CE Winchester Cathedral - Weds 23rd July

[ardcarp]

Recorded in Winchester Cathedral during the 2014 Southern Cathedrals Festival and sung by the choirs of Chichester, Salisbury and Winchester Cathedrals

Introit: Sing, my soul, his wondrous love (Ned Rorem)
Responses: Radcliffe
Office Hymn: O strength and stay (Strength and Stay)
Psalms: 114, 115 (Tonus Peregrinus; Buck)
First Lesson: Isaiah 42 vv5-12
Canticles: Howells in B minor
Second Lesson: Romans 15 vv1-13
Anthem: Welcome, sweet and sacred feast (Finzi)
Final Hymn: There's a wideness in God's mercy (Corvedale)
Organ Voluntary: Rhapsody No.1 in D flat major (Howells)

Andrew Lumsden (Director of Music)
George Castle (Assistant Director of Music).

Ed. I think there may be an error in the heading (as provided on the Beeb website) because, as I understand it, the service to be recorded (on Thurs 17th) is to be sung by the choirs of girls and men from Winchester and Salisbury.

[ardcarp]

Here is an extract from an email to me by someone very much in touch with all things Winchester:

I shall definitely be at the Winchester/Salisbury Girls Evensong tomorrow [Thursday 17th] which is being recorded for CE broadcast in the near future. I don't know about the Salisbury Girls but, our own are absolutely on form at present. It will also be the first broadcast outing for our new Precentor, Canon Sue Wallace. She's proving to be an absolute delight and is already much loved around the cathedral. She's made it abundantly clear that she has no intention of changing the music that we do so well

[Magnificat]

Here is an extract from an email to me by someone very much in touch with all things Winchester:

I shall definitely be at the Winchester/Salisbury Girls Evensong tomorrow [Thursday 17th] which is being recorded for CE broadcast in the near future. I don't know about the Salisbury Girls but, our own are absolutely on form at present. It will also be the first broadcast outing for our new Precentor, Canon Sue Wallace. She's proving to be an absolute delight and is already much loved around the cathedral. She's made it abundantly clear that she has no intention of changing the music that we do so well

ardcarp

We haven't heard the Winchester boys and men for ages! They were always on annually.

VCC

[Wolsey]

ardcarp

We haven't heard the Winchester boys and men for ages! They were always on annually.

January 2013

[ardcarp]

We haven't heard the Winchester boys and men for ages! They were always on annually.

You could always pop along to Winchester for tonight's SCF concert, VCC.

6.00 CONCERT (boys and men with Southern Sinfonia)
Stanford For lo, I raise up
Barber Adagio for strings
Britten Agnus Dei (from War Requiem)
Moore Prayers of Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Elgar Elegy for strings
Haydn Missa ‘in Angustiis’ (Nelson Mass) with Katharine Fuge, soprano
Stanford’s exciting anthem For lo, I raise up that bitter and hasty nation is a true chorister favourite, whilst the Agnus Dei of Britten’s War Requiem
also uses the poetry of Wilfred Owen. The prayers of Dietrich Bonhoeffer
offer a modern slant on imprisonment whilst Haydn’s Nelson Mass is
subtitled ‘In time of war’. However the music alternates between the dark
mood of war and the rejoicing that comes with a victory.
Tickets: £25, £20 & £15

[Magnificat]

January 2013

Wolsey

They used to broadcast in July ( St Swithun's - tide ) regularly.

According to the CE schedule it looks as if it will be at least two years before we hear them again.

VCC

[Magnificat]

You could always pop along to Winchester for tonight's SCF concert, VCC.

ardcarp

I wish I could have gone but times are hard for us pensioners - the cost ( petrol and ticket prices) is pretty steep for me these days.

I couldn't even afford to go to St Albans Cathedral Music Trust's choirs ( boys, girls and men and the cathedral's boys and girls ex - chorister group The Abbey Singers for those kids wishing to carry on singing at a high standard perhaps with a view to gaining choral scholarships at University ) concert in the Abbey with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and soloists last Saturday. An all John Rutter programme that I would love to have heard.

They have recorded it for Naxos this last week, however, so I should be able to catch up with it quite cheaply in due course.

I used to get around the country quite a lot but CE is really the only way that I can hear most cathedral choirs now.

