CE Bristol Cathedral: Wed, 16th Nov 2016

[DracoM]

CE Bristol Cathedral


Order of Service:


Introit: Holy is the true Light (Harris)
Responses: Richard Shephard
Psalms 82, 83, 84, 85 (MacFarren, Goss, Bairstow, Hopkins)
First Lesson: Zechariah 8: 1-13
Canticles: Bairstow in D
Second Lesson: Mark 13: 3-8
Anthem: Blessed city, heavenly Salem (Bairstow)
Hymn: Glorious things of thee are spoken (Abbot's Leigh)


Organ Voluntary: Holy is the true Light (Triptych in honour of Herbert
Howells) / David Bednall [first broadcast]


Paul Walton (Assistant Organist)
Mark Lee (Master of the Choristers and Organist)

[DracoM]

Reminder: today @ 3.30 p.m.

Warning: the service is taking place in the Nave according to the cathedral website, which one imagines might make for some interesting engineering problems of balance etc.

[underthecountertenor]

Warning: the service is taking place in the Nave according to the cathedral website, which one imagines might make for some interesting engineering problems of balance etc.

Why? (....as a matter of genuine interest - I don't know the building)

And did it? (...as a matter of genuine interest - I haven't listened yet, and don't know what to listen out for)

[DracoM]

Maybe listen to it in iPlayer and you might find out!!

[ardcarp]

Warning: the service is taking place in the Nave according to the cathedral website, which one imagines might make for some interesting engineering problems of balance etc.

This from the Service List:


CHORAL EVENSONG
broadcast live on BBC Radio 3
Quire

Maybe someone present could tell us? Am listening right now on i-player.

[ardcarp]

Nave, quire, crypt, wherever, it was good to hear CE from Bristol. A quite traditional-sounding top line, very good in the big climaxes, e.g. in Blessed City, but maybe a tad overshadowed by back desks at other times. (I guess the 'cantor' was one of the gents.) Especially interested to hear a piece that Howells himself might have written! How clever of David Bednall to capture his style...not a crib, but a great tribute.

[light_calibre_baritone]

Reminder: today @ 3.30 p.m.

Warning: the service is taking place in the Nave according to the cathedral website, which one imagines might make for some interesting engineering problems of balance etc.

What an odd comment. Ely wasn't in the Choir Stalls, why no warning then? Winchester always broadcast in their Nave... What's the issue?!

[mw963]

What's the issue?!

I listened BEFORE I saw Draco's amendment, and was pretty disappointed with the technical quality: indistinct words, booming pedal notes "taking off" too much, generally unfocused sound, very wild "stereo difference" (left minus right) signal on BBC meters (always a sign of trouble). On my main listening equipment I don't have a mono button but I'd wager that it would have sounded even poorer in mono.

Other places (Exeter for example) broadcast from the Nave successfully but on this occasion I felt that the choir and organist were let down by the engineering. I'm guessing that there were on-site problems that prevented the BBC doing better.....?

[DracoM]

Nicely paced singing, back desks enthusiastic - young sounding but accurate tenors, and plenty of tone on the treble line.
Agree about the Bednall. At times I felt the organ a tad overwhelming in e.g. the psalms, but came into its own majestically in the vol.

[athers]

The Choir sang from the Quire stalls with the usual microphone set up, and the congregation were in the Nave. Hope that clears things up. I suspect the position of the mics didn't aid the balance of Choir and Organ over the airwaves. However in the building it was, as always in Bristol, perfect. A very fine and hugely enjoyable service.

[mw963]

Thanks for the on site report! However, I would still maintain that things weren't quite as they should be technically, too much of the building (and as it was broadcast that's not supposed to be a compliment!) and not enough clarity. Shame....

[DracoM]

Sorry, but I agree with above.

[ardcarp]

I don't know much about the technical side of sound, but it was noticeable that the overall volume level was low as compared with, for instance, the continuity announcement. The temptation was to turn up the gas, but that didn't work. Is this what you meant in post #8, MW963?

That apart, I agree with the above...an enjoyable CE.

[mw963]

Not really ardcarp, I appreciate the wide dynamic range on Radio 3 digital and don't mind reaching for the volume control where necessary - it's a price worth paying. There should be fewer jumps in level though on R3 FM, due to the dynamics processing, up with which I will not put due to the devastation it causes to music.

No, in this instance the whole technical presentation sounded lumpy, muddy sound, really not awfully nice to listen to (I was listening to the DSat version of R3). The pedal notes of the organ often boomed, and the diction (which I'm sure was good) didn't come across well.

I absolutely love Bairstow, so normally I'd be carried along (and aloft) by the music, but in this instance I found the balance so poor that it hampered my enjoyment....

[ardcarp]

I was listening on FM. I agree entirely about compression, especially when it seems to make a sudden dip in volume when a loud organ chord arrives....but I didn't notice it particularly from Bristol; just a sort of distant, un-focused sound. On the subject of the 'boomy' pedal notes, I found the few verses played without pedal quite a relief!

Blessed City Heavenly Salem is one of those pieces which one loves through a lifetime of familiarity. I've both sung it and accompanied it (great fun) over the years, and it's got some thrilling and some touching moments. Best not to analyse it too closely though, because it's very much 'an Anglican organist's composition', by which I mean great choral and organ effects juxtaposed (I am avoiding the expression 'cobble up') without a great sense of structure. Ironic as it's all about the 'Heavenly Architect'. I wonder, BTW, why so few organists obey (are allowed to obey?) the arpeggiated chords indicated to accompany "Bright thy gates of pearl are shining"?