CE: Guildford Cathedral Choir Wed, 22nd June 2016

[DracoM]

CE Guildford Cathedral Choir Wed, 22nd June 2016
In Chapel of St John's School, Leatherhead



Order of Service:


Introit: Vigilate (James Long)
Responses: Philip Moore
Office Hymn: O God, whose hand hath spread the sky (Plainsong)
Psalms 108, 109 (Coward, Read)
First Lesson: Isaiah 24: 1-15
Canticles: Stanford in G
Second Lesson: 1 Corinthians 6: 1-11
Anthem: Vox dicentis (Naylor)
Final Hymn: Thy kingdom come, O God (St Cecilia)


Organ Voluntary: Prelude and Fugue in A minor BWV 543 (Bach)


Sub Organist: Paul Provost
Organist and Master of the Choristers: Katherine Dienes-Williams

[ardcarp]

Have they chosen this venue for the acoustics? Looking forward to Stanford in G.

[chitreb]

Looking forward to the Naylor too.

[Caussade]

The cathedral is currently full of scaffolding (removal of asbestos from the vaulting) and I think the organ is also out of commission. https://www.guildford-cathedral.org/...sked-questions

[ardcarp]

Is the 'acoustic plaster' being removed
(a) to increase reverb time??
(b) to reduce the reverb time?
or
(c) because it may contain asbestos?

[Miles Coverdale]

When I was in the choir at Guildford, one of the older members told me that somewhere a tape existed that had been made shortly after the building had been completed but before the acoustic plaster had been added. Apparently the acoustic was very much bigger than it was after the plaster had been added.

According to the cathedral's website, the work is being undertaken to ‘secure Guildford Cathedral’s survival through the removal of asbestos from the concrete ceiling vaults.’

[DracoM]

Reminder, dear listeners: today @ 3.30 p.m.

[DracoM]

And every minute worth hearing. Bright, bold singing, good diction in an attractive but not too dry acoustic, tenors particularly good, enthusiastic trebles.
But for me the real delight was the Bach Prelude and Fugue on that Tickell organ.

Clarity, nicely judged tempi, very decent footwork, and I loved the tonal palette - ideal [imo] for Bach.

Anxious to hear what organ fans made of it.

[ardcarp]

Nowhere to hide in that!

Very enjoyable CE, and the James Long Vigilate was a bold choice to kick off. A very well-wrought piece capturing well awed anticipation implied by the text. It is an obvious Advent choice, but I realised it was chosen here because of the Feast of St John the Baptist on Friday. Likewise the Naylor.

[DracoM]

Nowhere to hide - and, boy, is that correct!

Wonderful start to the Naylor - again, you simply cannot have faint heart in an acoustic like that, even if the music demands great care and ensemble. Guildford showed real mettle.

[chitreb]

A splendid CE even with the chapel acoustics. I can't say I actually liked the Vigilate but I'm in awe of those who can sing such pieces so well.

[terratogen]

A splendid CE even with the chapel acoustics. I can't say I actually liked the Vigilate but I'm in awe of those who can sing such pieces so well.

Seconding this. Also seconding the difficulties of the acoustic, which left nowhere to hide or to rest and did a few times seem to put us directly under the nose of one of the choristers.

The choir sounded completely at home in the Stanford and Naylor, with (I thought) excellent solos in the former. I know there's a "treble"/"soprano" border war regarding the voices of choristers, so I'll just say that the chorister who took the lead was squarely in my own sense of what this piece "should" sound like and offered a really fantastic performance.

Am I right in thinking that we've heard Naylor's Vox Dicentis broadcast quite a bit recently? Regardless, that hardly took away from Guildford's offering of it here. What a start to that piece! And how expertly sung all through.

Thanks to all at Guildford!

[decantor]

Just to echo the comments in #12 above - and to add that I enjoyed the Long Vigilate, admiring the chutzpah of a choir that can kick off with such a piece and make it work. Listener confidence in the choir was established within seconds of the broadcast's start. Thenceforth all was pure delight.

This is the fourth outing for Naylor's Vox dicentis in the last 19 months (Manchester, St Albans, Gloucester, now Guildford). With such a fine piece, there can be no complaint about repetition. And actually this is the first CE to include Stanford in G since 2009 (AFAIK) - what an excellent resurrection from Guildford, whose soloist matched expectation in style, assurance, and tuning. Indeed, the whole choir were on cracking form throughout. St Barry must be proud of his legacy.

When cathedral choirs, with children routinely on the top line, attain such levels of performance week by week, it amazes me that the FCM struggle to maintain levels of membership at 5000. Why do so few regard such musicianship worthy of financial support - or is support shown in other ways?

[light_calibre_baritone]

The Naylor was clearly broadcast because the feast day of St John the Baptist was the Friday just gone (24 June).

[ardcarp]

(See #9 !)