Music Choral music & choral Evensong thread

[P-Ro]

A thread for all choral music and general choral Evensong stuff.

I made this thread because in the last 2 years I've got back into choral music having had a hiatus of it for nearly a decade. I used to sing Evensong weekly as a kid and did it daily in a cathedral for a year. I'm spending some of my free days just going to different cathedrals in the UK to hear Evensong if they've got a particularly good canticles or anthem for that service.

So far the best service I've been to has been at York Minster where they sang Gibbons Second Servive perfectly and it was truly incredible to be there for that.

As for other non-church choral music, I'm hoping to get to hear a few of Purcell's Odes like 'Welcome to all the pleasures' in concert in the next year. Also want to hear the Bach's Matthew Passion and one of Elgar's Oratorios like 'Dream of Gerontius' this year.

Would be nice to hear if any other cafites enjoy listening to or singing choral music.

 

[P-Ro]

Searched for the word 'evensong' and looks like @Revaulx is a fan!

 

[Penna]

I used to love it when I was a CofE attendee. I grew up in a church with a very fine choral tradition, I was lucky. The choirmaster was also a very accomplished organist, so we had the full works. The choir was absolutely magical, really - they didn't just take anyone, you had to have a really good voice.

It was a boys and men only choir, so I never had the chance to take part, sadly. I did sing in a madrigal group which was part of an Renaissance music group, where we had instruments like the crumhorn.

 

[P-Ro]

It was a boys and men only choir, so I never had the chance to take part, sadly.

That has changed a lot recently. In some part due to pressure from within the Anglican church and also because there are so few trebles now. People used to send their boys to sing in the cathedrals so they would get a free private education at the cathedral schools but many of them have closed or can't afford to subsidise these boys. Some cathedrals have mixed boys and girls choirs and some have 2 separate choirs sharing the service load. There are also a lot of females singing the alto parts in the ATB.

Any reason why you don't do it anymore? I sang in a few choirs 2 years ago but I just hate rehearsing so stopped.

 

[Revaulx]

Well well well.

I’m a lay clerk at Wakefield Cathedral (Thursday evenings and all day Sunday) and also sing part time (Mondays and Tuesdays) at Bradford Cathedral.

We are just winding down for the summer right now. The great thing about cathedral choirs is that they only sing in term time and there’s a lengthy close season in July and August. Except that Wakefield are doing a tour to Poland in the first week of August and after that I’m doing a week in Truro with a load of Oxford undergraduates. Basically if you can make a reasonable noise and hack your way through unfamiliar music at sight and with minimal rehearsal you’re in.

Obviously it’s not ideal now so many Premier League games are on Sundays. And it takes its toll on family life. The pay isn’t great either . Working with really good young musicians is a real privilege though; there’s an endless stream of choral and organ scholars churning through cathedral choirs, most of whom are massive pissheads highly sociable people and great to have around.

Recruitment of choristers is an ongoing problem, but one that can be overcome with the right approach. I’m very much in favour of girls’ choirs, as I believe that girls should have the same educational opportunities as boys, and there’s no reason why they can’t make as good a sound.

 

[fishfingers15]

My wife and I were a part of semi professional 4 parts choir in Chicago, IL. She sings alto and I sing bass. We both were decent but the choir was really good

 

[Penna]

That has changed a lot recently. In some part due to pressure from within the Anglican church and also because there are so few trebles now. People used to send their boys to sing in the cathedrals so they would get a free private education at the cathedral schools but many of them have closed or can't afford to subsidise these boys. Some cathedrals have mixed boys and girls choirs and some have 2 separate choirs sharing the service load. There are also a lot of females singing the alto parts in the ATB.

Any reason why you don't do it anymore? I sang in a few choirs 2 years ago but I just hate rehearsing so stopped.

It was a long time ago - I have thought about church singing, but the Catholic churches I've belonged to haven't had much in the way of music and I'm not into the more modern stuff. Funnily enough, there's a choir at my church in Italy who are all women, and when I get better at the language I may ask to join in.

My voice is also a lot deeper now - I used to be a soprano, but no longer!

 

[P-Ro]

Well well well.

I’m a lay clerk at Wakefield Cathedral (Thursday evenings and all day Sunday) and also sing part time (Mondays and Tuesdays) at Bradford Cathedral.

We are just winding down for the summer right now. The great thing about cathedral choirs is that they only sing in term time and there’s a lengthy close season in July and August. Except that Wakefield are doing a tour to Poland in the first week of August and after that I’m doing a week in Truro with a load of Oxford undergraduates. Basically if you can make a reasonable noise and hack your way through unfamiliar music at sight and with minimal rehearsal you’re in.

Obviously it’s not ideal now so many Premier League games are on Sundays. And it takes its toll on family life. The pay isn’t great either . Working with really good young musicians is a real privilege though; there’s an endless stream of choral and organ scholars churning through cathedral choirs, most of whom are massive pissheads highly sociable people and great to have around.

