CE Royal Holloway, University of London 15th October 2014

[tjrm_93]

Indeed tjrm_93, thanks for a most enlightening and enlightened post!

I'd like to explode the myth that broadcast CE is like being a fly on the wall of a cathedral on a wet, foggy Friday afternoon when choristers, lay clerks, organist and DoM are just doing what they normally do. Of course it isn't! All concerned are on their mettle and anxious to do their very best and to showcase (to some extent) what they can do. There is also (and I've been been there and done it) a nervous tension which can, if all goes well, produce brilliant results. Just occasionally, a routine wet, foggy, etc, etc, can produce magic too, but that is more random.

Indeed, and the fact that Rupert has put down such challenging repertoire is testament to that. I'm not sure how many people have sung the Harvey - I'm sure many would have heard it -but it is incredibly hard to pull off, one such example being the infamous tenor line which at one point comes out of nowhere and begins on a top B! The two soprano solo parts are also pushed to the limit. You certainly wouldn't put it down for a throwaway weekday evensong. Having said that, the Bednall is an appropriate opener, and the Holst is standard rep for most Cathedrals. The Finzi is matched well to it. It is certainly not just a show-off evensong.

I was merely pointing out that cathedrals should not have to change the way they conduct their services to suit the preferences of others who are listening in - e.g whether one uses BCP or CofE appointed psalms for the day (my mistake, underthecountertenor!), positioning of hymns, the inclusion or exclusion of a sung dismissal or absolution and confession.

[Wolsey]

I'd like to explode the myth that broadcast CE is like being a fly on the wall of a cathedral on a wet, foggy Friday afternoon when choristers, lay clerks, organist and DoM are just doing what they normally do.

"It's an act of worship on which we eavesdrop... it is a broadcast specially mounted, but it's still an act of worship as a whole when it takes place..."

Barry Rose (former 'Choral Evensong' producer) speaking on BBC Radio 3's The Choir - 24 September 2006

[DracoM]

Well, that's St Barry's view.
I genuinely wonder if other DOMs share that laid-back take on a live broadcast of a CE on national HD / digital and thus these days global radio?
I'm with ardcarp on this. Much of what one hears seems to suggest that a BBC visit matters. Within the framework of the service, the material chosen / worked on cannot avoid being taken as representative of that foundation on many levels. Whether that is fair or unfair is difficult to say but....?

[Miles Coverdale]

Much of what one hears seems to suggest that a BBC visit matters.

Well of course it does. No one's going to knock up a Choral Evensong on the usual 20 minutes' rehearsal as if the BBC aren't there and it's not going out to a quarter of a million people are they?

[bach736]

St. Teresa's Bread
Pan De Santa Teresa

A tasty breakfast, a first cousin to French toast, but with a flavour and texture all its own.

Definitely one for the Platform 3 Cafe.

[DracoM]

Well of course it does. No one's going to knock up a Choral Evensong on the usual 20 minutes' rehearsal as if the BBC aren't there and it's not going out to a quarter of a million people are they?

Good, we agree!

[Barry Rose]

There are – I think only about a dozen places still sing the BCP psalms for the day on a regular basis. However, I was under the impression that all places that broadcast Choral Evensong (the cathedrals among them at least) were encouraged, if not even required, by the BBC to broadcast the BCP psalms, even if that was not their usual practice.

I'm not sure I'm going through the mechanics of posting this in the right way, and if not, I apologise - this is my first, and maybe my last, venture into this Forum. Please may I set the record straight, so that everyone who visits here can say, 'well, I heard it from the (old) horse's mouth' ! As the Editor of the Choral Evensong programme (and sometimes its producer) for about 18 years, I was able to be in on the ground-floor of the decision-making that brought in the short-lived second broadcast each week, and also, in close discussion with Ian McIntyre, then Controller of Radio 3, the lengthening of the programme from 45 minutes to one hour. To me, some of the un-mentioned reasoning behind this was to do with the phasing out of organ recitals on Radio 3 - listeners were lamenting that loss, and in gaining these extra 15 minutes, I gave the assurance that the organ voluntary would be broadcast in its entirety, rather than being faded out, as it usually was, often after the first page or even the first few bars ! Perhaps more pertinent to this series of posts is the question of the psalms for the day, and there had been occasions in the 45 minute transmission, when, even without the closing voluntary, that was not quite long enough to accommodate some evenings of psalms, epecially when coupled with longer Lessons and Canticles. So, just to clarify the situation, it was always the intention that the psalms appointed for the day would be included in the extended duration, and during my time at the BBC I did ask my Cathedral organist colleagues to observe that, unless it was a major Saint's Day or the Eve of one.
It is not up to me to comment on what happens now - but at least you now have the definitive history of the extra 15 minutes.

[french frank]

Thank you for that aperçu. Always good to learn what goes on (or even 'used to go on') behind the scenes.

[DracoM]

Most kind. Thanks for clarification / contextualisation.

[ardcarp]

this is my first, and maybe my last

I do hope not. Keep them coming, please.

[DracoM]

With some trepidation, I offer a reminder of the tx today @ 3.30 p.m.
Unless the trucks have gone to the prison by mistake.

Yes, and before you post, I DO know where Royal Holloway is.

[ardcarp]

I love the Lord just finished. The star of the show for me. Well done RH.

[DracoM]

Yup, I liked the Harvey too.
Not a very kind acoustic maybe to what the Harvey is trying to do, but good sound, no-nonsense choir doing a very decent job all round.

[ardcarp]

Just some thoughts on the Finzi Mag. I'm a Finzi fan, but not sure this is one of his finer works. Certain bits (e.g. the somewhat naive repetitions of the word 'blessed') seem a little below par. I've always seen Finzi as late-English-Romantic rather than Cowpat. Somehow RH's accurate but slightly clinical performance plus the not-very-fruity organ sound (it may have been the acoustics) made it..well...unremarkable. Not so the Holst Nunc, a gem, which came over very well.

[Wolsey]

I'm glad that continuity approved... (42 seconds in)