Mickle-concert

Today was the latest Micklegate Singers concert in the Chapter House of the Minster. It went pretty well - there were some good points and some very bad points, but I think that the audience mainly noticed the good points. The programme was a little on the boring side - too much Tallis and Palestrina for my liking. But even I have to admit that this sort of thing sounds good in the Chapter House acoustics.

The highlights for me were Angel Song II (Todd), Lux Arumque (Whitacre), Trement Videntes Angeli (Macmillan) and (would you believe it?), Rutter! The Whitacre is just haunting and beautiful, and even if some would classify it as a little Classic FM, it has a wonderful spine-tingling moment. The Todd and Macmillan were also "mood pieces"! Good proportions of both of them were waffly-ness - each part is assigned a line of music, but each member of the section sings it in their own time. What you end up with is just a gentle murmur of sounds, sometimes resolving into something pretty, sometimes not. It doesn't sound very promising, but has an amazing effect! The Rutter was the Hymn to the Creator of Light which has very few cheesy moments, and lots of wonderful discordant cadences. Really fun to sing!

One of the great things about singing in the Minster is that you get to prowl around it in the dark when it is deserted. After rehearsals it is fun to hide behind statues and jump out at people! I tried to take an atmospheric photo, but it just looks like the sun is streaming through the window rather than the eery darkness that it actually has.


We are never tempted to try on the choir robes....(!)