Tags
Angels From The Realms Of Glory, Ave Maria, Cadogan Hall, Coventry Carol, David Terry, Entre Le Boeuf, St John's Smith Square, The Angel Gabriel, We Three Kings, Westminster Wassail
It is only a few days since our performance at Cadogan Hall, but the Parliament Choir were back at it tonight, booklets freshly printed, rehearsing for our Christmas concert at St. John’s, Smith Square on the 9th. This evening’s session almost felt like an O’Neill benefit, as there are no fewer than four arrangements in the programme this year – The Angel Gabriel, We Three Kings, Ave Maria (an arrangement of Rachmaninov) and Westminster Wassail, which comes out of a fanfare and then heads into Angels From The Realms Of Glory, a specific commission if ever there was one.
The choir is sounding pretty racy as well, I have to say, confident and nicely blended, possibly enhanced by the knowledge of a concert well given last week. Clearly, there is limited time before the next concert, so we are up against it, but, in comparison with my feelings at 5 this evening (cautiously optimistic), I think we are definitely on for another enjoyable evening.
We’ll also be including, for what I think is the fourth year running, David Terry’s arrangement of Entre Le Boeuf, a really beautiful piece. The choir loves this, and rightly so, but I think his Coventry Carol, which I heard last year, is even better, if too complicated for us, alas.
Tickets are selling out fast, which is normally what people say when they want to instill panic in prospective ticket buyers, but we genuinely are down to the last batch, so best act now if you are thinking of coming, and hopefully we shall see you there.
Nicholas O'Neill 