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The New Choir
It wasn't ideal to have consecutive weekends with trips out to concerts, but that's how it turned out. We had complimentary tickets to The New Choir's concert in Oxford, as Mrs Q had supplied photography for the concert posters and programme. As we took the bus from the station, I noted that although the road layout in central Oxford is under constant change, the traffic is at a constant standstill. We enjoyed a hearty meal at Moya on St Clements, before finding our way across to Iffley Road for the concert at St John the Evangelist.
Last week, we heard Renaissance music in a Baroque church; this week, Baroque music in a Victorian Gothic church. Perhaps the choir had a more rounded sound, but the acoustics were not altogether favourable, and the solo parts weren't always very clear or standing out above the small instrumental ensemble. The first half of the concert was Handel's Funeral anthem for Queen Caroline. One doesn't typically associate Handel with more sombre occasions, so it was a bit of a departure, and an effective one, though his tendency to repeat phrases over and over was still apparent. In the second half, we had more funeral music, this time for the Duke of Marlborough, with Bononcini's When Saul was King, sharing some of the same text as the earlier Handel; and finally, Handel's more uplifting Chandos anthem I will magnify thee.
Last week, we heard Renaissance music in a Baroque church; this week, Baroque music in a Victorian Gothic church. Perhaps the choir had a more rounded sound, but the acoustics were not altogether favourable, and the solo parts weren't always very clear or standing out above the small instrumental ensemble. The first half of the concert was Handel's Funeral anthem for Queen Caroline. One doesn't typically associate Handel with more sombre occasions, so it was a bit of a departure, and an effective one, though his tendency to repeat phrases over and over was still apparent. In the second half, we had more funeral music, this time for the Duke of Marlborough, with Bononcini's When Saul was King, sharing some of the same text as the earlier Handel; and finally, Handel's more uplifting Chandos anthem I will magnify thee.