Tags
ahile awandering, Ar Hyd y Nos, He Makes His Messengers Winds, Mairi's Wedding, Occam Singers, Of All Persons and Estates, Parliament Choir, Sweet Was the Song, We Three Kings, Why Should We Not Sing
Tonight was the last meeting of the year for the Parliament Choir, and, having rehearsed, performed and signed off our carols in the space of three weeks, we are already onto opera choruses in preparation for next year. 2012 has been a good one for the choir, and has brought with it many performances of my music as well – Of All Persons And Estates, Ar Hyd Y Nos, Mairi’s Wedding, We Three Kings and awhile awandering. There have been articles and interviews as well, and ideas are already doing the rounds for next year.
The final rehearsal also means that things are going to calm down for me for a little while, even in the run up to Christmas, and that brings with it the opportunity to do a whole pile of writing. There is rescoring work to be done on Why Should We Not Sing? in preparation for its first performance next January, and then there are other projects to be getting on with.
I am still basking in the warm afterglow of yesterday’s first outing for He Makes His Messengers Winds, and must admit to having stayed up long past my bedtime in the excitement. I am still deeply impressed by the amount of work those singers put in, and the success of the performance was entirely due to their efforts, their singing certainly much more accurate than my conducting.
The next performances of my music will be at the weekend, the Occam Singers giving We Three Kings a second outing, and also running one of my carol descants for the first time, while Sweet Was The Song is getting a couple of performances as well. Then we will be in final stages of the run to Christmas, and my diary is bringing with it the promise of a slightly fairer work/life balance. That is something to which I can look forward almost as much as the performances.
Nicholas O'Neill 