BBC Singers, Bob Chilcott, and Westminster

Oh yeah, baby. You wish you were here!! :)
We didn't have class today (woot woot) but instead started the day off attending a rehearsal of the BBC Singers, conducted by Bob Chilcott at St. Mark's Church. Once again, we recognized some faces from previous choirs we've seen/heard. The awesome thing about music here is that its so highly repsected and taught to such an extent (SO much more than in America), that these musicians can actually make a good career out of being musicians! There are so many groups and choirs they can be in, that they really can make a decent living. For example, 2 men in the Westminster Abbey Choir are in the Tallis Scholars. Three or four from the Tallis Scholars are in The Sixteen. And I think two from The Sixteen are in the BBC Singers. And these are just groups I've seen! There are lots of other groups that the other members are a part of! I think thats so neat!
Anyway, back to the BBC Singers. This group rehearses quite a bit and does some sort of recording/broadcast thing every Thursday. I thoroughly enjoyed this rehearsal for mainly 2 reasons (I think). 1- They were singing Barber and I absolutely LOVED every piece! They started off with the choral arrangement of "Sure on this Shining Night." I've always been a fan of the vocal solo and hadn't heard the choral arrangement, so I really enjoyed this! Then they sang another one by Barber that I didn't know, and then "Under the Willow Tree." SOOOO COOOL!! I know I've heard this piece before, I'm not sure when/where, but I know I want to hear it again! I had forgotten how much I like BArber! I've haven't played much of his piano music, but what I have played I've really enjoyed, along with what I've heard. Today made me want to discover even more of his pieces! After The Willow TRee one they sang a motet (also by Barber). In fact, I think its called "Motet." I wasn't in love with this one like I was with the other ones, but it was still pretty impressive. The most impressive part of all of this was that they were sight reading everything they were singing, and it was good!! I cannot even imagine how much we could get through in Singers if we could all sight read like these English musicians! Its incredible!
Ok reason number 2 why I enjoyed the rehearsal- it was the most clean and effective rehearsal I've experienced here! Besides the really top notch groups, the English don't really have a concept of precision or perfection when it comes to music. They're conducting is CRAZY and completely unclear (nobody studies conducting to be a conductor here. You study organ. And then they think that makes you a conductor. Yeeeah. There are some extremely interesting conducting techniques used), and they don't really go into sections and perfect parts musically or anything. Except for the really top notch groups. So yeah, it was so nice to see Bob Chilcott stop them, work a section a few times, clearly illustrate what he wanted, and then produce results! It was so rewarding and pleasing! He was so personable as well, which really added to my enjoyment of the rehearsal. He would turn around and explain something to us, or ask us how to say a certain word the American way, since they were singing Barber. ;) Overall it was a really enjoyable experience!
After the rehearsal some of us headed over to Westminster to take a tour of WEstminster Abbey. We had the option of going back to hear more of the BBC rehearsal after their lunch break, or just doing whatever we wanted... and most people chose doing whatever they wanted. ;) I maybe should've gone, but we've done an awful lot of intense music stuff lately, I thought it would be alright if I took a break. :) Especially since we had another concert to attend tonight. So yes, 6 of us headed over to Westminster Abbey. I'm so glad we took the tour! It was a little pricey but totally worth it because that place pretty much contains the history of everything and everybody in the last 1000 years. Its HUGE!! I didn't realize how big it was when I went there before, because unless you do the tour you can't see everything. We were in there for a few hours, and I could go on forever, but like usual... I need sleep!! Anyway, it was just incredible and so beautiful! Its crazy how ornate these kings wanted their burial spot to be! There are seriously so many people buried there though, and so many I hadn't even heard of, it made me want to switch my major to humanities! I just love learning about all the literature and rich culture and history of the world! I enjoyed seeing the memorials for Shakespeare and Handel, along with my beloved Bronte sisters (good ole Charlotte produced the best book EVER- Jane Eyre)! I'm really glad we took the tour though, definitely something I've always wanted to do. :)
We hurried home to catch some dinner, a 15 minute nap, and change our clothes until we had to head back to Westminster Abbey to hear the Westminster choir sing with some orchestra. I don't remember who and I didn't really want to pay 4 pounds for the program. That's like 6 dollars! It seems the programs have become more and more expensive at each concert we've gone to. I've bought them all up until now haha. Anyway, they started off with the orchestra playing Vivaldi's Concerto for Strings, then the choir and orchestra performed Vivaldi's Gloria, which I loved! I don't think I've ever heard it before, so it was a treat. :) Dr. Staheli had said yesterday that it was a midget when compared to Bach's B Minor Mass, which it definitely is in size, but I don't think it is so much in content and beauty. I really enjoyed it and would like to hear it again. The second half was a performance of Handel's Dixit Dominus- another great work. Its really great to hear that magnificent Baroque sound in such a huge space like Westminster ABbey! I only wish we could've heard the Coronation Anthems so we could get a real taste of what it was like years ago during an actual Coronation Ceremony! How awesome would that be!?!? Wow.
We couldn't actually see the choir or orchestra (we were just lucky we got tickets) but we could hear them. The only bad thing about the amazing acoustics in there is that the articulation kind of gets lost, which can be a bummer with the crisp runs found so often in Baroque music. I liked it all the same though. :)
Oh I forgot! My favorite part of the WEstminster tour was when we reached a stop that was just this side room thing. It was fairly large and was just a big room with a huge ceiling and gorgeous stained glass windows. I think it was called the Cloister Room? Anyway, we decided to try out the acoustics and then just couldn't get enough!! It was AMAAAAZING! We stayed in there for quite a while, singing hymns on an "oo." We "oo-ed" If You Could Hie to Kolob, Nearer My God To Thee, I Believe In Christ, Where Can I Turn for Peace and I think another one. People really enjoyed it! Haha, they said it added to the ambiance. One girl was so surprised when she found out it was us singing- she had thought it was a recording playing as part of the tour! Hahaha! Anyway, it was great fun. :) We all wanted to stay in there for hours and just sing!
So yeah, thats pretty much my day! I didn't really take any pictures, because I had already been to Westminster... I know, I'm getting lazy. ;) Anyway, hope you enjoyed reading! I really should start writing earlier than midnight...There's just so much to do here!! :)
Have I told you how much I LOVE BEING IN ENGLAND!?!?? :D