Magnam Opus 1 - by Casey Edmunds
*This was performed on August 14, 2011, the last day of the United Voices of Edmonton Choir tour to England in the summer of 2011.
To the tune of....
Four strong winds
As we stand at the airport
Adam's bag has not been found
Hasn't left the airport - still in Calgary.
Casey's late he's not arrived,
he is the last one all the time.
Thankfully at 3:15 he is seen.
As we board our Sussex Coach
We meet Lee and David too!
Don't be fooled it's not a bus we're riding on.
We'll find Clara, Glen and James,
Mary, Lea, Adam too.
Lucas you stink won't you please take us to BATH
Chorus:
Four fried eggs, and baked beans, sausage, bacon, baked tomato
Potato patties and field mushrooms everyday,
This is England's morning breakfast, hope your bowels aren't affected
Be sure to let go before the tower tour.
We'll sing evensongs and matins,
in Abbeys and Cathedrals,
Gloucester, Oxford, Bath and Alveston we'll be.
Met the verger and the canon
taught us about the procession
Didn't matter to the choir they're United!!
Magnificat by Mack (also known as the Casino Mag)
(interlude)
This is (repeat)
The casino maganunc (repeat)
When you hear it, it recalls the sound
of winning (repeat)
For it was written by Warren in
Las Vegas (repeat)
For he began to write it,
For England we shall sing,
The United Voices of Edmonton (repeat)
For that we shall be Anglican
Anglican for 2 weeks
With psalms, responses and litanies,
We're WILD for responses.
And mercy is on them that singeth those 50 bloody verses!
(sinister register)
They had showeth strength with their psalm,
They had put down the Capon and attempted the Wild responses
Oh yeah!!!
Abide in thy love
Men:
We are like monks in an Abbey
We eat, sing and pray everyday
We are like monks in an Abbey
No rest or free time to play
Ladies:
For the morning rehearsals
So tired I was
All:
This is dedication (repeat)
Four strong winds (cont'd)
Funny thing about this choir
Different ages you will find
But we have multiple personalities
Altos they are so forthright
Sops are a little more uptight
Basses can't even sing on key!
Magnificat by Warren (Casino)
And the tenors (the tenors)
They sound lovely
they're the divas of the choir,
Take that sopranos!
Four strong winds (cont'd)
Four great sections we make up,
One great choir we can be,
Hope you won't forget that sound we have achieved.
Don't forget T-J and Warren
They've done so much to make this happen
Thank you for making us sing so beautifully
Chorus:
Four fried eggs and baked beans,
Sausage, bacon baked tomato,
Potato patties, field mushrooms everyday
This is our most famous tour
who would of thought we would get through it
But we finally sang psalms properly!!!
Monday, September 12, 2011
Sunday, August 14, 2011
At Tour's End
We have sung our last Evensong service, gathered for our tour farewell dinner, and will soon be flying back to Edmonton, or going on to other places on the way home. For this final blog entry I asked tour members to give me comments describing their favourite or most memorable things about this trip. Those comments are provided below. Some provided names, while others preferred to remain anonymous.
"Just to sing in Gloucester Cathedral with its wonderful acoustics once again after 20 years." -- Sylvia.
"I will remember the magnificent cathedral that came to feel like home after a week of filling it with glorious music; getting to know our eclectic group of singing souls; the blackberries, and cherries growing around our Gloucester hotel." -- Pat.
"What has impressed me is the stained glass at Bath Abbey and Gloucester Cathedral and the imagery that is in the windows. Lots of photos taken." -- Heather G.
"The people -- particularly the ones I met through NHS."
"I especially enjoyed singing O How Glorious [by Healey Willan] in the belfry of Gloucester Cathedral." -- N.C.D.
"The most memorable moment for me was our processional for the very first Evensong in Gloucester Cathedral. That feeling of awe and mysticism as we walked from the bare Norman nave into the ornate Quire was truly humbling." --Adam
"The most memorable moment for me was when the choir sang O How Glorious as the introit in Bath Abbey. The sound was so amazing, coming as if from angels from Heaven." -- Sandy, a member of our support team.
