Regular readers will know that I have been attending lunchtime lectures at the City Recital Hall this year on various topics associated with music.

Firstly, there was Music and Philosophy.  I am sure that the concepts would have proved very interesting had the speaker and I shared the same vocabulary.

Then there was Music and the Periodic Table of Elements, which showed that scientists are always looking for patterns in nature, whilst musicians, painters and the like thrive by creating their own visual and aural patterns.

The third was Music and Mathematics.  Now that should prove interesting, I thought, as my degree is in maths.  Mind you, I only just got my degree as I seemed to spend most time at uni in non-academic activities such as music of various sorts and helping to run the Students’  Union.  Oh – and, of course, meeting Anne……..

Going to the lecture was going to be a bit tricky as it fell on the second day of a romantic interval in everyday life organised by our children in honour of a recent wedding anniversary – top seats to see Madama Butterfly, preceded by dinner overlooking the Harbour and followed by an overnight stay in the penthouse of one of those luxurious hotels overlooking Circular Quay.  It was all absolutely magic.

Anyway, Anne found a lunchtime organ recital at St James’ King Street at the same time as my lecture – much more her cup of tea.  And I said as we parted, each with our own pack of sandwiches, that if they mentioned Fourier Transformations, the point at which my mathematical comprehension ran out, I would leave.

The professor of mathematics who spoke is also an amateur chorister, so there was an immediate bond.  He started by talking about intervals – such as taking a string tuned to C, halving the length and getting C an octave higher.  And, as is well known, different ratios give different notes: one quarter off the string length gives F and a third gives G.

It was only shortly afterwards that the dreaded Fourier Transformations raised their head.  If I had not still been contentedly eating my sandwiches, I would have left.  They were the last thing I expected in a talk about music.  But apparently they are fundamental to digital communications, such that, for example, file formats for recorded music such as MP3 would not exist without them.

Then, like my degree maths, my comprehension suffered a catastrophic failure.  There followed some very erudite comments and questions, but for me the sandwiches proved more interesting.

The other memory I have of the lecture is the speaker’s missing out all the other musical intervals except one.  C to F# is the dreaded “tri-tone”, which sounds rather dissonant.  The fraction of the string to be stopped is mathematically interesting, as it involves dividing something, I cannot remember what, by the square root of 2.  Maybe that is one reason why, in Medieval times, the tri-tone was reputedly barred by the authorities from Church music for being the work of the Devil.

Of course, Mozart uses the once diabolical interval to good effect throughout the Great Mass in C minor, as we discover every Thursday evening.  Not that knowing its mathematical basis makes it any easier to sing!

You may have noticed that we were a bit light on tenors at last night’s rehearsal.  Derek, Gina, Diana and Wendy coped admirably, but I am sure they would admit that they would have preferred to have had a few more of their colleagues with them.

One of the reasons is that a number of MWC members also belong to the Mater Chorale, which for the last two weeks has been standing in for two Cathedral Choirs in the UK,  The Cathedral Choir Schools, which provide the choir throughout term times, are on summer holidays.  To maintain the tradition of choral services in the cathedral every day, other choirs are invited to take their place.  the Mater Chorale were in Lichfield  (see left) last week and in Winchester (see below) this week.

The trip may sound like an excuse for sight-seeing with a bit of music thrown in.  But the reality is quiote different.

Each service includes two to four congregational hymns, sung to organ accompaniment.  Then most services will need from the Choir an Introit, an Anthem, a Psalm (sung in traditional “pointed” style) and various chants such a the Gloria, Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis. And you cannot sing the same one at Evensong every day, nor in the three services which take place on Sunday.  So there is a large repertoire to learn and i guess there will be extensive rehearsals every day prior to the services.

John Kibby and Paul Christmas from our tenor section, along with Judy Williams, are with the Mater Chorale.  It must be wonderful to be immersed in the English choral tradition for a couple of weeks, but I reckon it will have proved hard work as well.

Yes, as so often happens, I have been beaten to it by someone else.  It is a fairly common feature of my life.  I have an idea, and before I get to develop it, someone else gets there first.  But then, as my poor exasperated Mother would often remind me when I was slow to do something, “I suppose we should expect it.  You were three weeks late in arriving in this world, and you haven’t caught up a minute since!”

But it’s nothing to complain about.  It is Roger who beat me to it, by commenting in this week’s Bulletin how privileged we are to be singing the sublime music which is Mozart’s Great Mass in C minor.   Which is what I had been going to write about today.

