CE St John's College, Cambridge Wed, 13th Feb 2013

[Keraulophone]

Well, our little fella sang quavers upwards from the top C: tied C, D, Eflat, D, C, Bflat, Aflat, G then F & the turn to G... in the last iteration only - which made it sound so astonishing.

[ardcarp]

So this is not Gavin Turner's WB Choir? Or did O'Reilly take it over from GT?

Don't know, Draco, but I remember GT's outfit as a London-based choir, whilst L'Ensemble William Byrd is all-French with the exception of the director.

[decantor]

Well, our little fella sang quavers upwards from the top C: tied C, D, Eflat, D, C, Bflat, Aflat, G then F & the turn to G... in the last iteration only - which made it sound so astonishing.

Wonderful! Buy him some chips on my tab (and a pint for the DoM). Will the result be webcast? The world is waiting......

[Miles Coverdale]

I wonder if MC or anyone else is familiar with this: http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/...a/Miserere.htm

I wasn't, no. I'd certainly be interested to see the manuscript. The opening sentence you quoted does strike me as being slightly oxymoronic though: 'What is sung is the genuine article in its early 19th century form'.

[ardcarp]

Yes, I was aware of that; but what I think G. O'Reilly means is 'the genuine article' in the sense of its being the Allegri Mis as battered and shaped by a pure Sistine Chapel tradition and not received via Mozart, Mendelssohn, Liszt, Ivor Atkins, Kings College Cambridge or any other non-Kosher hand.

[Wolsey]

So this is not Gavin Turner's WB Choir? Or did O'Reilly take it over from GT?

The genesis and demise of Gavin Turner's William Byrd Choir is given here by the man himself. It shouldn't be confused with Ensemble William Byrd.

Some places occasionally wreak a tiny variation by doing the plainsong verses to the Tonus Peregrinus instead of the usual.

Seeing as the polyphonic verses are based on the Tonus peregrinus, it's a welcome move - or even reciting on a monotone (on the dominant). Anything but the oddly-chosen and ill-fitting Tone II.

[Simon Biazeck]

Seeing as the polyphonic verses are based on the Tonus peregrinus, it's a welcome move - or even reciting on a monotone (on the dominant). Anything but the oddly-chosen and ill-fitting Tone II.

Quite! We used the Wandering Tone this year (solo voice for the chant) at the London Oratory in my edition. Much more vocal down a semitone (high B's) and excellent for overall pitch stability. We also incorporate some of Allegri's original quartet verses.

[Keraulophone]

Will the result be webcast? The world is waiting......

The Solemn Eucharist for Ash Wednesday was recorded for webcasting, though it hasn't yet been posted on Soundcloud. The world will have to continue to wait a while, as people are away over half term and the powers that be may even deem it not close enough to perfection to put up!

80+ minute service, including Byrd 4-part Mass + Allegri Ps 51 during the Imposition of Ashes.

He is likely to perform the same feat next year, Decantor - why not park your yacht and listen for yourself in situ?

[decantor]

The Solemn Eucharist for Ash Wednesday was recorded for webcasting.....

He is likely to perform the same feat next year, Decantor - why not park your yacht and listen for yourself in situ?

If you have influence, Keraulophone, prepare to use it now. Eb may not be the key, but top Eb may well be the key factor.

Yacht? I'm old, my canvas is long stowed. But be assured I plan to hear for myself - then, or hopefully much sooner. I trust your 'little fella' has insured his vocal folds.

[Keraulophone]

...the liturgy was performed by liturgical choirs, almost invariably with boys on the top line, and the sound was (and still is) distinctive... for me, the traditional cathedral choir has a spiritual legitimacy surpassing that of choirs in general, even those of superior quality.

If you have influence, Keraulophone, prepare to use it now. Eb may not be the key, but top Eb may well be the key factor.
Yacht? I'm old, my canvas is long stowed.

Your wish is my command... actually, someone in the Cathedral office miraculously put it up last night - hope you enjoy the service, and that people don't find the SC volume settings too low, as they did previously.

https://soundcloud.com/truro-cathedral/sets/ash-wedesday-eucharist-from


I might put this on the Truro Webcast thread (which was becoming very threadbare).

..."the transport has shrunk to a mere Shrimper on the higher reaches above St Mawes. But it's a neck of the woods that has engaged me for well over thirty years, and I claim something like baronial rights." Decantor, 18/5/12

Sorry, I meant the Shrimper, Baron Decantor! Perhaps it was ardcarp who had the yacht.

[ardcarp]

Perhaps it was ardcarp who had the yacht.

I couldn't possibly comment...

[ardcarp]

Just heard the top Eb in the final favoriti bit. A lovely surprise for those not expecting it! How about this for a challenge next time: the last one is done by two trebles, both going up to the top C, then one of them flies up to top F and they both come down a whole octave (outlining F melodic minor) in perfect fourths. The top one then does the usual turn, the bottom one holds the C he's landed on but goes up one note to D for the 4-3 suspension in the lower voices? O well. Just a fantasy.....

[Simon]

... then one of them flies up to top F and they both come down a whole octave (outlining F melodic minor) in perfect fourths. The top one then does the usual turn, the bottom one holds the C he's landed on but goes up one note to D for the 4-3 suspension in the lower voices? O well. Just a fantasy.....

<gulp>

At great risk, some of us used to see how far up the scale we could reasonably go. I say risk, because straining our voices was strictly forbidden and if the DoM or any of the music staff had heard us we would have been in trouble with a capital T. I managed top D ok. IIRC a couple of us managed E. As far as I know, nobody managed any tone on an F, though I expect someone would have been able to squeak it. I think E was considered the limit beyond which nobody could go.

[ardcarp]

E was considered the limit beyond which nobody could go.

Not even The Queen of the Night?

[Simon]

I meant young trebles, ard. What did we young innocents know then about hell's vengeance?

(Indeed, what does this less young innocent know about it even now?)