Weds 6th March - Magdalen College, Oxford

[ardcarp]

Thanks sturkel. It's hard to keep up with all the listening! I'd like another continuously plugged-in life in a parallel universe but with some sort of worm-hole of communication. Whatever....I'm looking forward to hearing NCO, probably in the wee small hours. Meanwhile, please go ahead and start the thread!

[ardcarp]

I've had a reply from Daniel Hyde:

Dear Mr (?) Ard Carp

Many thanks for your email. I'm glad to hear that people far and wide
enjoyed our broadcast from Magdalen this week. It's comforting to see
people discussing issues other than whether we got it right, in tune,
combined boys and girls etc etc...

There's a wealth of general info in the web about Buxtehude, and Membra
Jesu nostri in particular. So far as the Latin is concerned, perhaps
Buxtehude was just taken by the medieval text he uses, which would of
course have been in Latin. I suspect it's a mistake to assume that
anything Lutheran would immediately require the vernacular. I think
back then the reality would have been far more fluid than the history
books might have us think today. Besides, we shouldn't forget that Bach
was the Latin teacher to the boys at the time he was writing his
cantatas. I suspect Latin was a sign of education, and things would not
have changed over night with Luther's little speech in Wittenburg! Just
thinking off the top of my head, one could say it's similar to Byrd and
Tallis in this country, continuing to write and publish in Latin well
after Mass and all things Catholic were banned. I rather think
composers would have been far more pragmatic than we give them credit
for, and perhaps Buxtehude was just writing to order, as part of his
Abendmusik series. I'm not sure.

What I do know is that we all very much enjoyed preparing it, the boys
especially, and I'm glad it has been well received. It was a hearty
reminder to me that children have discerning tastes and they know
quality when it's presented to them. I now have a group of boys asking
for 'more Bach, Buxtehude and Handel next term, sir' and I'm not
complaining!

I may well join your message boards one day, though I tend not to get
too involved with the culture we now live in where everyone can 'have
their say'. Although, if I do sign up, you'll know I'm there, as I'll
do it under my own name. I'm always intrigued as to why the R3
messageboarders all have to be in disguise!

All good wishes to you, wherever you are,

Yours
Daniel Hyde

--
Easter at Magdalen 2013
Good Friday
29 March 2013 at 7.30pm
Magdalen College Chapel
Doric String Quartet
Roderick Williams (narrator)
Haydn, Seven Last Words of our Saviour on the Cross
Tickets £10 / £7
Available from Magdalen College website: www.magd.ox.ac.uk/tickets or on
the door

Holy Saturday
30 March 2013 at 7.30pm
St John the Evangelist, Iffley Road, Oxford
The Choir of Magdalen College, Oxford
John Mark Ainsley (Evangelist)
Giles Underwood (Christus)
Catherine Bott
Rory McCleery
John McMunn
Edward Grint
Oxford Baroque
Directed by Daniel Hyde
J S Bach, St John Passion
Tickets £20 / £15 / £10
Available from Magdalen College website: www.magd.ox.ac.uk/tickets or on
the door

[Anna]

Oh, what a lovely reply from Daniel Hyde! (I particularly liked his It's comforting to see
people discussing issues other than whether we got it right, in tune, combined boys and girls etc etc...
That made me laugh And, also lovely that the boys are asking for more Buxtehude (and could we have more on R3 please?)
(And well done to you for emailing him in the first place)

[DracoM]

Actually, Anna, ardcarp and I are both fairly regularly in touch off-board with DoMs, who are usually and quite understandably a bit chary of coming on here.

[Vile Consort]

I often wonder if boys have an "Oh wow!" reaction on first acquaintance with old music - Tallis or the Parsons Ave Maria, for instance.

Yes, let's hear more Buxtehude. He's a top man, and his choral works and chamber music aren't played often enough.

[decantor]

Actually, Anna, ardcarp and I are both fairly regularly in touch off-board with DoMs, who are usually and quite understandably a bit chary of coming on here.

Absolutely: one thinks of turkeys-at-Christmas, turkey-shoot, and so on. I advise them to stay away. Aren't they busy?

OTOH, I find that DoMs welcome personal appreciation after a broadcast. An email - failing that, a snail-mail - expressing gratitude for musical impact or standards attained in a service must surely be a gratifying boost to those who work hard to uplift a daily congregation whose numbers can often be counted on their fingers. In my experience, about half of DoMs take the trouble to reply - a labour of supererogation, I feel, a sort of extended "je vous en prie", a thank-you for a thank-you. But all communication is to the general good: we have a tradition of which we can be mutually proud.

As for "It's comforting to see people discussing issues other than whether we got it right, in tune, combined boys and girls etc etc" - well, I'm not so sure. Do not such remarks show how much the work of DoMs matters to us? And shouldn't that be an encouragement to them? I cannot believe they would prefer to operate in a local vacuum, or receive automatic vacuous praise. Carping helps nobody, but engagement is of the essence, isn't it? If the whole business matters, then so does every aspect of it.

So Magdalen's choristers want more Buxtehude and Bach. Amen to that. It would be interesting to learn what they would displace to make room for these masters. But perhaps it's better that we don't know.

[mangerton]

I often wonder if boys have an "Oh wow!" reaction on first acquaintance with old music - Tallis or the Parsons Ave Maria, for instance.

Well, I certainly did, when in the swinging sixties I was introduced to Palestrina's Missa Papae Marcelli .

[ardcarp]

At the risk of sounding boring, Buxtehude's originality as a composer shone forth in his organ works. Many of his keyboard figurations and techniques made a huge impression on JSB and it's easy to spot the 'Buxtehude' bits in his preludes and toccatas.

[Mr Stoat]

Buxtehude is a Top Man.

In another forum, a typo resulted in "BuxteDUDE" !

[Gabriel Jackson]

Actually, Anna, ardcarp and I are both fairly regularly in touch off-board with DoMs

Yes, often to check in advance whether it will be boys or girls singing, so as to avoid any more embarassing mistakes...

[MrGongGong]

Actually, Anna, ardcarp and I are both fairly regularly in touch off-board with DoMs

What you get up to in private really has no place in a public arena such as this

[doversoul1]

Just in case: the programme/service will be broadcast again tomorrow (Sunday) at 4.00pm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01r1027

[ardcarp]

Yes, often to check in advance whether it will be boys or girls singing, so as to avoid any more embarassing mistakes...

Oh dear, Gabriel. Do we have to play this silly game of top trumps all the time?

[paul duggan2]

Actually, Anna, ardcarp and I are both fairly regularly in touch off-board with DoMs, who are usually and quite understandably a bit chary of coming on here.

And how they all admire you.

[Nick Armstrong]

And how they all admire you.

Another little ray of sunshine on 'The Choir' board...