The program included Elgar's Organ Sonata, if memory serves. The reverberation does dampen enjoyment, although opportunities to hear the work aren't frequent for me, even if I would have been content with whatever the program was. Plus, I was running back and forth across Millenium Bridge between performances of Henry IV Parts I & II, so there wasn't really time to find quickly the optimal place in St. Paul's to sit.