"The highlight for me was the tremendous sense of satisfaction I felt as we sang the last notes of the Arcadelt Ave Maria in the Lady Chapel in Gloucester."
"There were many highlights of the tour for me, including singing with Voices United, canting in two cathedrals, and my first visit to London. The biggest highlight for me, however, was sharing meals and getting to know other choir members whom I hadn't known very well before." -- Jim
"Meeting some of the local people, particularly a sweet woman from Norwich who shared her concert program and stories with me."
"Singing O How Glorious in the belfry of Gloucester Cathedral."
"Seeing history from textbooks and novels come alive!"
"Heavenly voices in the abbey; 'to be or not to be'; trip of a lifetime!!" -- Mrs. O.
"A tremendous thank you to everyone who organized this tour. I really enjoyed every minute of it -- Singing at Bath Abbey, Gloucester Cathedral, and St. James Church; also attending the Three Choirs Festival." -- Kathie R.
"My fondest memories of this tour are walking in the cloisters in Gloucester, floating down the Isis in Oxford with others as O How Glorious wafted through our minds, and deciding with Maria that the solution to repertoire overload was to sing the Wild responses every day, because every day they would sound different!" -- Heather E.
"My favourite moment from the tour is hearing the wonderful live acoustics in Bath and Gloucester -- especially at the end of "... and make thy people joyful!" -- Tammy-Jo
"Having the secret code to get into the vestry at Bath Abbey. I felt like an insider!" -- Helen N.
"A highlight that I found was being in Gloucester as long as would feel acceptable, not too short an experience of a trip; a chance for the feeling of a bit more careful work." -- Margaret G.
"We didn't just visit history, we were part of it! My favourite moments? ... 1) When we first processed in to the chancel facing the altar and that incredible east window while the organ was playing; 2) when we finished the last Psalm. An unforgettable trip! -- Bob
"The organ voluntaries that ended each Evensong service, especially Tammy-Jo's performance of Gilliland's "Rockin' the Spear" and Warren's grand finale in Gloucester -- Vierne's Carillon de Westminster." -- Laura S.
"Just to sing in Gloucester Cathedral with its wonderful acoustics once again after 20 years." -- Sylvia.
"I will remember the magnificent cathedral that came to feel like home after a week of filling it with glorious music; getting to know our eclectic group of singing souls; the blackberries, and cherries growing around our Gloucester hotel." -- Pat.
"What has impressed me is the stained glass at Bath Abbey and Gloucester Cathedral and the imagery that is in the windows. Lots of photos taken." -- Heather G.
"The people -- particularly the ones I met through NHS."
"I especially enjoyed singing O How Glorious [by Healey Willan] in the belfry of Gloucester Cathedral." -- N.C.D.
"The most memorable moment for me was our processional for the very first Evensong in Gloucester Cathedral. That feeling of awe and mysticism as we walked from the bare Norman nave into the ornate Quire was truly humbling." --Adam
"The most memorable moment for me was when the choir sang O How Glorious as the introit in Bath Abbey. The sound was so amazing, coming as if from angels from Heaven." -- Sandy, a member of our support team.
"The highlight for me was the tremendous sense of satisfaction I felt as we sang the last notes of the Arcadelt Ave Maria in the Lady Chapel in Gloucester."
"There were many highlights of the tour for me, including singing with Voices United, canting in two cathedrals, and my first visit to London. The biggest highlight for me, however, was sharing meals and getting to know other choir members whom I hadn't known very well before." -- Jim
"Meeting some of the local people, particularly a sweet woman from Norwich who shared her concert program and stories with me."
"Singing O How Glorious in the belfry of Gloucester Cathedral."
"Seeing history from textbooks and novels come alive!"
"Heavenly voices in the abbey; 'to be or not to be'; trip of a lifetime!!" -- Mrs. O.
"A tremendous thank you to everyone who organized this tour. I really enjoyed every minute of it -- Singing at Bath Abbey, Gloucester Cathedral, and St. James Church; also attending the Three Choirs Festival." -- Kathie R.
