CE St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral, Edinburgh Wed, 15th Aug 2018 [L]

[Miles Coverdale]

Both the Mendelssohn pieces were new to me and deserve repeated hearings to appreciate more fully. Loved the Litaize vol. and all of the Revd Jeffcoat's playing: tremendous work in psalm 78 of course. Must be 15 years + since I last heard him before he decamped to Brisbane. Very glad we have his multiple talents in closer reach. Obvious question though, despite being an old chorister of Edinburgh, why was he the accompanist here?

I suspect that was a mistake in the announcement at the end. Joseph Beech is the assistant at Edinburgh.

[jonfan]

Now we can hear this service properly I’ve totally revised my view of the music. Nothing rushed at all with dymanic declamation of Psalm 78 with colourful pointing of the text with its caterpillars, grasshoppers and hot thunderbolts. Wonderful, ever changing registrations from the organ for every verse. Marvellous - kept my attention throughout. The Mendelssohn Canticles are new to me and on second hearing really warmed to them. As Vincent Novello commissioned them I would have thought they would have been in English?
Great, moving singing from the choir and all the Mendelssohn suited them well. Unobtrusive engineering with a feeling of being in a great space. Great festive voluntary to end. Thank you Edinburgh, very much worth waiting for the Sunday broadcast.

[DracoM]

Yes, blips still there - in iPlayer at least.
Taverner worth it on its own.

[vinteuil]

Yes, blips still there - in iPlayer at least.
Taverner worth it on its own.

... sadly it was Tavener rather than Taverner.

.

[jonfan]

Yes, blips still there - in iPlayer at least.
Taverner worth it on its own.

It’s annoying that there’s been a clean recording available since Wednesday and it’s not put on iplayer immediately. The announcer today is insistent that the organist is Rupert Jeffcoat and not Joseph Beech as thought above.

[Finzi4ever]

I suspect that was a mistake in the announcement at the end. Joseph Beech is the assistant at Edinburgh.

I doubt continuity got it wrong, more likely that the Asst was indisposed and poss too big an occasion just yet for the organ scholar. Pure, pointless conjecture I know, but is there anyone here who knows?

[DracoM]

From the cathedral office:

"The organist was Rupert Jeffcoat, who kindly stood in for our Cathedral Assistant Organist Joseph Beech, who was unfortunately indisposed."

[ardcarp]

Rupert J. wrote a brilliant setting of the Mag, based on plainsong and with delicious bloops of organ colour. Wish we heard it more often.

[mopsus]

The blips aren't there now on the iPlayer version. I enjoyed the flourishes in the organ in both psalm and final hymn but wish we hadn't lost a verse of the BVM's life story in the latter.

[DracoM]

Thx.