CE Westminster Abbey 12th October 2011

[DracoM]

CE Westminster Abbey
Eve of the Feast of Edward the Confessor



Order of Service:


Introit: Os justi meditabitur (Bruckner)
Responses: Matthew Martin
Psalms: 98, 99 (Elvey, Morley)
First Lesson: Ecclesiasticus 2: 7-18
Canticles: The Second Service (Leighton)
Second Lesson: 1 Corinthians 1: 18-end
Anthem: Give unto the Lord (Elgar)
Hymn: Christ is the King (Vulpius)


Organ Voluntary: Prelude and Fugue in B flat Op 35 no 6 (Mendelssohn)




Robert Quinney (Sub Organist)
James O'Donnell (Organist and Master of the Choristers)

[Magnificat]

At last CE sung live by a choir of boys and men.

It is nearly Half Term but better late than never I suppose.

Music looks great. The introit will test them.

VCC

[ardcarp]

The introit will test them.

Os Justi is fairly standard repertoire n'est-ce pas?

[Magnificat]

ardcarp

Standard yes but it has to be sung well to really pull it off.

Let's see how they sustain the high notes at meditabitur sapientiam. How well this phrase is sung really takes this piece from being just excellently sung to being superlatively sung in my opinion.

VCC

[ardcarp]

I think it's my favourte of all the Bruckner Motets. Virga Jesse is a close 2nd. The ones with trombones are impressive, but Os has something very special.

[pole_2_pole]

At last CE sung live by a choir of boys and men.

It is nearly Half Term but better late than never I suppose.

Music looks great. The introit will test them.

VCC

CE one before Exeter was boys and men...

Doubt the introit will test Wabs, but eh, I may be wrong!

[decantor]

At last CE sung live by a choir of boys and men.

WARNING: statistical nerdery and potential male chauvinism ahead.

Live AND all-male? Of the 12 CE broadcasts since Ripon's end-of-summer-term contribution on 13th July, only TWO (Worcester 3 Choirs, Edington) have fulfilled both conditions - well, it is the Long Vac period. So far this year, there have been 41 CEs, of which 21 have fulfilled both conditions, by my reckoning. Of the 13 broadcasts still to come this year, 10 are possibly - and six are certainly - going to fulfil both conditions.

This tells us two things. (1) In a country famed for its all-male cathedral choirs, only about half of broadcast CEs reflect that famed constitution; OTOH, with so many holiday periods, and so many mixed choirs worthy of recognition, that half-and-half tally is not bad. (2) Christmas is closer than you think!

[Magnificat]

CE one before Exeter was boys and men...

That was a recording of evensong sung at the Southern Cathedrals Festival last academic year.

We always used to have contributions to CE from cathedral boys and men from the start of the academic year in September but these have dropped off considerably in recent years. The college choirs, of course, can't start broadcasting until October when the terms start.

Does it really take our cathedral choirmasters this long to get their boys up and running to broadcasting standard? It appears that it does because they apparently don't want a date in September.

VCC

[pole_2_pole]

Does it really take our cathedral choirmasters this long to get their boys up and running to broadcasting standard? It appears that it does because they apparently don't want a date in September.

VCC

Does it really matter that CE broadcasts have not been sung entirely by cathedral choirs made up solely of boys and men since September? Are you not pleased that this radio programme is still running, and not on the verge of being cut or messed about with in a way that would really ruin it? To be honest, if I were a Cathedral DoM why put undue pressure and stress on a new set of boys when all you really want to do is get the day-to-day routine up and running, get them working as a team and then approach the matter of a broadcast. And let's be honest, a choir's there to sing what ever daily office it's required to do, not just a BBC Radio 3 Choral Evensong.

[ardcarp]

Pole_to_Polei s quite right that we are all (if I may presume to speak for 'all') delighted that broadcast CE has escaped the axe (fingers crossed). He is exactly right also that a cathedral choir's raison d'etre is to sing the daily office....now mainly CE plus the Sunday stuff. But the effect broadcast CE has on standards of cathedral music should not be underestimated. The fact that we can all, whether DOMs, lay-clerks or armchair snipers, can listen...e,g, to how St Custard's has pulled off a small miracle or how The Metropolitan Church of the Universe is less than the sum of its parts... is salutary.

A previous post commented that there is less certainty (partly because of voices breaking) about what the choir will be like after the Summer hols. It is only natural that a DOM will want to show the choir in its best possible light in that shop-window on an (early!) Wednesday afternoon.

[ardcarp]

Sorry about mis-spelling your name, Pole_2_Pole.

[BBMmk2]

The eve of Edward the Confessor eh? One of my ancestors to!!

[Magnificat]

Does it really matter that CE broadcasts have not been sung entirely by cathedral choirs made up solely of boys and men since September? Are you not pleased that this radio programme is still running, and not on the verge of being cut or messed about with in a way that would really ruin it? To be honest, if I were a Cathedral DoM why put undue pressure and stress on a new set of boys when all you really want to do is get the day-to-day routine up and running, get them working as a team and then approach the matter of a broadcast. And let's be honest, a choir's there to sing what ever daily office it's required to do, not just a BBC Radio 3 Choral Evensong.

pole_2_pole

Do you mean to tell me that out of all our cathedral choirs of boys and men there was not one capable of broadcasting during September. If so that is disgraceful. Frankly, I would question whether any DoM approached to broadcast in September and who turned the chance down is up to his job. If any DoM hasn't got half a dozen boys capable of holding the top line at any one time he/she is a waste of space.

VCC

[pole_2_pole]

pole_2_pole

Do you mean to tell me that out of all our cathedral choirs of boys and men there was not one capable of broadcasting during September. If so that is disgraceful. Frankly, I would question whether any DoM approached to broadcast in September and who turned the chance down is up to his job. If any DoM hasn't got half a dozen boys capable of holding the top line at any one time he/she is a waste of space.

VCC

Saucer of milk for VCC! Not sure this is the correct thread for continued bitching, but I'm gonna continue for a moment...

I think calling a DoM who doesn't b'cast in September a 'waste of space' is a little harsh, but I almost see your drift (to an extent). Maybe the beeb deliberately start rolling the cathedral choirs out later on in the autumn term for that reason - directors won't risk a wobbly topline and red faces in September but will certainly feel more comfortable with a later slot in the term.

Could you imagining having to do a team 4x400m relay race in the World Championships after nearly 2 months off and with only 2 or 3 weeks of training, plus some of your best runners having had retired the previous season AND live on TV...?

[Magnificat]

Perhaps I was a little harsh in what I said especially as boys can quickly go down with illnesses on returning to school after the holidays but in the normal course of events, in my experience, DoMs who know what they are about have their choirs up and running in a couple of weeks at most and quite often the boys can be back to competent form within a week.

I don't think DoMs should be too wary of broadcasting their choirs early in the academic year as there are just as many risks with services sung at all other times. February can be dodgy for illness, for example, and early Summer for hay fever etc and, of course, viruses that can lay a choir low are around all the time. I should imagine that most of the time for a DoM ( even the best) it's a question of keeping your fingers crossed.

VCC