"My fondest memories of this tour are walking in the cloisters in Gloucester, floating down the Isis in Oxford with others as O How Glorious wafted through our minds, and deciding with Maria that the solution to repertoire overload was to sing the Wild responses every day, because every day they would sound different!" -- Heather E.
"My favourite moment from the tour is hearing the wonderful live acoustics in Bath and Gloucester -- especially at the end of "... and make thy people joyful!" -- Tammy-Jo
"Having the secret code to get into the vestry at Bath Abbey. I felt like an insider!" -- Helen N.
"A highlight that I found was being in Gloucester as long as would feel acceptable, not too short an experience of a trip; a chance for the feeling of a bit more careful work." -- Margaret G.
"We didn't just visit history, we were part of it! My favourite moments? ... 1) When we first processed in to the chancel facing the altar and that incredible east window while the organ was playing; 2) when we finished the last Psalm. An unforgettable trip! -- Bob
"The organ voluntaries that ended each Evensong service, especially Tammy-Jo's performance of Gilliland's "Rockin' the Spear" and Warren's grand finale in Gloucester -- Vierne's Carillon de Westminster." -- Laura S.
What is Choral Evensong?
It occurs to us that we have talked a lot about Evensong and have not really explained the service. Given that readers of our blog may not be of the Anglican faith we thought we would describe it for you. As we started out on this tour the ritual was familiar to both Warren and Tammy-Jo who had both had positions previously at Anglican churches, but to many of us in the choir it was not familiar.
Gloucester Cathedral has a lovely little booklet which describes the history and I will use passages from that booklet to describe it.
Archbishop Thomas Cranmer outlined both Matins and Evensong in his 1549 Book of Common Prayer. In the Anglican tradition the psalms are chanted and the canticles (the Magnificat and the Nunc Dimittis) are sung to settings by some of the greatest composers from the sixteenth century to the present. We sang music composed exclusively by Canadian composers.
The Gloucester Cathedral introduction to Evensong says "... we pray at the beginning and the end of every day because our lives, our history and our future belong to God. We give thanks for good things, ask for help with difficult things and pray for those in pain and need. We also listen, day-after-day, to words from scripture that tell the great story of what God has done and will do. God is with us in all things and in all places. In this service of Evensong we give God our undivided attention."
Monday Aug. 8
Ps. 4
Anthem: Help Us to Help Each Other – Stanley Drummond Wolff
Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis – Stephanie Martin
Responses – Michael Capon
Voluntary: I will Pour out my Spirit (Eleanor Daley)
Tuesday Aug. 9
Ps. 9
Anthem: O Holy Spirit, Lord of Grace – Richard S. Eaton
Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis – H. Hugh Bancroft
Responses – H. Hugh Bancroft
Voluntary: Caprice sur les Grand Jeux (Louis- Nicolas Clérambault)
Wednesday Aug. 10
Ps. 11
Anthem: Trust in the Lord and Do Good – David Ouchterlony
Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis in G (2011) – Warren Mack
Responses – Paul Halley
Voluntary: Trumpet Tune in A Major (David Ouchterlony)
Thursday Aug. 11
Ps. 18
Anthem: Abide in My Love – Warren Mack
Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis in F (2000) – Warren Mack
Responses – Warren Mack
Voluntary: Finale Jubiliante (Healey Willan)
Friday Aug. 12
Ps. 22
Anthem: In Paradisum – Eleanor Daley (from Requiem)
Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis – Derek Holman
Responses – Jonathan Wild
Voluntary: Toccata from Suite Gothique (Léon Boëllmann)
Saturday Aug. 13
Ps. 24
Introit: O How Glorious – Healey Willan
Anthem: Rise Up My Love – Healey Willan
Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis – Healey Willan
Responses – Paul Murray
Voluntary: Carillon (Herbert Murrill)
Sunday Aug. 14
Introit: There is No Rose – Robin John King
Ps. 72
Anthem: John Wesley’s Covenant Prayer – Robin John King
Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis – Robin John King
Responses – Jonathon Wild
Voluntary: Carillon de Westminster (Louis Vierne)
Gloucester Cathedral has a lovely little booklet which describes the history and I will use passages from that booklet to describe it.
