St Paul's - Third Time Lucky?
26 October 2015
Readers may remember that on Monday 24 October 2011, the eve of
St Crispin's Day (Patron Saint of Cobblers, and therefore very much
a Saint of Northampton), the Northampton Bach Choir were due to sing
at St Paul's Cathedral for the very first time. Unfortunately the
Occupy London protests were at their very height, and all services
at the Cathedral were cancelled that week. With less than 72 hours
notice we relocated to Gloucester Cathedral, through the kindness of
the Canon Pastor, Celia Thomson.
It's official - we're here again
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St Paul's kindly agreed to us coming the next year, so on Monday 29
October we finally made it to St Paul's! This time the complication
was with our coach company who went into liquidation the day before
we departed. Our Concerts Manager, Mark, and the Chairman at the
time, Jennie, sorted everything out, and whilst we lost a big chunk
of money, we did make it, and sang superbly. A few days later we
received a wonderful letter from St Paul's saying how delighted they
were with the standard of the choir, and inviting us to return.
Choir members outside St Paul's Cathedral
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Ivan preparing his fingering with 113 stops
to play with
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So... today, Monday 26 October we returned to St Paul's ... but
what would be the drama? The Cathedral hadn't been closed nor had
our coach company gone into liquidation. Well, our expected outward
journey time of two-and-a-quarter hours by coach, more than doubled
due to a fire, numerous road blockages, and roadworks. We spent just
over four-and-a-half hours getting from Northampton to London! So... our lunch break was ditched and our rehearsal in the Song Room
had to be efficiently dispatched to give us a little breathing time
before the rehearsal in the Quire Stalls.
A wonderful day was had by all, and once again we had very
complimentary feedback from the clergy and Cathedral staff; one of
our members enquired with the sidesmen how many had been in the
congregation, and they had counted 352 for the service register! And
that doesn't note the countless people who were milling around
towards the West end of the Cathedral.
Looking down from the Whispering Gallery
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The stalls are so huge you wouldn't think
there are 50 singers here
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As at Coventry the previous week, the Magnificat and Nunc
dimittis were sung to the thrilling setting in B flat major by the
Victorian composer Henry Smart, the Responses to the setting by the
late seventeenth-century composer Richard Ayleward, and the anthem
was the late Georgian composer Samuel Wesley's "Exultate Deo". Last
time we sang at St Paul's the anthem we sang was "O Lord, look down
from heaven" from the pen of another Georgian composer, Jonathan Battishill. Both were selected because they contain dramatic moments
where the full voiced choir releases a loud and high chord, followed
by a bar or more of silence. This effect was truly remarkable in the
ten-second acoustic!
Having now sung Choral Evensong at Coventry and Gloucester
Cathedrals, as well as at St Paul's Cathedral twice, we are now
looking at where we might go next. Somewhere that can accommodate at
least fifty singers is essential, and within "day trip" distance.
That sadly rules out Westminster Abbey or St George's Chapel,
Windsor, but we will report just as soon as we have our next
exciting visit booked!
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