VCC.

[ardcarp]

VCC. I do sympathise about ticket prices. I know of at least one devotee in Winchester who struggles to afford the SCF concerts. The orchestras (and sometimes choir) I direct have a policy of free admission for students and children, but alas we cannot extend our concessions to senior citizens as this would include about half the audience!

I wonder if anyone with wider experience of European concert ticket prices can chip in? My only experience is of France where I find tickets generally cheaper than here.

[DracoM]

Reminder: today @ 3.30 p.m.

[mw963]

Apart from enjoying this a lot, a great shame that so much manual audio compression was applied to both the final hymn and the Howells. You could hear limiting as the descant hit home, followed by a backing off of the faders. Then the Howells "peaked" far too early, so that when the true full organ effect was called for the sound got no louder or grander - quite the reverse in fact.

And then a RIDICULOUS degree of gain riding was employed as the Howells died away, so that the extraneous noises became intrusive and the magical effect of the fading to pp was completely negated. In fact the final chord had my BBC meters reading only 2 dB below the loudest section of the voluntary (although in fairness some of that was the bass component of the 32'), which is a complete travesty of what should be broadcast.

Just to clarify, I was (as always) listening via DSat, where no *automatic* compression is applied. So it's possible it sounded ever sillier on FM. Fine if you're in the car, but not for those of us who make the effort to listen under "ideal conditions".

The last few CE's have been better in this respect, this was a bit of a disappointment. Note to OBs - lay off the faders chaps (or ignore any instructions "to be loud" from the producer!!), and let us enjoy the full dynamic range!

[DracoM]

Aha, well, I wondered what was happening in the Howells - the final chord of the Mag seemed to go on and on and on and got LOUDER. Ahem.

Men outstanding, and some good leadership among the girls.

Precentor? Hmm.

[Philip]

Aha, well, I wondered what was happening in the Howells - the final chord of the Mag seemed to go on and on and on and got LOUDER. Ahem.

I don't think the comments were about the Mag. As with many last chords, Howells instructs the choir to grow in volume and the organ cuts out completely part way through. In the Nunc the organ sustains the last chord to the end.

Agree with the comments about the faders, particularly in the voluntary, where the whole piece is built around a crescendo from pp to ff and back again. I suppose that sort of thing is difficult to bring out in broadcast, but poor George Castle might as well have registered the whole thing mf - they even managed to make the thunderous pedal reed sound quiet in the middle!

Singing wise though, grand stuff as we'd expect on such an occasion.

[Lizzie]

I'm coming out of retirement on this occasion only, for several reasons.

1) Our new Precentor did an excellent job and that isn't just MY opinion but, that of the musicians themselves. She's doing an excellent job and for a first broadcast, well it was impressive. I've heard many male Precentors sing far less well, with many more broadcasts to their name. So, 'Hmmm' was uncalled for.

2) To have brought together the two Girls' Choirs, both with inherently different characteristic sounds, plus three different sets of Layclerks, to such a gloriously, warm sound with immense clarity of ensemble and diction, as Andy Lumsden did, was nothing short of superb and a testament to their musicianship and his Direction. Might there have been some comment about the music they produced? Apparently not!

3) the congregation were warned before the service that, the Voluntary begins and ends very quietly and to sit after that first quiet section, as the Choir had also been instructed to do. Of course, as soon as the voluntary began, members of the congregation took it as their signal to start coughing, with little or no effort to hold it for a short while, or even try to muffle it with hankies until the louder section. Naturally, as soon as the swell box opened, they no longer needed to cough - until the quiet final section! I felt for the poor production engineers trying to cope with the apparent sudden outbreak of chestiness afflicting Winchester! George Castle played it to perfection and with immensely moving interpretation.

Yes, as always, I'm sure I am biased but, as I was there on the day and throughout much of SCF, I'd rather pay testament to the superb singing and musicianship throughout, for ALL the musicians involved, rather than concentrate perceived engineering shortcomings.

Now I shall return to my silent retirement.
Bws. Liz

[ardcarp]

Now I shall return to my silent retirement.

No, please don't Lizzie, and thanks for your excellent post! Great to hear from someone who was there.

[DracoM]

Lizzie! DELIGHTED to have you back! Please do NOT retire!!