Archbishop Thomas Cranmer outlined both Matins and Evensong in his 1549 Book of Common Prayer. In the Anglican tradition the psalms are chanted and the canticles (the Magnificat and the Nunc Dimittis) are sung to settings by some of the greatest composers from the sixteenth century to the present. We sang music composed exclusively by Canadian composers.
The Gloucester Cathedral introduction to Evensong says "... we pray at the beginning and the end of every day because our lives, our history and our future belong to God. We give thanks for good things, ask for help with difficult things and pray for those in pain and need. We also listen, day-after-day, to words from scripture that tell the great story of what God has done and will do. God is with us in all things and in all places. In this service of Evensong we give God our undivided attention."
"Be filled with the Spirit, as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts, giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." Ephesians 15:18-20
Evensong follows a set ritual. Sometimes we start with an Introit, then some of the Responses, the sung Psalm, pause for the first reading from the Old Testament, followed by the singing of the Magnificat. The New Testament lesson follows, after which we sing the Nunc Dimittis, turn towards the altar to recite the Apostles' Creed, then finish the responses. The Collects for the day are chanted by the Cantor, one of our tenors. We then sing the Anthem and this is followed by the prayers of Intercession and the final Blessing. Choral Evensong usually takes about forty minutes but is longer or shorter depending on the length of the Psalm. (Psalm 18 took us about 11 minutes to sing! We were congratulated on getting through it.)
I will list the music we sang in Gloucester for your interest. Today, our last day, we thoroughly enjoyed the wonderful acoustics of this ancient cathedral as we sang beautiful music by Robin John King. The Magnificat (Song of Mary) and the Nunc Dimittis (Song of Simeon) was composed for us for this tour.
Monday Aug. 8
Ps. 4
Anthem: Help Us to Help Each Other – Stanley Drummond Wolff
Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis – Stephanie Martin
Responses – Michael Capon
Voluntary: I will Pour out my Spirit (Eleanor Daley)
Tuesday Aug. 9
Ps. 9
Anthem: O Holy Spirit, Lord of Grace – Richard S. Eaton
Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis – H. Hugh Bancroft
Responses – H. Hugh Bancroft
Voluntary: Caprice sur les Grand Jeux (Louis- Nicolas Clérambault)
Wednesday Aug. 10
Ps. 11
Anthem: Trust in the Lord and Do Good – David Ouchterlony
Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis in G (2011) – Warren Mack
Responses – Paul Halley
Voluntary: Trumpet Tune in A Major (David Ouchterlony)
Thursday Aug. 11
Ps. 18
Anthem: Abide in My Love – Warren Mack
Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis in F (2000) – Warren Mack
Responses – Warren Mack
Voluntary: Finale Jubiliante (Healey Willan)
Friday Aug. 12
Ps. 22
Anthem: In Paradisum – Eleanor Daley (from Requiem)
Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis – Derek Holman
Responses – Jonathan Wild
Voluntary: Toccata from Suite Gothique (Léon Boëllmann)
Saturday Aug. 13
Ps. 24
Introit: O How Glorious – Healey Willan
Anthem: Rise Up My Love – Healey Willan
Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis – Healey Willan
Responses – Paul Murray
Voluntary: Carillon (Herbert Murrill)
Sunday Aug. 14
Introit: There is No Rose – Robin John King
Ps. 72
Anthem: John Wesley’s Covenant Prayer – Robin John King
Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis – Robin John King
Responses – Jonathon Wild
Voluntary: Carillon de Westminster (Louis Vierne)
Marg McKenzie
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Tewkesbury and another great concert
On Friday we sandwiched a short trip to Tewkesbury between our two rehearsals. Tewkesbury Abbey was founded in 1087, but the current building was largely constructed between 1102 and 1121, and is a fine example of the Norman Romanesque style. When we entered the abbey, we discovered a choral rehearsal in progress -- for a concert that afternoon of the Three Choirs Festival. Hearing Lauridsen's O magnum mysterium echo through the abbey as we walked in was an unexpected special moment.
