F was late home last night (REALLY LATE home).
I wanted to chat, chew the fat, pat the cat...
.... she wanted to sleep.
Her excuse was that her workplace choir had been singing Evensong in St Mary Abchurch in London as part of the Wrenathon.
Wren (Sir Christopher Wren - not a small bird) was an architect who was in the right place right time after the Great Fire of London to seize the opportunity to design and rebuild 52 churches in the square mile that is the City of London. St Paul's Cathedral is the most famous, but St Mary Abchurch (tucked away in a yard off Cannon Street) is one of the three best remaining for being largely undamaged by WWII and therefore still original.
Wren shuffled off this mortal coil 300 years ago this year - hence the celebration which aims to mark his legacy by 'lighting up' those that remain of his churches with singing voices.
I have permitted the posting of a video and sound recording made by one of F's non-singing colleagues. The sound they make is greatly enhanced by the excellent acoustic properties of Sir Christopher's fabulous church and the even more fabulous organ sound being played by the organist from St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle (yup - organist to royalty and friend of the TR choir's long-suffering choirmaster). It could quite fairly be said that the singers are merely accompanying the organist. A recording of his performance after they stopped singing would have been a more fitting celebration of Wren for me to post here, but I will begrudgingly admit it isn't too bad for 9 amateurs, many of whom cannot read music.
They are nearly as good as my 'cat's chorus'.
If you can detect a sound like the bass drone on a set of bagpipes, that will be F. She didn't know this song, and was only given two practices in it - the rest of the choir had learned it last year (which is why she is looking at the words rather than the conductor).
I chose this one because it is called "MagnifiCAT" (by Thomas Walmisley) but I cannot discern anything about cats in it.
*F wanted to save this for a Friday Feature - but this is Friday, and it is a Feature, so maybe we will simply link it up to Yam-Aunty next week.
That was beautiful. Thank you for allowing that, Tigger. A good organist supports the singers and he was/is a very good organist.,
ReplyDeleteThe music was magnificent and you my Tigger a Truly MagnifiCat
ReplyDeleteThank you for the concert and the history!
ReplyDeleteI haven't 'chorused' since we left Greece. I don't seem to have the right auditorium since we left our concrete sound-shell/echo chamber and returned to leafy suburbia. Besides there simply aren't the numbers to form a supporting chorus around here. I do miss our combined performances sometimes. (Although F assures me that no one else does.) xxx Mr T
ReplyDeleteHari Om
ReplyDeleteOh my word, Tigger, that was indeed magnificent and I thank the cat that let it play here!!! Well done that choir. Perfect listening as I sit waiting for Grey to charge... Hugs and whiskeries YAM-aunty xxx
Good choice Tigger, I think the man who was not a bird, would have felt honored to hear them sing in his memory. what a great idea and wow on building all those magnificent churches. triple wow on it being 300 years ago.
ReplyDeleteA bit of culture on a Friday Tigger. It was no cat's chorus.
ReplyDeleteLovely music, I can imagine Tigger zoning off to the tune. I wonder if cats miaowing would compare?
ReplyDeleteThe Wrenathon - what a wonderful idea (although at first I thought this post was going to be about bird life).
ReplyDeleteThe choir are magnificent - love the video.
Cheers, Gail.