CE Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford Wed, 20th June 2018 [L]

[DracoM]

CE Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford Wed, 20th June 2018 [L or maybe not]


Order of Service:


Responses: Byrd
Psalm 104 (Hawes, Martin)
First Lesson: Isaiah 5: 8-24
Canticles: St Paul's Service (Howells)
Second Lesson: James 1:17-25
Anthem: The Twelve (Walton)

Voluntary: Toccata quinta (Frescobaldi)


Clive Driskill-Smith (Sub-Organist)
Stephen Darlington (Director of Music)

[DracoM]

What a list!
Howells St Paul's - big sing.
Walton The Twelve - even bigger sing.
Nowhere to hide for anybpdy!

And at the end of an academic year when trebs presumably are in places teetering and croaking, in places completely gone, and in places pretty new to the big stage.
Phew!

But if any team can manage it, then CCCOx are one...........

[subcontrabass]

The Cathedral music list ( https://www.chch.ox.ac.uk/sites/defa...18%20FINAL.pdf ) shows Responses by Rose. Has this been changed to avoid broadcasting the same setting two weeks running?

[DracoM]

I merely print out what the BBC R3 CE site offers.

[mopsus]

Is this Stephen Darlington's last CE broadcast? The Beeb has got a bit careless about repetition - we had Shostakovich's 5th twice in the evening within a week recently.

[Caussade]

Is this Stephen Darlington's last CE broadcast? The Beeb has got a bit careless about repetition - we had Shostakovich's 5th twice in the evening within a week recently.

his last Evensong is on July 7 so yes, it will be SMD's last CE broadcast.

[DracoM]

Seriously bad news for CCCOx. What a legacy he will leave!

Any ideas who's next DoM? At least we know it won't be DH!

[subcontrabass]

Seriously bad news for CCCOx. What a legacy he will leave!

Any ideas who's next DoM? At least we know it won't be DH!

Steven Grahl. See https://www.chch.ox.ac.uk/news/cathe...-christ-church

[DracoM]

Woops, forgot...thx.

[Finzi4ever]

What a list!
Howells St Paul's - big sing.
Walton The Twelve - even bigger sing.
Nowhere to hide for anybpdy!

And at the end of an academic year when trebs presumably are in places teetering and croaking, in places completely gone, and in places pretty new to the big stage.
Phew!

But if any team can manage it, then CCCOx are one...........

The team may manage it but not the horrid box o' whistles (Rieger). Frescobaldi could be ok, but def not the Howells

[DracoM]

[Succentor]

Oh dear! That Psalm singing! It is like an HGV going over a perpetual speed bumb.

I have often heard Stephen Darlington say that this is the pattern he inherited from Simon Preston and Francis Grier. But the archived recordings at www.recordedchurchmusic.org reveal that this was never the case. For example https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSwj...iRri_20MYSP4nv and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nET...9uVM-&index=29

Here's hoping Stephen Grahl gives this some attention.

[DracoM]

Well, I'm a huge fan of what Stephen Darlington has done on record eg the Eton Choirbook sequence, BUT that was all done in Merton College Chapel.
In CCCO, choosing Howells and Walton against 'that organ' seemed a tad...erm....infelicitous.

The Howells really does need a fuller-throated organ sound and bigger acoustic IMO, and the legendary dryness of the cathedral simply did not suit it to my ears.

Walton: solos were better than good, the treble soloists particularly in fine voice - v. happy to take back what I anticipated upthread about them potentially being in an end-of-year state. But, blimey, the Walton ..............nowhere to hide, eh? Everyone worked very hard indeed, but............?

[ardcarp]

That Psalm singing!

I think there must be something in the Isis water that has an effect on Psalmody. As for The Twelve, I just love the piece and thought the treb duettists did a great job. Singing the 2nd part in tune ain't easy...and he did.

[Vile Consort]

Is this Stephen Darlington's last CE broadcast? The Beeb has got a bit careless about repetition - we had Shostakovich's 5th twice in the evening within a week recently.

Radio 3 used to employ an officer whose role was to ensure that works were not performed repeatedly within a short period. She was interviewed on Feedback, if I remember correctly, after a listener complained that a Brahms symphony had been performed two or three times in a period of as many months.

My theory is that the officer is still employed, but that the role has been modified by the deletion of a single word.