The town of Tewkesbury, in Gloucestershire, is situated where the river Severn meets the river Avon. Unfortunately this means that it is occasionally subject to flooding. Tewkesbury has been called one of the best Medieval streetscapes in England, with a lot of half-timbered buildings and narrow alleys.
On Friday evening, many of us took the coach to Worcester for another wonderful concert. The Festival Chorus and Philharmonia Orchestra combined in two major works: An Oxford Elegy, by Ralph Vaughan Williams; and Johannes Brahms' Ein deutsches Requiem.
The text of An Oxford Elegy combines portions of two poems by Matthew Arnold, "The Scholar Gipsy" and "Thyrsis". Vaughan Williams had originally wanted to create an opera based on "The Scholar Gipsy". The text is conveyed primarily by a narrator, with the choir either singing wordlessly or echoing the narrator. It was interesting to hear passages referring to scenes in Oxford so soon after our visit there.
And the eye travels down to Oxford's towers:
That sweet city with her dreaming spires,
She needs not summer for beauty's heightening.
Lovely all times she lies, lovely to-day!
That sweet city with her dreaming spires,
She needs not summer for beauty's heightening.
Lovely all times she lies, lovely to-day!
Brahms' German Requiem is much more familiar to choirs and audiences, but no less worth hearing again -- and this was an excellent performance. Brahms was an agnostic, but he know the Lutheran Bible well, and chose to use passages from the Old and New Testaments, and the Apocrypha, rather than the traditional Requiem Mass text.
Laura S.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
(Mis)adventures
Every trip of this magnitude is bound to have a few things that don't go as planned, and ours has been no exception. Here are a few of the mishaps that we have weathered:
One of our altos traveled to England about a week ahead of the rest of us, to spend some time visiting a friend. Unfortunately on the first day she was here, she fell and broke her wrist. When she joined the rest of the choir in Bath, she was sporting a red and white cast on her right arm -- colours carefully chosen to match her choir gown, of course! This past Tuesday she spent quite a bit of time in a hospital in Gloucester, getting surgery on her wrist. She is recovering well and was able to return to the choir for today's Evensong service. One member of our support team spent the day in the hospital to keep tabs on how things were going, and many have been helping out with the tasks that are difficult to perform with one hand in a cast!
One of our sopranos was planning to join us in Gloucester, but we received word late last week that her grandmother is seriously ill so she needed to return to Edmonton. We're missing her wonderful voice, and our thoughts and prayers and with her and her family.
One of our basses finally got his luggage today -- two weeks after he flew from Calgary to London! Apparently it came on a later flight than he did, and by the time it was first delivered to our hotel in Bath, we had already moved on. Then the courier service lost track of it ... or something like that. Our tour guide was very persistent in finally tracking down his bag and getting it delivered to the right place.
On Thursday morning our coach driver discovered that someone had vandalized the coach overnight, damaging the windshield wipers. The damage was extensive enough that a new part would be needed. We were due for our morning rehearsal near the Cathedral (several miles from the hotel), so we all trooped down the hill to the nearest bus stop and caught a city bus into town. It's a good thing it was a double-decker bus; otherwise we would not have all fit onto one bus. I'm sure that the locals wondered why 28 noisy people with funny accents were causing a long wait while they boarded the bus at one stop, and disturbing their normally quiet ride into town! Here we are at the bus stop:
There was some further trouble getting the correct part, but our coach driver tells us that we now have a new coach, so the Gloucester city buses should be a bit quieter tomorrow!
Laura S.
One of our altos traveled to England about a week ahead of the rest of us, to spend some time visiting a friend. Unfortunately on the first day she was here, she fell and broke her wrist. When she joined the rest of the choir in Bath, she was sporting a red and white cast on her right arm -- colours carefully chosen to match her choir gown, of course! This past Tuesday she spent quite a bit of time in a hospital in Gloucester, getting surgery on her wrist. She is recovering well and was able to return to the choir for today's Evensong service. One member of our support team spent the day in the hospital to keep tabs on how things were going, and many have been helping out with the tasks that are difficult to perform with one hand in a cast!
