At one church where I play there are a number of people who robe and sit in the choir stalls in the chancel. However, they do not sing an anthem and the communion setting is not used (except on group service days). They just sing the hymns in harmony.
The small congregation tends to be located from the middle to the rear of the nave. It struck me that this is an 'us' and 'them' situation and one wonders what the point is.
I played three pre-service voluntaries today because there was a problem with the sound on the technology which allows the service to be streamed on YouTube. The start of the service was delayed.
The choir does not process in but they take their places before the service starts. The organ console is right next to the choir facing East and the Altos sit with their backs to the console, facing North.
One lady was having an extended conversation with the other alto which was rather loud. She did shut up by the 3rd voluntary but I felt this was extremely rude of her. I am a guest deputy so I did not feel it was my place to say anything as I'd quite like to be asked back. In fact I am filling in there several times before the and of August.
If she does it again I may mention it.
Over the next few weeks I am filling in at a church where I have not played before but I have tried the organ. I felt I ought to go to choir practice last night as there is a big anthem on Sunday which I will come to in a moment.
I took all the music which has been issued to me and I had already learnt or revised most of it. After a few warm-up hymns we tried the Franck anthem for this coming weekend. After that we went over more of the up-coming anthems including some of those which I am not down to play (as I have to be at another church, so 3 organists are covering the organist's sabbatical).
I had a real blast using my sight-reading skills and was pleased that I am still able to cope with whatever is thrown at me. "The Father's Love" by Simon Lole is really lovely but I had not encountered it before. It starts in E major and suddenly goes to 7 sharps, a few bars later [enharmonically] changing to 4 flats. That kept me on my toes.
I also played "Give us the wings of Faith" and "Be thou my vision" (on the organ which makes it a little harder). To be honest I was in 7th heaven but I could not help remembering the skills passed onto me and encouraged by my organ teachers. I have been extremely lucky to have been taught by them.
When I took up the organ it really mattered if one played the correct notes and it became a matter of pride that I would strive to do so. Consequently, when I won an organ scholarship to a university in the south-west I felt the responsibility of the position. I do not think church music is as highly regarded in some places/parishes as it once was although there are many pockets of excellence around the country and our cathedrals still foster high standards.
In my youth we sang Franck's Psalm 150 at Peterborough and I had wanted to do it at university. The choir laughed and poured scorn on the piece so we never did do it. I have not played or sung it in 50+ years. I do agree it is, perhaps, a little turgid but that was Franck's style: it is good fun.
Choirs are odd. They consist of people with all their quirks, aspirations and levels of ability. Some members will bring a wealth of knowledge and vocal value to the group; some will think they do.
Often there will be one or more strong voices in a choir who will give a lead. This can compromise balance and, if they are away (or if they get a coughing fit or stop singing in the middle of a piece for some other reason) it is really obvious. There was lad who sang loudly when I was a chorister and he was given the nickname 'Boomer'.
These days it is hard to find enough people to cover all the parts (SATB) in parish church choirs and there can be a deficiency in one or more parts. I no longer run a choir. It can be hard work.
When I was an organ scholar, many years ago, the university choir would visit a cathedral for a week during the summer. The idea of choirs singing the services at a large church or cathedral has grown and is now extremely common. I am bombarded with posts on Facebook about Evensongs.
I used to sing with such a group but it struck me that I was trying to re-live my youth and also playing at 'dressing up'. These days I do not care about wearing my diploma hood and showing the world how clever I think I am.
Looking a the repertoire choices of these advertised evensongs one cannot help thinking that they are just an opportunity for the choir to wallow in the music they like. Nothing wrong with that but it does mean that certain music gets over-used.
Typically a service will have canticle by Wood, Howells, or Dyson, and an anthem such as "O Thou, the Central Orb" by Wood or "Evening Hymn" by Balfour Gardiner.
Just as Classic FM keeps playing the same few tracks, one does need variety now and again. Sadly - as I have blogged before - conductors can go to the other extreme of selecting music which is far too dissonant.
On this blog I bemoan the low standards in church. On this earth we can only catch a glimpse of heaven and I suppose our ideas of heaven will all be different.
I was brought up with the idea that worship should be as perfect as we can make it. For me this involves great music and great singing. This post is about 2 videos which both happen to be from Trinity College Cambridge. I will reserve judgement on the organ which was a poor choice - I feel - for a college which performs English choral music: the organist does a great job.
Video 1 is of Stanford Magnificat in A, sung superbly. Video 2 is of a secular piece - again sung superbly - featuring the brilliant Helen Charlston.
Enjoy these.
