CE Sheffield Cathedral June 27th 2012

[ardcarp]

Pegasus, welcome to the Forum in general and The Choir in particular.

May I second that! And thanks for a very interesting post. The second lot of responses were a bit shaky on the tuning front. I thought this odd, especially as they had got the Dove so well tuned. Maybe they had assumed a 'repertoire staple' would be OK. But it's very good to hear your appraisal of the thriving musical community at Sheffield (it is possible to be a socialist and love church music!) and the energy of the choirs. Indeed, the choir we heard on Weds was very well and sensitively directed. Do please join in the cut-and-thrust from now on, Pegasus.

[Pegasus]

Thanks, DracoM and ardcarp, for the welcome. I am happy to join in the cut-and-thrust ...

Without wishing to labour a political point, one only has to look a few miles outside of the city of Sheffield to St John's, Ranmoor, where the social make-up is entirely different. My experience of a cathedral music department in a tough, city context leads me to appreciate extra-musical challenges as much as the musical ones.

But, this is ostensibly about music, and I feel in that context alone Sheffield have put on a decent show. Services showcasing pieces from the Choirbook for the Queen have made for some interesting programming. (I wonder how many will be glad to be rid of the constraint when this exercise is over?) Bill Ives' canticles received a welcome broadcast performance, and the Bairstow anthem (for me) is one of his finest. AG's playing was admirable and I hope he finds the Gloucester organ revitalising.

I suspect I shall find plenty to say after Canterbury ...

[ardcarp]

AG's playing (though I have heard it for myself on occasion to be less than impressive

Ooh...you're definitely up for the cut-and-thrust! Hope your Forum name is impregnable!!!

[Vile Consort]

By all accounts, some of the mining villages of Yorkshire had thriving choirs of men and boys. As recently as ten years ago, our curate left for an Anglo-catholic parish in a former mining village near Wakefield boasting a front row of 18 boys. Socialism and church music certainly thriving side-by-side there at the time.

[mw963]

Only heard the voluntary first time round, but hearing the whole thing this afternoon I really DID enjoy those psalms. Put me in mind of the way Chester (and indeed Blackburn) did psalms twenty odd years ago. Lovely final chant.

Whose pointing do they use at Sheffield? Some quite unexpectedly refreshing moments as a result.....

And of course Bairstow. There was a man who (I always feel) had glimpsed the Kingdom of Heaven.

With regard to the organ, I think the comment likening it to a "toaster" is a tad unfair. There were moments when it sounded reasonable, and others where it sounded less so. I happen to have a Phoenix organ and whilst of course pipes are infinitely preferable (particularly in a cathedral) they aren't actually too bad...

Laters: I forgot to add that years ago (well about 2001?) Sheffield girls came down to my "local" for a week and I remember being JOLLY impressed with them. A palpable and infections enthusiasm and dedication to their performances. What I also recall is that - sitting with a friend only feet away and facing towards Decani - something (very minor) went amiss. Friend and I glance up, and happen to catch the eye of one of the older girls. And there was just that trace of an "I know you know that we know something happened there" as she discreetly smiled at us....

[orson]

I heard it on Sunday, and thought the psalms, in particular, were very lovely, with some excellent colouring. I enjoyed the Bairstow too: I had to play it once for a massed choirs thing, and very much enjoyed all the twists and turns.

Pegasus - we probably know each other! Though I can't say that I necessarily agree with your description of the university, or indeed, for the reasoning behind the differences between the cathedral and Ranmoor. There are many, but I don't think socialism is particularly one of them. As for commenting on AG's playing other than on this excellent broadcast - probably not appropriate. We all have off days - I made a mess of the hymn playover on my last broadcast - thank God it was before these boards started!

MW963 - which is your local? I would have been there too! The pointing is NT's own. Refreshing and exciting, and always worthy of careful reading!

[mw963]

@ orson - I'll PM the details of my local. I'll do it that way simply because I'm no longer its staunchest fan (it used to be heart-stoppingly good but is now no more than adequate) and I'd prefer to be able to comment on it in future if needs be without causing direct offence to it and its team.

Sorry for being a bit convoluted....

Laters - have just tried to send you a PM but I'm not sure it's gone anywhere, I pushed SEND but there's no sign of it in my out box. If you ain't got it could you PM me perhaps with an email address and I'll send it that way.

[french frank]

I pushed SEND but there's no sign of it in my out box.

mw963

The PM system doesn't save your Sent messages by default. If you want to keep them you have to enable that setting under Gerneral Settings (and I can confirm that it isn't enabled). Quickest route is to go up to the head of the page and choose Forum Actions (in the darker band just below What's New) and then General Settings. Then you can enable:

Sent Private Messages:

Save a copy of sent messages in my Sent Items folder by default
Don't save a copy of sent messages


Rgds

ff

[mw963]

Thanks ff. I see now, poor Orson has got at least two versions of my witterings...

I'll go in and enable that which should be enabled.

[DracoM]

Beat me to it, FF!!