One of our sopranos was planning to join us in Gloucester, but we received word late last week that her grandmother is seriously ill so she needed to return to Edmonton. We're missing her wonderful voice, and our thoughts and prayers and with her and her family.
One of our basses finally got his luggage today -- two weeks after he flew from Calgary to London! Apparently it came on a later flight than he did, and by the time it was first delivered to our hotel in Bath, we had already moved on. Then the courier service lost track of it ... or something like that. Our tour guide was very persistent in finally tracking down his bag and getting it delivered to the right place.
On Thursday morning our coach driver discovered that someone had vandalized the coach overnight, damaging the windshield wipers. The damage was extensive enough that a new part would be needed. We were due for our morning rehearsal near the Cathedral (several miles from the hotel), so we all trooped down the hill to the nearest bus stop and caught a city bus into town. It's a good thing it was a double-decker bus; otherwise we would not have all fit onto one bus. I'm sure that the locals wondered why 28 noisy people with funny accents were causing a long wait while they boarded the bus at one stop, and disturbing their normally quiet ride into town! Here we are at the bus stop:
There was some further trouble getting the correct part, but our coach driver tells us that we now have a new coach, so the Gloucester city buses should be a bit quieter tomorrow!
Laura S.
A Magnificent Concert in Worcester
On Tuesday August 9 many of us rushed to the coach after we finished the Evensong service, and rode to Worcester for another concert -- this one featuring the renowned choral group The Sixteen. The program, entitled "Illumination and Contemplation: choral music from East and West", presented works from the Russian Orthodox tradition by Rachmaninoff, Stravinsky, Chesnokov, and Kalinnikov, interspersed with choral works by John Tavener, Arvo P"art, Anton Bruckner, James MacMillan, and Gustav Holst. We were all amazed at their beautifully blended sound and the way they managed to sing such complex harmonies, exquisitely well in tune. People particularly remarked afterwards on John Tavener's work, "Song for Athene", which was composed in memory of a young Greek woman who was killed in a traffic accident in London. The work gained fame when it was sung at the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, in 1997. MacMillan's "A Child's Prayer", written in memory of the victims of the Dunblane tragedy in 1996, featured two soulful solo soprano lines "rising above a sequence of darkly lamenting chords, only to be transformed by the hypnotic repetition of the word 'joy'". (Festival Programme, p. 96.)
A Swan swims in the Severn River, near Worcester Cathedral
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
A Side Trip
Having arrived in Gloucester but before we began the week of singing at Gloucester Cathedral, the choir had the weekend off to explore independently. James and I decided to take the weekend to travel a bit further afield. Before we left Canada we had bought Britrail flexipasses which meant we could travel for a very reasonable amount. There are quite extensive rail networks in the UK so we had many choices of places to go.
On Friday we decided to take a day trip to Cardiff, the capital of Wales. It was an easy trip being only an hour away by train. Cardiff, like Gloucester, was originally a Roman fortress. On the same site, a Norman castle was constructed. Given James' love of history, that was our first stop. It was quite the place. The keep even had a moat with water. Over the centuries the castle went through many changes, especially in the Victorian period when the 3rd Marquess of Bute made extensive ornamental changes to the manor house. They had a sitting room nicknamed the Arabian Room because of the ornamental gilded ceiling. Amazing.
After a visit to the National Museum (where you cab see the most Impressionist paintings outside of France) we wandered down to the Cardiff Bay area of town, extensively developed in recent years with the Millenium Centre Concert Hall, cafes and shops and Y Senned, the Welsh house of Assembly. It was established following government devolution when Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland all received legislative powers very similar to our own provincial charters. Completed in 2006, it's a very modern place with computers at every members seat and electronic voting capabilities. The timber for the undulating ceiling is BC white cedar and the floors are all Welsh slate. Beautiful building!
