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Let's talk choral music.

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Redball:
Barmymoo had just made a point in another thread, about performing the Faure Requiem as part of a Sunday evening service. I wanted to know more.  In the process of PM-ing, it occurred to us that a choral music thread might be of interest. I found this one, last used in 2007.

Barmymoo:
Choral thread! I suspect it might just be the two of us in here, but never mind.

Tonight is the first rehearsal for our Beethoven's Missa Solemnis concert next term. Apparently the chorus will be made up of our choir, Jesus College Choir, the university Chamber Choir and a few hand-picked members of the chapel choir a tier below ours. And then some professional soloists. I'm reserving judgment so far, but last year's equivalent concert was a nightmare.

pwhodges:

--- Quote from: Barmymoo on 14 Nov 2012, 08:44 ---Choral thread! I suspect it might just be the two of us in here, but never mind.
--- End quote ---

Considering the number of recordings of my choral concerts and other things that I've posted in this forum in the past, that's not quite fair!

Redball:
OK, the three of us. Plus Carl.
I wish we could change the name of the thread though. It sounds like the name of an ancient educational radio programme, either CBC or BBC, and the name followed by a bang!
What was last year's concert, and why was it a nightmare? Were there train wrecks in performance? I can't recall more than two or three bad performances. Mediocre, probably, but not bad. I think we did a train wreck in a Messiah performance, although we'd done it annually for years. And a director who was perfectly at home with most 18th and 19th century music and could do Rutter quite well (Magnificat, Gloria, Requiem), led us in an abysmal Carmina Burana.

Barmymoo:
Sorry Paul! Temporary brain fart. I thought of you when we first discussed the need for this thread.

Last year's concert we did Debussy's La Damoiselle élue with just the girls, and then the final movement of some Wagner thing that lasted for about an hour and only included two minutes of alto and sopranos right at the end. We didn't even get to go out on stage to sing it - just stood backstage, and the top sops had to face away from the audience end so that they sounded further away. We sat for hours and hours listening to the men rehearse and on one notable evening were kept for an extra 45 minutes after a rehearsal meant to finish at 10.30pm and were not actually used at all. The conductor was just appallingly thoughtless. I'm sure he's a musical genius but it was a nightmare to be part of.

This year's one is much better - it's predominantly choral with solos over the top, not long stretches of just soloists. It was fun romping through the whole Mass in three hours, although I anticipate having to do a lot of individual work on it to get the notes right. Which is nice, it's good to actually be challenged by the music.

Carmina Burana is easy to get horribly wrong.

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