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13th April
2015
Former chorister returns for concert with her brilliant
new choir! Sat 23rd May 2015 |
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Article... |
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31st October
2014
An English Autumn Concert : 21st November 2014 |
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Article... |
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5th May
2014
David Arcus begins as Interim Director of Music! |
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Article... |
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17th February
2014
Mozart with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra |
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Article... |
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Voyage à Paris, by a
Senior Chorister.
15th June 2011
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Over the bank
holiday weekend at the end of May, over 70 singers and
supporters from the choirs of All Saints took to Paris, to
perform at some of the great Parisian churches as part of
this summer’s festival, Voyage à Paris.
The musicians, aged from 8 to 78 – 18 boys, 18 girls and
25 men, plus two organists – left Northampton early on
Friday afternoon, but we were soon caught in desperately
heavy first-Friday-of-half-term traffic! Unfortunately
this meant we missed our Eurotunnel crossing, but |
spirits were kept
high with a combination of fast food, Frisbees,
football and films, and eventually the two coaches were fitted
onto a later crossing at around midnight.
Despite the late hour, spirits seemed unfeasibly high as
the coaches finally arrived at the hotel at around 4am,
but breakfast that morning was certainly quiet! After a
gentle morning and a first taste of French food, we set
off for central Paris for our first musical engagement of
the tour – the rehearsal at Notre Dame. The staggering
gothic church left many of the younger choristers
open-mouthed as they walked across the bridge towards the
central island, and the vast queues of tourists waiting to
get in reinforced the incredible nature of the place, but
it was with some relief that we found we were to be taken
straight in! We got straight to work, topping and tailing
our music whilst the tourists mulled around taking
photographs, before we took a well-earned break and an
ice-cream in the sun by the side of the Seine. We returned
that evening for the 6pm Eucharist, where we performed the
Keble Mass by Philip Stopford (in the presence of the
composer), our 2009 commission, Ave Maria from James MacMillan, and a new setting of the
Ave Verum by our DofM.
Everything went without a hitch, and at the end of the
service the priest unexpectedly gestured for us to process
out through the nave and the congregation where we
received a standing ovation from all present. This was a
very good start to our tour!
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Following a hastily eaten packed supper on the coach, we
then arrived at our second venue, the colonnaded Saint-Sulpice.
Because of our late arrival time, the church was closed
and in darkness, and it was a magical experience as we
rehearsed alone in this great building, the sound of the
magnificent organ bouncing off the dimly glittering walls.
Daniel Roth, the legendary Organist Titulaire, took us
through our paces as we worked hard to synchronise the
various forces within the great work.
Sunday morning began early, and it was with a sense of
occasion that we arrived at Saint-Sulpice once again. Here
we were to give the world premiere performance (again in
the presence of the composer) of our 2010 commission from
David Briggs, Messe pour Saint-Sulpice. Jointly
commissioned by ourselves and the Cathedral of the Sacred
Heart in Calgary, this mass was written with our own
forces in mind: scored for two organs, SATB choir and a
second treble line. As the liturgy of the mass came to a
close, the first chords thundered out from the |
grand orgue
high up in the gallery,
and we threw ourselves into the new mass, a stunning piece
that was so cleverly written with the venue and acoustic in
mind. It was clear from the stunned silence as we finished
that the congregation were blown away by the setting, and
again we received a standing ovation as we processed out.
Sunday afternoon was very much a case of from the sublime
to the ridiculous, as we replaced the magnificent
splendour of Saint-Sulpice with the frenetic excitement of
Disneyland. The moment we entered the park, awash with
pink, plastic and people, the choristers rushed off in
their groups, desperate to test their nerves and their
stomachs to the limits, and it appears even lay clerks are
not too old for a hefty dose of ‘Thunder Mountain’!
Monday morning was dedicated to sight-seeing, and each
group disappeared off on their own into central Paris to
see, and, it seems, to shop! We reconvened again at noon,
and as a party of 71 (a few landlubbers among us!), we
ascended the Eiffel Tower. Although some were a little
hesitant at first, the spectacular panoramic views across
Paris soon drew everyone in, and it was with great
excitement that the younger choristers identified both
Notre Dame and Saint-Sulpice from amongst the stunning
skyline. So big from the ground, the churches looked like
models from 115m up! Everybody returned breathless with
excitement – and exertion from those who tackled the
stairs! – and we had a hasty buffet lunch before returning
to the coaches. The journey home was uneventful, and we
managed to keep to schedule despite heavy bank holiday
traffic in France (again!). We arrived back at Northampton
at midnight, shattered and sleepy, but bursting with
excitement, stories and souvenirs. Nobody will forget our
amazing Voyage à Paris in a hurry!
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