Deprived of the opportunity of singing in Coventry cathedral this summer, Rob and our choir took up the opportunity of preparing a choral mass as a virtual visiting choir at Guildford cathedral. The music has now been used in a specially recorded Choral Mass for St Helen’s too.
The choral mass setting – Haydn’s Little Organ Mass – was sung last year at Portsmouth and at St Helen’s on Music Sunday. We have an accompaniment of organ and strings thanks to Simon and his orchestral friends. It is called ‘little’ because the Gloria is very short with each part singing it’s own section of the words. It’s called ‘organ’ because of the beautiful organ solo in the Benedictus. The Benedictus, normally the shortest part of the sung mass is the longest – and the part this piece is best known for. The choir rang out through Guildford Cathedral’s sound system last Sunday and on their online recorded mass. It transpires that we were also ringing out through Coventry Cathedral’s sound system at the same time. When has a village church choir been heard in two cathedrals at the same time? I think that must be a first!
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