Muttered Lear's curse "Blow winds and crack your cheeks..." as I walked a few paces to hmvman's welcome car arrival to pick me up before we wended our way to the first meeting of the York Recorded Music Society in 2015, (Sat, 10 Jan).
Of course, this is a continuation on a new thread of a conversation started under the Announcements block but was gradually developing into a discussion, erm, better suited elsewhere!
A promising start to a new season and, again, the location at Dower Court is ideal in its setting; off central York but surrounded by a green belt, no external intrusion or sound of nearby residents; a view of the trees and wooden palings outside the central window is decidedly Chekhovian as the shape and density changes with the fading daylight. Comfortable seating in armchairs in a spacious room, together with a Scandanavian impression in its design, all provide an easy route for inner silence with a sense of audience attentiveness which reminds me of the intense pleasure I used to enjoy at the Wigmore Hall for several decades.
Member, Philip, got us off to a good start with his informative talk on the life of composer, Maurice Durufle (1902-1986), allowing time for a performance of the Requiem and tantalising extracts from the Motets. Serendipity also intervened as the BBC Music magazine (Jan 2015) featured the Requiem in its two-page Building a Library spread. As 'best recording' Jeremy Pound selected the Corydon Singers on Hyperion and listed 'three more great recordings': St Jacob's Choir, BIS, Choir of St John's College, Cambridge, on Nimbus and Ambrosian Singers/Andrew Davis on Sony Classical, 1977 rec.
Philip opted for the BIS recording of the Requiem - particularly poignant in the past tragic week in Paris, delicately expressed In Paradisum, - and this performance instantly persuaded me to acquire this recording - it's now on order.
During the tea break - cake and biscuits supplied by hmvman and Kay, bless 'em - we also had access to a Durufle biography (2007) The Man and His Music, a bit pricey but c'mon, my birthday is only a few weeks away
- hi, Saly, our ages conjoin again
and I've completed the hat trick with a further CD, Four Motets, Choir of Magdalen College, Oxford, unalloyed joy to my ears. An old Scottish saying, "gan m' dinger"!
My day's outing was completed when driven home and picked-up a package with DSCH 7, Halle Orchestra/Elder, to match the paperback edition of Brian Moynahan's, Leningrad, Siege & Symphony. The rest is silence, for a few days at least.
Of course, this is a continuation on a new thread of a conversation started under the Announcements block but was gradually developing into a discussion, erm, better suited elsewhere!
A promising start to a new season and, again, the location at Dower Court is ideal in its setting; off central York but surrounded by a green belt, no external intrusion or sound of nearby residents; a view of the trees and wooden palings outside the central window is decidedly Chekhovian as the shape and density changes with the fading daylight. Comfortable seating in armchairs in a spacious room, together with a Scandanavian impression in its design, all provide an easy route for inner silence with a sense of audience attentiveness which reminds me of the intense pleasure I used to enjoy at the Wigmore Hall for several decades.
Member, Philip, got us off to a good start with his informative talk on the life of composer, Maurice Durufle (1902-1986), allowing time for a performance of the Requiem and tantalising extracts from the Motets. Serendipity also intervened as the BBC Music magazine (Jan 2015) featured the Requiem in its two-page Building a Library spread. As 'best recording' Jeremy Pound selected the Corydon Singers on Hyperion and listed 'three more great recordings': St Jacob's Choir, BIS, Choir of St John's College, Cambridge, on Nimbus and Ambrosian Singers/Andrew Davis on Sony Classical, 1977 rec.
Philip opted for the BIS recording of the Requiem - particularly poignant in the past tragic week in Paris, delicately expressed In Paradisum, - and this performance instantly persuaded me to acquire this recording - it's now on order.
During the tea break - cake and biscuits supplied by hmvman and Kay, bless 'em - we also had access to a Durufle biography (2007) The Man and His Music, a bit pricey but c'mon, my birthday is only a few weeks away
- hi, Saly, our ages conjoin again and I've completed the hat trick with a further CD, Four Motets, Choir of Magdalen College, Oxford, unalloyed joy to my ears. An old Scottish saying, "gan m' dinger"! My day's outing was completed when driven home and picked-up a package with DSCH 7, Halle Orchestra/Elder, to match the paperback edition of Brian Moynahan's, Leningrad, Siege & Symphony. The rest is silence, for a few days at least.
I swear that I was stone cold sober, yesterday, so no need to flail around like a demented Zasu Pitts! 'sair's m'trachles'
although Amazon tell me that the Durufle biography and the BIS recording of his Requiem will be delivered today. How did I ever find time to go to work with enthusiasm for more than 45 years? Always told that my energy quotient could be exhausting.
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