CE: Chapel of Pembroke College, Cambridge [R] 1.ii.23

[anoncoward]

While I don’t wish to challenge anyone who appreciates the value of a live broadcast, it is my understanding that the recorded services are recorded ‘as live’ with no editing. Worth noting also that the bbc often record a service the day before they do a live broadcast from the same place, presumably to save some time and money because of the cuts to religious broadcasting budgets referred to earlier in this thread.

[ardcarp]

it is my understanding that the recorded services are recorded ‘as live’ with no editing.

That is definitely so.

Change of subject really, but having just watched the Trinity College Cambridge CE on YouTube from 31,1,23, I would find it hard to find a better choir. Sid (AKA Stephen Layton) doesn't even conduct some of it. For instance, in the Psalm a Dec and Can soprano just nod their heads a bit, and a more perfect ensemble it would be hard to find.

Apologies to Pembroke, I'll listen on catch-up soon.

[cat]

I've seen most of the top Cambridge chapel choirs sing psalms unconducted, and I'd be surprised if R3 CE has never broadcast one before from anywhere in the country. I'm not sure how anyone can confidently assert such a fact.

[jonfan]

I've seen most of the top Cambridge chapel choirs sing psalms unconducted, and I'd be surprised if R3 CE has never broadcast one before from anywhere in the country. I'm not sure how anyone can confidently assert such a fact.

To be fair to Anna Lapwood, she thinks it may be a first.
Trinity are the masters of singing psalms without a conductor. Their revamped website has glorious snippets of the art taken from services over the past few years.
I gather the heating failed on the morning of the service at Pembroke, provoking tuning issues in the organ. It didn’t affect the singing and listening on headphones I thought the balance was up to the standard of producer Ben Collingwood.

[ardcarp]

Heard the service now. Well done with interesting repertoire. To get a bit nerdy, yes the organ did sound a bit 'fairground-ish' when the reeds were added. Flue pipes go sharp as soon as the temperature rises because their pitch is proportional not only to their length but also to the density of the air (which includes water vapour) inside. As the majority of pipes in any organ are flue pipes, it sounds as if the reeds have gone off, but they are usually more stable. This is why the organ sounded OK in the anthem (Dove's 'sewing-machine' accompaniment using no reeds) but a bit graunchy in the hymns. Sorry. Lecture over.

[JasonPalmer]

Thanks for that nerdy insight into organ technicalities.

[Alison]

Sony have signed up Anna Lapwood. No stopping that girl.

[JasonPalmer]

I remember not being able to hear the vicar much, directional microphones instead of people being micd up ?

[Guest]

Early broadcasts - and probably at least into the 60s would almost certainly have been unconducted......

[ardcarp]

Not sure about that. But broadcasts aside, I think cathedrals considered it bad taste to have
DoMs standing in the middle and waving their arms about. Either the choir conducted itself or the O&C stood in a treble stall and made the minutest gestures. I wonder what date prominent conducting became common? I think it was within my (admittedly rather long) lifespan. I had two old friends, now sadly deceased, who were Kings choral scholars (actually, one a lay clerk I think) in Boris Ord's day, and didn't like the trend towards concert-style conducing of a cathedral service.

[cat]

Not sure about that. But broadcasts aside, I think cathedrals considered it bad taste to have
DoMs standing in the middle and waving their arms about. Either the choir conducted itself or the O&C stood in a treble stall and made the minutest gestures. I wonder what date prominent conducting became common? I think it was within my (admittedly rather long) lifespan. I had two old friends, now sadly deceased, who were Kings choral scholars (actually, one a lay clerk I think) in Boris Ord's day, and didn't like the trend towards concert-style conducing of a cathedral service.

Back in the olden days of course the organist would have been busy playing the organ. The first organ scholar at King's was in 1931, two years after Ord started. I imagine conducting gradually emerged as organists found themsleves twiddling their thumbs while their organ scholars played, and decided they ought to make themselves more useful.

[Braunschlag]

And there’s always that conducting hand operated by a lever at Ripon which looks fun.

https://cranberrymorning.blogspot.com/2013/02/ripon-cathedral-part-ii-anglophile.html?m=1

[jonfan]

And there’s always that conducting hand operated by a lever at Ripon which looks fun.
https://cranberrymorning.blogspot.co...phile.html?m=1

Brilliant. Trust Yorkshire folk to come up with something original to solve the problem.

Of course radio listeners have no idea if someone’s conducting or not!

[ardcarp]

I've played there once and (of course) joked about the clunky hand. Hard to see how it could give an upbeat! Maybe the organist used to set a speed by giving 3 or 4 introductory 'waves', A great conversation piece of course.

[Vile Consort]

Non-conducting the psalms was still going on in Cambridge in the 1970's when I was an undergraduate. My recollection of both King's and John's is that the westernmost choirmen coordinated the psalms by resting their hands on the top of the music desk and discreetly waggling their index fingers at the stalls opposite.

This was most certainly the case at John's. George Guest used to disappear whilst the psalms were being sung. According to one of his former organ scholars, quoted in a newspaper obituary, he (Guest) would slide onto the organ bench and seamlessly take over the accompaniment from the organ scholar for a few verses. I cannot be quite so certain about King's.