Recruitment of choristers is an ongoing problem, but one that can be overcome with the right approach. I’m very much in favour of girls’ choirs, as I believe that girls should have the same educational opportunities as boys, and there’s no reason why they can’t make as good a sound.

I sang in the Manchester Cathedral Voluntary Choir (they do the Sunday Evensong) for a few months but I kept on missing services due to Chelsea playing. Also Friday evening rehearsals are a bitch for a single twenty something.

I'm planning on going to both Bradford and Wakefield Cathedrals but so far I haven't seen a service that I'd like to see when I'm free. I will give you a PM when I do next term.

I went to Evensong at St Paul's Cathedral today and I was really surprised at the standard of the gents. There weren't any bum notes and they were in tune but their voices were quite underwhelming. They are the best paid (by some margin I believe) lay clerks in the country but their voices are very average. They have a hell of a lot of trebles so they are always going to dominate but I could barely hear the tenors and basses. The countertenors were fantastic though.

 

[Revaulx]

I sang in the Manchester Cathedral Voluntary Choir (they do the Sunday Evensong) for a few months but I kept on missing services due to Chelsea playing. Also Friday evening rehearsals are a bitch for a single twenty something.

I'm planning on going to both Bradford and Wakefield Cathedrals but so far I haven't seen a service that I'd like to see when I'm free. I will give you a PM when I do next term.

It would be great to see you. Wakey put a lot of stuff up om their YouTube channel, though I think the Music Department's power of veto is rather limited and sometimes stuff gets uploaded that we'd rather wasn't!

I went to Evensong at St Paul's Cathedral today and I was really surprised at the standard of the gents. There weren't any bum notes and they were in tune but their voices were quite underwhelming. They are the best paid (by some margin I believe) lay clerks in the country but their voices are very average. They have a hell of a lot of trebles so they are always going to dominate but I could barely hear the tenors and basses. The countertenors were fantastic though.

I think the problem at St Paul's is similar to that of other establishments in cities where there's a constant stream of lucratively paid work for good singers, in that the regular lay clerks are always buggering off and getting deps in. This is certainly the case at Manchester. I occasionally go to Evensong there as one of the tenors is a former Wakefield colleague and it's rare to have both of the "permanent" basses there; last time I went both were absent. Even if the deps are of a high standard they tend not to gel as well because they aren't so used to the sound of the choir / the building / the conductor's foibles etc. This is why remote places that it's hard to escape from (Ripon, Hereford etc.) tend to have excellent back rows.

 

[P-Ro]

Just listened to the St John's Cambridge Advent service on Sounds. The backline is seriously impressive in this recording and all the plainsong Antiphons are pretty perfect. Probably the best plainsong singing I've ever heard in all honesty. The bass soloist for the Howells is incredible too, so much so that I'd be shocked if that wasn't a professional.


https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000xlz5

 

[T00lsh3d]

Just listened to the St John's Cambridge Advent service on Sounds. The backline is seriously impressive in this recording and all the plainsong Antiphons are pretty perfect. Probably the best plainsong singing I've ever heard in all honesty. The bass soloist for the Howells is incredible too, so much so that I'd be shocked if that wasn't a professional.


https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000xlz5

Sang at Beverley Minster as a lad, I’ll give it a listen later

 

[P-Ro]

Sang at Beverley Minster as a lad, I’ll give it a listen later

One of those places I always meant to visit and just never got round to it. Looks a pretty fine building.

 

[T00lsh3d]

One of those places I always meant to visit and just never got round to it. Looks a pretty fine building.

It is mate. I sang a solo there at my dads funeral ceremony when I was 10. The place was packed. Can’t even remember the song, all I can remember was the nerves

 

[P-Ro]

It is mate. I sang a solo there at my dads funeral ceremony when I was 10. The place was packed. Can’t even remember the song, all I can remember was the nerves

That sounds absolutely horrendous. Sounds like he got a good send off though, most people don't get a half full small chapel for their funeral.

 

[Volumiza]

Love me a bit of choral music, used to be in the local church choir as a young boy and although I’m not a churchgoer, the sound of a good church choir stirs the soul like little else.

 

[P-Ro]

Free day in central London and saw that St Paul's Cathedral had a decent evensong tonight so heading there now. Walmisley in D Minor and Blessed City, Heavenly Salem. Will be my first evensong since covid so really looking forward to it.

 

[Vidyoyo]

When it comes on in the club

 

[Salt Bailly]

Feels like nobody outside of Tolkien novels should be using the word 'evensong'.

 

[P-Ro]

Not a bad view. Choir were excellent and much better than the last 2 times I saw them. As they should be too, it's the best paid cathedral gig in the country.