CE Salisbury Cathedral 1st August 2012

[Tenebrae]

Having now heard it on iplayer I must say I thought this probably was the best 'combined' choir CE I can recall hearing. Perhaps they dropped a mark or two on the psalms which maybe is to be expected but voluntary, magnificat & the new anthem all first class. I wished I had been in the building to watch the choir 'rock' the Swayne & fully to appreciate the Cox...too long? Not for me

[muticus]

Likewise, Ardcarp, - and even more so with the Missa Tiburtina - a wonderful work - but oh sooooooo tricky. We actually rated an individual 'phone call from the DOM if that was on the combination sheet. Sadly not in repertoire at the ranch any more. (sorry to be so slow at replying - but you guys are so quick off the mark.) All credit to Mǽstro Cox for being brave enough to stick with that beautifully effective macaronic text. We have a monoglot Precentor currently - let me loose on that hobby-horse at your peril...
A beautifully and skillfully sung CE - Thank you.

[Double Diapason]

can of worms alert! Boys or girls...?

Not sure i could ever attempt to sing the swayne...

both!

[Double Diapason]

What a contrast to last week! Excellent CE from Salisbury, full marks all round! Great to hear Rustington, a very fine tune.
I said that it was both boys and girls above but was starting to wonder if it was just girls until I heard the boy in the anthem.
Rather Simon Bell than me in the Cox (and the Dupre actually!) but didn't the Father Willis sound wonderful! I really enjoyed the anthem I have to say (top line was staring up at the notes at times though - noticeable when the organ came in with the same note and "refreshed" it).

[terratogen]

CAN OF WORMS ALERT! Boys or girls...?

I believe that earthworms are hermaphroditic—though I would never presume to guess about their gender presentations, of course!—so there might be trouble pinning down the composition of that particular can. As for the choristers, though, the Southern Cathedrals programme credits this Evensong to the men and girls of Salisbury and of Winchester. Whether or not that's how it played out the evening of, I couldn't say, but I found it a grand, festive evensong irrespective of the make-up of the choir.

I wonder if someone at Salisbury isn't rather fond of the Harris 'Behold the Tabernacle,' perhaps particularly for the girls. Maybe I only notice because I've seen a wonderful, HQ video of the choir singing it and the performance has stuck in my mind, but the piece seems to have featured all over Salisbury's calendar and recorded/promotional material. (Not that I'm complaining.) Did Harris have a Salisbury association?

Wasn't quite sure what to make of the Swayne Magnificat—I half expected the jolly Ghost of Christmas Present to come frolicking down between the cantoris and decani—but was very soothed by the Wood Nunc Dimittis, which I don't think I'd heard before. Neil Cox's commission, too, I found really grand. Loved the exposed treble entrance at 'Ecce venio...' and the way in which the anthem swallowed up and released the hymn. It felt a bit as though the whole historical project of choral church music fissured in a really mighty way and spilled forth that bit of the hymn, only to be stitched back together—albeit in a slightly changed way—by the treble soloist.

(But having written that down, it all seems a bit silly.)

At any rate: confident, skillful singing throughout the psalms and, indeed, throughout the service. If there were ever any instances in which the choir came across like multiple factions rather than one cohesive unit—and I don't recall any—they must have been both very brief and very few and far between.

Very well done, Salisbury and Winchester (and Chichester?), and thank you.

[Magnificat]

What a contrast to last week! Excellent CE from Salisbury, full marks all round! Great to hear Rustington, a very fine tune.
I said that it was both boys and girls above but was starting to wonder if it was just girls until I heard the boy in the anthem.
Rather Simon Bell than me in the Cox (and the Dupre actually!) but didn't the Father Willis sound wonderful! I really enjoyed the anthem I have to say (top line was staring up at the notes at times though - noticeable when the organ came in with the same note and "refreshed" it).

D/D

If the service was sung just by Salisbury and Winchester girls and men as Terratogen suggests ( why list it as the choirs of all three cathedrals? - odd to say the least.) then you must take account of the fact that the Winchester girls are considerably older and likely to be more technically accomplished than the boys in last week's broadcast.

Has Simon Bell's successor been announced yet?

VCC

[RAC]

D/D

Has Simon Bell's successor been announced yet?

VCC

From Winchester Cathedral Newsletter June 2012

“Another new face to look forward to is George Castle who has been appointed as Assistant Director of Music in succession to Simon Bell. That transition does not take place until the new choral year commences. George comes to us from Worcester Cathedral.”

RAC