It is enough of a thrill to listen to a good performance of the work, the ebb and flow of the tempi and dynamics colouring the wonderful harmonies, bringing the words of the Mass alive.

But when you actually sing the piece, rehearsing sections several times as we did last night, you realise just how exquisitely Mozart crafted the individual notes into phrases, and then the phrases into complete sections.  And then of course there is the contrast between the sections, highlighting each one’s meaning and place in the overall work.

I would like to add to Roger’s words that another privilege, very much evident last evening, is that of being led in rehearsal by a professional musician who not only has a huge reservoir of musical talent and understanding, but is prepared to share his knowledge and innermost feelings with us amateur singers.

Not only that, his passion for and his determination to make the most of the music is infectious.  No-one at last night’s rehearsal can have been left in any doubt about what we were singing about, how we should sing and what we will eventually communicate to our audiences.

Bravo Carlos!!

The start of this week is an interesting period.  For just a few days, we MWC choristers can bask in the reflected glory of the recent concert, whilst also eagerly anticipating the start of rehearsals for the next concert.  It will not be long before the recent concert is past history, and the focus is very firmly on Mozart’s Great Mass in C minor.

My first judgement on any concert is how it sounds from my position in the middle of the front row.  It seemed that we had not committed any major errors.  So far, so good.  But it was also evident that there were a lot of terrific entries, bang on time and bang in tune, demanding the attention of the audience and heightening the spiritual charge of the music.

Secondly, Carlos declared it yet another fantastic concert by his favourite choir.  It is always good to have a satisfied conductor.

Then over drinks and nibbles so many audience members said that they enjoyed the concert immensely; that Bridget played exquisitely; that the Choir sang as well as ever, and that the soloists and the orchestra were an excellent match for the Choir.

So — it seems to have been a success from many points of view, and our warm glow of pride in a job well done is indeed justified.

And now — the Mozart Great Mass in C minor.  Another wonderfully inspiring piece of music.  It will be a privilege for us to sing this great music, especially under Carlos’ demanding yet appreciative direction.

Roll on Thursday!!

It may seem a strange question to ask – and a strange time to do so.

The whole Choir is in the midst of final preparations for an arduous and difficult concert, and this man goes on about organists and dementia.  What is he talking about?  Has he a touch of dementia himself?

Bear with me.

Yes, we should indeed be focusing on the music for the concert at this stage.  One week to go and just the orchestral rehearsal and the general rehearsal, and then we are on stage with a single opportunity to get everything right first time.  It’s a bit nerve-wracking.

Well, I was doing some practice yesterday, in between a few other things, but it seemed to me that some practice was top priority.  So the other things got left for the moment (who needs to insure and register a car, claim a refund on faulty mailed goods, do their tax return, weed the garden?) and the concert took over.

First Pergolesi.  There are some wonderful renditions on YouTube.  The one I chose had lots of gradual crescendos and diminuendos – very effective.  And great to sing along with, noting all Carlos’ markings, of course.

Then Vivaldi – the version I used was delightful with rich, sonorous soloists and a very responsive choir and orchestra.  Again, great for singing along with and re-winding every so often when what they did and what I did had not quite matched.

Then Bach.  I found a very ponderous version of “Wir setzen uns” sung by a Swedish choir.  Very slow, and ideal for singing along with.  Plenty of time to check the tuning of each note before moving on to the next one.  Perfect.

Job done.  And then – you know how YouTube suggests things it figures you might like to watch?  It did – a recording from Antwerp Cathedral of the same chorus but – played on a magnificent organ in a setting for organ by Widor.  Click here to watch it.

I’ll leave you to judge what you think of it, and perhaps more importantly what Bach may have thought if it.  Personally I think it does not quite fit the reflective mood of the original, which comes at a tragic moment in a complex narrative.

But what struck me most was the visuals.  There were some great shots of the organist.  What wonderful hand-eye – and foot – co-ordination!  There was no break, each hand continuously playing on one of the four manuals and moving seamlessly from one manual to another, the hands often crossing over each other; the feet working full-time to play the flowing bass line on the pedals; occasional snatches with one hand or the other to change the registration; and he still manages to find the time to turn the pages himself!  .

They say that hand-eye co-ordination activities – dancing, learning new sports and so-on are key to keeping the brain alert in old age.  Surely playing the organ is another such skill.

After seeing this, I reckon organists have a head start in the aging game.