Last evening, Mrs A and I were singing with a small chamber choir which we 'bump up' from time to time. We were surprised to see 3 kids at the rehearsal. They obviously coped well. They knew Durufle's Requiem and made a reasonable fist at sight-reading a work new to them, Haydn's Nelson Mass. It turned out they were Salisbury choristers on half-term. We were delighted that (a) they wanted to come on a busman's hoiday and (b) that they didn't mind singing along with a load of oldies. Towards the end, copies of Howells' Coll Reg were dished out. Apparently this was their favourite set of evening canticles, and they had asked to sing it on Howells' anniversary. They gave it some wellie. How heart-warming to know that there is an up-and-coming generation which loves music and singing.
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