Chapel of St John’s College, Cambridge Wed, 6.iii.2019 [L]

[DracoM]

[ardcarp]

Just heard the end of the John's broadcast again. Ne Irascaris is VERY slow. Somehow it seemed to drag more on second hearing. All beautifully sung, of course.

[Vox Humana]

Just heard the end of the John's broadcast again. Ne Irascaris is VERY slow. Somehow it seemed to drag more on second hearing. All beautifully sung, of course.

It was fine by me. I've noticed before that St John's does worshipful atmosphere and does it rather well. Bernard Rose did too. It seems a bit out of fashion these days, but I'm all for it. We read that attendances are growing at weekday Choral Evensongs in cathedrals and colleges. Maybe this sort of calm and other-worldliness is part of the appeal to those seeking an escape from the bustle of the outside world.

[ardcarp]

Agree wholeheartedly with most of that Vox! May I add to your list Wells Cathedral in Malcolm Archer's day? CE had just the calm and otherworldliness you describe.

[Keraulophone]

Plenty of calm down 'ere, but no local evidence of increasing numbers attending Choral Evensong, either weekday or Sunday. At cathedral choir concerts, yes; services no. Religion is no longer fashionable as practised hereabouts by the C of E in its traditional, conservative, archaic or even 'outreach' guises. For society in general, what the Anglican Church appears to be offering is perceived to be largely irrelevant to people's lives... until there's a death in the family, or parents want to have a baby baptised in an architectural gem (of which J L Pearson's polychrome baptistry is a high point).

The creation of a prayerful environment and atmosphere should not depend to a large degree on slow tempi and soft singing, but on a genuine coming together of the combined minds of clergy (liturgy), choir, musicians and, in the case of a broadcast, producer and sound engineer. The acoustic of the building is a fundamental element in the process and outcome.

[ardcarp]

The creation of a prayerful environment and atmosphere should not depend to a large degree on slow tempi and soft singing

I agree with that too! (I'm agreeing with everyone it seems.) As a casual 'dropper in' to CE at various places, I've not noticed much change in the numbers attending over recent years. But just so long as choirs do their best on the proverbial wet Thursday afternoon, that's fine be me.

[Keraulophone]

just so long as choirs do their best on the proverbial wet Thursday afternoon, that's fine be me.

Quite so.

Some of our least-attended CEs turn out to be musically the best. Sadly, they're hardly ever webcast due to staffing issues - two admin posts that were involved in webcasting have been abolished for financial reasons.

[DracoM]

Must be a serious situation then, because purely in PR - quite apart from the worship opportunity for the housebound / ex-pat / encouraging donations etc etc - webcasting is THE way any foundation can keep its profile and presence alive for many via internet. IMO, of course.

[Miles Coverdale]

Must be a serious situation then, because purely in PR - quite apart from the worship opportunity for the housebound / ex-pat / encouraging donations etc etc - webcasting is THE way any foundation can keep its profile and presence alive for many via internet. IMO, of course.

True, but webcasting in decent sound quality requires a fair bit of investment in sound equipment and staff time, and there doesn't seem to me to be a reliable way of recouping that financially.

[cat]

People on this thread may be interested to learn that this service will be released on CD in February.

Details here, from where you can preview AN's performance notes in the digital booklet, which may relate to some points raised above: https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dc.asp?dc=D_SIGCD605

[Roger Judd]

Thank you, cat, for the link to this booklet. Three extremely well written and argued essays ... very well-worth a read.
RJ

[cat]

Bump, the CD of this service is released today.

https://twitter.com/SignumRecords/status/1230767912513703937