The following day we embarked on a two day adventure to Chester (where James was born) and then Manchester, the UK's second largest city and centre of cotton milling during the 19th century. One of the must-dos in Chester is to "walk the walls" because unlike any other community, Chester has a nearly complete wall all around the early city. There's only a small 50 foot section missing and this was intentionally removed in the Victorian period so people could promenade along the river. Chester was a very important Roman town and there are significant ruins including one of the largest amphitheatres outside Italy.
Manchester is an impressive city, almost like a mini London. They even have their own large ferris wheel! Bombed by the IRA during the 80's, the downtown is an interesting mix of Victorian and contemporary architecture. It's a shopping mecca so we did a bit of that before enjoying the night life. We'd had enough of English food so stopped for a bite in China town. Home to Granada TV where "Coronation Street" is filmed so no surprise that James wanted to catch a glimpse of the set through the gates. It was a tiny glimpse but one that still has him smiling thinking about it.
So we're halfway through our week in the Cathedral and we had the UK premiere of Warren's Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis. On Wednesday the choir had a tour of the tower in Gloucester Cathedral. After climbing 269 steps to get to the top of the tower, we had a great view of the city. The guide gave us some of the history of the tower, even with a trap door in the ceiling to let the bells through to the floor below. One problem though, the main bell called Great Peter is too big to get through the trap door. So they either mismeasured the size of the bell, or the bell was hauled up before the door was installed.
The church is filled with so many hidden secrets.
Glen W.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
On Friday we decided to take a day trip to Cardiff, the capital of Wales. It was an easy trip being only an hour away by train. Cardiff, like Gloucester, was originally a Roman fortress. On the same site, a Norman castle was constructed. Given James' love of history, that was our first stop. It was quite the place. The keep even had a moat with water. Over the centuries the castle went through many changes, especially in the Victorian period when the 3rd Marquess of Bute made extensive ornamental changes to the manor house. They had a sitting room nicknamed the Arabian Room because of the ornamental gilded ceiling. Amazing.
After a visit to the National Museum (where you cab see the most Impressionist paintings outside of France) we wandered down to the Cardiff Bay area of town, extensively developed in recent years with the Millenium Centre Concert Hall, cafes and shops and Y Senned, the Welsh house of Assembly. It was established following government devolution when Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland all received legislative powers very similar to our own provincial charters. Completed in 2006, it's a very modern place with computers at every members seat and electronic voting capabilities. The timber for the undulating ceiling is BC white cedar and the floors are all Welsh slate. Beautiful building!
The following day we embarked on a two day adventure to Chester (where James was born) and then Manchester, the UK's second largest city and centre of cotton milling during the 19th century. One of the must-dos in Chester is to "walk the walls" because unlike any other community, Chester has a nearly complete wall all around the early city. There's only a small 50 foot section missing and this was intentionally removed in the Victorian period so people could promenade along the river. Chester was a very important Roman town and there are significant ruins including one of the largest amphitheatres outside Italy.
Manchester is an impressive city, almost like a mini London. They even have their own large ferris wheel! Bombed by the IRA during the 80's, the downtown is an interesting mix of Victorian and contemporary architecture. It's a shopping mecca so we did a bit of that before enjoying the night life. We'd had enough of English food so stopped for a bite in China town. Home to Granada TV where "Coronation Street" is filmed so no surprise that James wanted to catch a glimpse of the set through the gates. It was a tiny glimpse but one that still has him smiling thinking about it.
So we're halfway through our week in the Cathedral and we had the UK premiere of Warren's Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis. On Wednesday the choir had a tour of the tower in Gloucester Cathedral. After climbing 269 steps to get to the top of the tower, we had a great view of the city. The guide gave us some of the history of the tower, even with a trap door in the ceiling to let the bells through to the floor below. One problem though, the main bell called Great Peter is too big to get through the trap door. So they either mismeasured the size of the bell, or the bell was hauled up before the door was installed.
The church is filled with so many hidden secrets.
Glen W.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
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