CE Christ Church, Oxford Wed, 14th Jan 2015

[Wolsey]

According to the CCCC website, Alexander Pott is the organ scholar!

http://www.chchchoir.org/about/organ-scholars/

He is related to the composer, Francis Pott; a nephew, I think.

That is right, so please correct the misspelling of Alexander's surname.

[Simon Biazeck]

Could the organ scholar's surname be correctly spelt, please? No extra 's'.

Quite!

Anyone in doubt can scroll down to his photo in the following link.

http://www.chch.ox.ac.uk/cathedral/whos-who/dean-chapter-staff&print=true

The family likeness is unmistakable. His father is a distinguished baritone and a professional colleague of mine.

At this rate we may have this sorted out in time to enjoy his playing!

[Wolsey]

Quite!

His [Alex's] uncle is a distinguished baritone and a professional colleague of mine.

You meant, of course, his father! .

[Simon Biazeck]

You meant, of course, his father! .

I did indeed - many thanks. Now corrected!

[DracoM]

Reminder: tomorrow @ 3.30 p.m.

[ardcarp]

Is it safe to turn on again?

[i.e. have the psalms finished yet?]

[DracoM]

Yes, it's all over! Eccentric as they always are from CCO!

[ardcarp]

For me the Sheppard came off best. For a start it was in a style of music around at roughly the foundation of the College. Secondly, the back desks were singing in a sensitive way so as not to overwhelm the trebles. Not so the Palestrina. Oh dear. What a blast.

[mw963]

Not sure I'd want the psalms like that every day, but having said that I THOROUGHLY enjoyed the discipline, the tuning, the effortless high notes, and the obvious attention to that kind of pointing. A real treat.

I can't be the only person struck by impure thoughts during Divine Service, but I'm afraid that I found the voice reading the 1st lesson incredibly sexy. I was in the car so maybe she sounded less silky under ideal conditions. Lovely! Perhaps she could consider reading bedtime stories as a side-earner.

Afraid I can't say I enjoyed the voluntary, a complete spoiler for an otherwise lovely service. Well played of course. I'm always suspicious of a conventional chord plonked on the end of something not very beautiful, and my wife (also in the car) said "That final chord came from nowhere". Couldn't have put it better.

[fagotto 16']

Really? From nowhere? I heard a fairly conventional modal v - I at the end (with added 7th and 9th on the v I believe). Given the clear overall emphasis on E from the opening motif, I'd say the composition worked rather well. Glad you were at least able to enjoy the first lesson in the car.

[manyexcellentgifs]

As something of an organ buff (borganist, I think we're sometimes called), it was a pleasure to hear the Pott, played by a Pott(s)[!]. I love his Empyrean.
Especially to hear it so differently played from its début Radio outing from Picton-Turbervill of SJC - not of course that it wasn't wonderful. It seemed both longer and shorter, almost like a page had been added. Perhaps familial inside info?!?

I'm pleased that the reader of the first lesson did it for you, perhaps a relief that she didn't read the whole appointed portion!

[DracoM]

Bit curate's egg for me.

Honestly, what the men were doing in the Palestrina beat me: so loud and strident you could hardly hear the lads at all - distant cheeping in the background.
The Canticles were OK, nothing remarkable, and the Sheppard far and away the best thing, better discipline, but even that had some insecurities and uneven tuning.

I know, I know..... it's not under studio recording conditions, but live and not [in terms of CCO] where the CD recordings are usually made, but that really was not the truly sublime choir on the Eton Choirbook CDs at all.

[82ARO]

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to today's broadcast. As I'm sure you all know, the turnover of this choir is such that the membership changes a lot from year to year, and so there are most likely many new singers in the choir this year. Therefore "the truly sublime choir on the Eton Choirbook CDs" as you put it, simply no longer exists...
I thought the choir was well balanced throughout. Not treble heavy,as with some choirs of this type, but each part became prominent at the moments the music required them to...

As for the organ voluntary, I found it very engaging and thought it was splendidly played!

[mw963]

Well I'm delighted that my post about the voluntary appears to have added three new members to FOR3!!!!

Welcome one and all, and apologies that my appreciation of contemporary music doesn't scale the heights of your deeper knowledge and expertise.

Just to warn you - I'm afraid I've got a bit of a thing about Leighton as well, although the responses were so beautifully sung today that even I had to admit almost to enjoying them....

[Vox Humana]

An innocent question to those of you who know what's what. I fully appreciate that changing personnel, particularly on the top line, brings inevitable ups and downs for any DoM, but I thought that these trebles had an unpleasantly strangulated tone. I am fairly sure that this was due to just one especially dominant boy, but, nevertheless, I was left wondering how much of a top line's tone should be laid at the door of the voice coach and how much at that of the DoM. Just how much control over the tone does a DoM have these days?