CE Bath Abbey 19.i.Xl

[DracoM]

CE Bath Abbey

Order of Service:

Introit: Lux aurumque (Eric Whitacre)
Responses: Piccolo
Psalms: 98, 99, 100, 101 (Russell, Ouseley, Attwood, Stainer)
First Lesson: 1 Kings 19: 9b-18
Office Hymn: Thou whom shepherds worshipped (Quem pastores)
Canticles: Joubert in C
Second Lesson: Mark 9: 2-13
Anthem: The Beatitudes (Pärt)
Hymn: O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness (Was lebet)


Organ Voluntary: Fugue sur le thème du Carillon des Heures de la Cathédrale de Soissons (Duruflé)


Sub-Organist: Marcus Sealy
Director of Music: Peter King

[bach736]

You might like to see Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir singing the introit here :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7o7BrlbaDs

[Lizzie]

You might like to see Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir singing the introit here :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7o7BrlbaDs

I think this might also . address the query from a previous question from a poster around Christmas time, who asked about a .piece beginning 'Lux Lux'. Unfortunately I can't recall who it was ... Hope they might be reading.Best. Liz

[Lizzie]

You might like to see Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir singing the introit here :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7o7BrlbaDs

I think this might also . address the query from a previous question from a poster around Christmas time, who asked about a .piece beginning 'Lux Lux'. Unfortunately I can't recall who it was ... Hope they might be reading.Best. Liz

[Simon]

Yes. Thanks bach, bach. I quite like these novel ideas with some musical value and interest that one comes across on places like youtube, provided that they are recognised for being just novel ideas with some musical value and interest.

There won't be quite the same acoustic at Bath Abbey, will there?

[DracoM]

Reminder. Bath on CE this afternoon.

[DracoM]

I am talking rubbbish. Elgar is tonight at St T NYC.
Arvo Part Beatitudes at Bath!!

Sorry.

[Simon]

Well, there are things to say, but at the moment I'm stunned.

What a privilege! Awesome, magnificent, sublime, superb!

[Op. XXXIX]

Well, there are things to say, but at the moment I'm stunned.

An aural treat of the highest order. Particularly loved the Office Hymn (a favourite), the Joubert, and the closing Duruflé.

But perhaps I am a bit biased. The gentleman reading the Second Lesson is a friend of mine.

Cheers,
Jason

[DracoM]

I liked the way the Part was made to build towards the final paean followed by some striking bit of organ - well done to both Peter King and Marcus Sealy. I have to say I'm not terrible fond of those kinds of responses, but that's merely subjective.

Joubert canticles have a kind of monumentality which in the context of what else was being sung worked pretty well. Nicely sung too.

Whitacre: well, I'm not a terrific fan of his music. Has a kind of almost 'Reader's Digest Modern' about it - a thought that is not going to endear me to anyone I suspect - BUT very effective in the space, and excellently sung and good introit material. It struck me what a contrast there was between the warmth and even comfort of the Whitacre with the somewhat chillier asceticism of the Part.

Ambitious repertoire very well managed indeed.

[Magnificat]

Enjoyed the service and singing very much indeed.

Since it has not been mentioned here or during the service and so that everyone is aware of the forces they were listening to, the service was sung yet again by the girls and men ( girls aged 11 to 18 ) .

Time and resources at Bath do seem to be concentrated on the girls - understandable perhaps - but it would be nice to hear the boys and men sometime.

VCC

[weston752]

As the Rector said in his introduction to the service, Bath Abbey is a parish church; and as I have said previously on the BBC Messageboard, it is perhaps more remarkable that one group of singers broadcasts regularly than that another does not. 'Time and resources at Bath do seem to be concentrated on the girls' - I'm not sure whether that is a reference to the BBC or to the Abbey, but the boys and girls workloads and rehearsal times are divided equally. It is a simple fact that the girls sing for a greater number of years and are older - so that it is inevitable that they have greater maturity and more experience. As it happens, the boys and the girls (but not the men!) are broadcasting on Radio 4's Sunday Worship this coming Sunday morning.

As one who was singing in the service I am pleased that it has created a favourable impression; and Draco, you do know that the Toccata which ends the Part Beatitudes is integal to the piece?

[DracoM]

Yes, which is precisely why I drew attention to it!

[ardcarp]

weston752 I thoroughly enjoyed the whole thing, especially may I say the Joubert Canticles. Great to hear something from one of our IMO under-represented fine English composers (OK I know he came from SA originally). I was a student of his many moons ago...long before he penned the Mag and Nunc in C. He always does something original in his music...a sort of polar opposite to Part and Whitacre! I think you really got to the kernel of that Mag and Nunc at Bath, so well done all at Bath.

[Magnificat]

[QUOTE=weston752;25210]As the Rector said in his introduction to the service, Bath Abbey is a parish church; and as I have said previously on the BBC Messageboard, it is perhaps more remarkable that one group of singers broadcasts regularly than that another does not. 'Time and resources at Bath do seem to be concentrated on the girls' - I'm not sure whether that is a reference to the BBC or to the Abbey, but the boys and girls workloads and rehearsal times are divided equally. It is a simple fact that the girls sing for a greater number of years and are older - so that it is inevitable that they have greater maturity and more experience.

Weston,

It is the fact that the girls have the advantages you describe that makes me think that Peter King probably concentrates more on them because they are easier to train.

This is understandable in the circumstances at Bath but it worries me slightly that perhaps this could be too easy an excuse for not using the boys in broadcasts. How do the boys feel about being passed over all the time I wonder?

VCC