Carols from Trinity College, Cambridge - daily video till Christmas

[jonfan]

Fabulous. And all these Trinity Carols are (IMVHO) all the better for not having the conductor flapping away in camera. SL is a genius, even at a distance!

I do miss the occasional glimpse of the small pencil, his signature ‘baton’. It beats Gergiev's tooth pick any day.

[Keraulophone]

SL is a genius, even at a distance!

Actually he's not 'flapping away... at a distance' in these videos as they're miming to the pre-recorded audio - when he would have been in full pencil mode.

[Vox Humana]

Actually he's one of the few ecclesiastical choir conductors who has a proper conducting technique. Admittedly, most choirs couldn't give a sniff about such a thing because they haven't the foggiest notion what a proper conducting technique is or how to respond to it. I reckon you could put Simon Rattle in front of most church choirs and they'd remain quite unresponsive until told what to do in minute detail.

[Keraulophone]

5. Much Comfort and Joy here, thanks to Cornishman David Willcocks.

Those twelve sops really do soar aloft in the final verse.

https://youtu.be/XsrHYGjdKrA

[ardcarp]

Actually he's not 'flapping away... at a distance' in these videos as they're miming to the pre-recorded audio - when he would have been in full pencil mode.

Well that's the most convincing miming I've seen. I guess you have some inside info, but watching the singers closely, their chests move to fill with air in good time for the phrase they're about to deliver.

My 'flapping away' reference was indeed uncalled for. SL is definitely a 'proper' conductor.
Rambling off piste a bit, I was privileged to know several lay-clerks active in the 1920s (two of them Kings men) and I gather it was considered unseemly for a cathedral choir to be conducted actively by someone standing between the stalls. Either they were not conducted at all, or the O&C or one of the lay clerks made the tiniest finger movements from a position in the choirstalls. Richard Greening (late O&C of Lichfield Cathedral) continued this minimal style of choir direction well into the 1970s

[Vox Humana]

Well that's the most convincing miming I've seen. I guess you have some inside info, but watching the singers closely, their chests move to fill with air in good time for the phrase they're about to deliver.

My 'flapping away' reference was indeed uncalled for. SL is definitely a 'proper' conductor.
Rambling off piste a bit, I was privileged to know several lay-clerks active in the 1920s (two of them Kings men) and I gather it was considered unseemly for a cathedral choir to be conducted actively by someone standing between the stalls. Either they were not conducted at all, or the O&C or one of the lay clerks made the tiniest finger movements from a position in the choirstalls. Richard Greening (late O&C of Lichfield Cathedral) continued this minimal style of choir direction well into the 1970s

I can remember once seeing a choirboy called Francis Grier signalling with his opposite number on cantoris the beginnings and ends of things with a nod of the head. That must have been around 1968-9. Boris Ord was a minimalist conductor, judging from the video of the 1954 King's carol service—and the choir manages perfectly well without taking any notice of him. As for flappers, there's one cathedral choir with several uploads on YouTube whose DoM is a veritable bouncy castle. He's very distracting.

[jonfan]

Actually he's one of the few ecclesiastical choir conductors who has a proper conducting technique. I reckon you could put Simon Rattle in front of most church choirs and they'd remain quite unresponsive until told what to do in minute detail.

Undoubtedly SL is amazing but his gestures aren’t always very clear to me but obviously that is not the case to his singers who are used to him and watch him like a hawk. SL came to Yorkshire to conduct a B Minor Mass on minimal rehearsal and it was nothing short of a disaster, but Simon Rattle, with the same rehearsal time, communicated with the singers straight away.

[Vox Humana]

Undoubtedly SL is amazing but his gestures aren’t always very clear to me but obviously that is not the case to his singers who are used to him and watch him like a hawk. SL came to Yorkshire to conduct a B Minor Mass on minimal rehearsal and it was nothing short of a disaster, but Simon Rattle, with the same rehearsal time, communicated with the singers straight away.

That's interesting to know. Thanks.

[Keraulophone]

We managed to follow SDL with no trouble at all when he was in Truro with the City of London Sinfonia on the first leg of their Great British Choral Anthems cathedral tour in 2016. Indeed, most of us in the choir found him clear, encouraging, very energetic and inspiring.

[Keraulophone]

6. Bethlehem Down - Peter Warlock (words: Bruce Blunt)

https://youtu.be/52b5ntrop3U

A favourite carol, the origins of which are described here in BBC Music magazine: Peter Warlock and journalist friend Bruce Blunt were once reported being arrested as ‘drunk and disorderly’ in the chic area that is London’s Chelsea. Such high-life antics needed subsidising, so the pair duly entered the Daily Telegraph’s annual carol-writing contest in 1927… and won. The proceeds went towards ‘an immortal carouse’ on Christmas Eve.

[ardcarp]

I can remember once seeing a choirboy called Francis Grier signalling with his opposite number on cantoris the beginnings and ends of things with a nod of the head.

Mrs A and I attended CE at Llandaff a long time ago, and the lead choristers on Dec and Can seemed to be directing things.

Lovely Bethlehem Down from Trinity this evening. I'd heard the 'carol competition' story before!

[Keraulophone]

7. Ding Dong! Merrily on High - arr David Willcocks (b 30th Dec 1919, Newquay)

Rhythmic playing of the Merry Organ by Harrison Cole.

https://youtu.be/pfV5q9xmZ40

[Keraulophone]

8. In the Bleak Midwinter - Harold Darke

A classic.

https://youtu.be/yb9tHjuy9Hw

[DracoM]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=512XjsVZgbc

Magdalene Cool Oxf - worth a listen?

[Keraulophone]

9. Once in Royal David’s City - arr. by that great Cornishman

Marvellously subtle phrasing.

https://youtu.be/QmspXB6lUeg