CE Exeter Cathedral Wed, 29th April 2015

[Finzi4ever]

...not to mention the Contra Trombone elsewhere in the service; a relatively recent toy for Exeter.

Yea but - you can really tell it's only got half-length resonators with that rather buzzy timbre, unlike the thundering H&H 32 reed(s) in Durham for example. (Apols to non-anoraks - this should really go in organ sub-forum.)

[ardcarp]

you can really tell it's only got half-length resonators..

.

I was going to mention that, but well, you know, nerdy?

[GambleD]

Agree - the organist showed us many colours in the accompaniment.

[Magnificat]

Energetic, full-bodied singing, and, boy, those trebles had a serious work out or what!

Psalms OK-ish, but......

....the Parry is a tour de force: I particularly liked the way a decent number of the trebles had sonorous enough lower registers as well as bright tops to enrich the sound. The odd slip in tuning here and there, maybe, but they really had to sing from Coll Reg right through to that Parry, and then on to the final hymn, which took the music through a pretty close examination of every aspect of the treble range - and under pressure. Three cheers to them. Not much quiet stuff, but a real advertisement for Andrew Millington's tutoring. He will be missed.

Draco

I'll stick my neck out here and say that the only time we heard 'proper' trebles singing on their own was in ' He delivered the poor' in the Parry. The rest of the singing seemed to me to be mixed boys and girls voices. I completely understand that AM would want to involve all his choristers in his last broadcast which I enjoyed, especially the anthem which has always been a favourite of mine.

VCC.

[decantor]

Absolutely loved it 'wellie' and all - and more so for being from this part of the country. Here's also wishing AM an enriched and fulfilled retirement - perhaps he could offer workshops for trebles elsewhere in the land!

Quint.., you express my thoughts entirely – a wholehearted but nuanced choral effort from Exeter. The psalms were nicely done (as also on their Psalms of David CD on the Priory label), with dramatically hushed and forthright verses, and ‘The Big Sing’ of introit, canticles, and anthem held no fears for them. It was not just ‘wellie’, it was the exercise of controlled power.

A decade or more ago, AM brought his Exeter choir to sing a concert in a venue local to me. As the choristers (all boys) tumbled out of their minibuses, they were rubbing bleary eyes after the long motorway journey – I feared a flabby treble sound. Twenty minutes later, they launched into Tallis (IIRC) with a taut, intense sonority that made short hairs stand on end. AM must take the credit for inculcating in his singers the necessary technique and commitment to make that possible – as also for promoting music in the Exeter diocese. I too wish him a happy retirement, and urge on him those treble workshops......

[terratogen]

Really? I'm a bit surprised to read the slightly lukewarm response—or, at any rate, the detour into organ discussion that I perhaps mistakenly take as an 'if you don't have anything nice to say' treatment of the choir—to this broadcast. Maybe knowing that this will be Andrew Millington's final R3 has given me a rosier-than-deserved perspective, but I was delighted with this service.

I heard 'proper' trebles all the way through, with the senior girls whom I believe were among the mix, I should note, producing a sound far more in keeping with my built-up idea of what 'trebles sound like' than they did on a recent CD recording. In fact, it seemed to me that the much-maligned (by some) and much-missed (by others) 'English boy chorister hoot' was alive and well in Exeter in a way that I can't recall having heard too often lately. Particularly in the psalms, which for their assured delivery and storytelling I could have listened to for another hour.

One to return to, certainly. Many thanks to Exeter, and very best wishes for the coming period of transition.