Casey's magnum opus #1

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!!!

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.

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."

"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

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!

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.

(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.

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

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.

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Our Residence in Gloucester Cathedral Begins

On Monday, August 8 we began our week as the choir in residence at Gloucester Cathedral. Our days are now settling into a routine schedule -- coach from hotel to cathedral at 9:00 am; rehearse in the Education Centre in the morning; lunch and free time in Gloucester until we gather to prepare for our public rehearsal at 3:30; Evensong service at 5:30. On evenings when we attend concerts in Worcester we then dash to the coach, take-out dinner in hand.

Our rehearsals are in a very old building that is now the Education Centre.












Our first Evensong service in Gloucester included a new Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis "The Selwyn Service" by Canadian composer Stephanie Martin. Ms. Martin is in the area attending the Three Choirs Festival, so she was in the congregation to hear us sing her wonderful setting of these texts.

Another highlight on Monday was a detailed tour of the cathedral. Gloucester Cathedral was built and rebuilt over a period spanning several centuries, and thus exhibits several distinct architectural styles. The Abbey Church of St. Peter was built from 1089 to around 1130, and the massive Norman pillars in the nave date from that period. The vaulted stone ceiling in that area was completed in 1242, replacing a wooden roof that burned.



The cloisters (which were used in the filming of one of the Harry Potter movies) feature fan vaulting from the 1350s, and in fact this technique was invented here.


Bath Abbey is a spectacular later example of the use of fan vaulting.

A number of important historical figures are buried in Gloucester Cathedral, including King Edward II, whose gruesome murder took place in Berkeley Castle in 1327. His magnificent tomb was built on orders of his son Edward III.


Laura S.

Sunday in Worcester

Sunday, August 7 was another busy day for us, again in Worcester at the Three Choirs Festival. Some of us took the early coach to get there in time for the morning Festival Eucharist. This beautiful service featured the combined choirs of Worcester Cathedral, together with the Corelli Orchestra, performing Franz Joseph Haydn's Missa Sancti Nicolai. It was particularly meaningful to hear this work as part of a worship service in the way that it was intended, rather than in a concert setting. The Corelli Orchestra, performing on period instruments, provided exquisite support to the performance. As a horn player, I must comment in particular on the fine natural horn playing!

By early afternoon, most of the group had arrived, and many attended a performance of Hamlet, in a production by Shakespeare's Globe on Tour. I marveled at the way in which a handful of actors covered all of the characters, changing outer garments and props in quick succession.

Some of our group dashed to the evensong service after the play, while others opted for a more leisurely dinner or a chance to explore Worcester. The evening event was a "9/11 Memorial Concert", performed by the Festival Chorus, the choristers of the three cathedrals, and the Philharmonia Orchestra. The first half included two American works -- Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings, and John Adams' On the Transmigration of Souls -- as well as the Adagietto from Mahler's Symphony no. 5. John Adams' work combined pre-recorded sounds with the live performance, and utilized the texts of missing persons posters found in New York following the 9/11 attack, together with some quotes from "Portraits in Grief", published in the New York Times. The second half featured a fine performance of Mozart's Requiem Mass in D minor, K. 626.

Three Choirs Festival, Part I

We have been very busy the last couple of days, so I'm getting a little behind on this blog. Saturday (August 6) the coach took us to Worcester Cathedral, the site of the 2011 Three Choirs Festival. This festival, which rotates yearly among three of the great cathedrals in England -- Gloucester, Hereford, and Worcester -- has been in existence for 284 years. We arrived in time to attend the opening service on Saturday morning -- a service full of ceremony and beautiful music. The choirs, joined by the brass of the the Philharmonia Orchestra, performed an anthem by Andrew Carter, and Charles Villiers Stanford's Te Deum.

In the afternoon the coach took us to a girls' school in Malvern for a few hours of rehearsal time. Malvern is a lovely town nestled near the Malvern hills.











We returned to Worcester Cathedral in time to attend the choral evensong service there. This provided the opportunity to hear one of the Worcester Cathedral choirs in the world premiere of a new anthem by Donald Hunt, "Quam dilecta", as well as Stanford's Service in A.

After a quick dinner many of us returned for the evening concert -- Edward Elgar's "Dream of Gerontius". Edward Elgar (1857-1934), the most important English composer of his era, grew up in Worcester, where his father ran a music shop. The Dream of Gerontius is based on the poem by Cardinal Newman. Elgar's work was premiered in 1900; the first performance was not a success, due to insufficient rehearsal time, but critics saw merit in the work, and it has since become Elgar's most popular choral work.


Laura S.

Gloucester, Part I

We arrived at the Ramada Bowden Hall Hotel late in the afternoon on Thursday, August 4, and then road the coach to the Colesbourne Inn for a delicious evening meal together.

Colesbourne Inn

Bowden Hall Hotel











Friday was a free day; while some people chose to stay at the hotel for the day, others went into Gloucester to do laundry or to begin exploring the city.




Gloucester has a very different flavour than either Bath or Oxford. It has a long history as a trading centre. The Gloucester and Sharpness Canal connects it to the Severn Estuary, allowing large ships to enter its port.

Market Day in Gloucester

Draw Bridge on the Canal

Mariners' Chapel

King Edward's Gate

Laura S.

Rainy Day in the Cotswolds

We drove from Oxford to Gloucester by way of the lovely Cotswolds. The word Cotswolds combines the term "cots" -- stone sheep shelters, and "wolds" -- rolling hills. The golden fields of grain and green sheep pastures are defined by distinctive stone fences built from the Oolite limestone that is quarried in the region. Farm and village buildings are also constructed of this limestone.

We stopped to explore two typical market towns -- Burford and Chipping Campden. Both have their origins in the wool trade, but now rely heavily on the tourist trade. There were plenty of small shops, tea rooms, and pubs to provide shelter from the rain.

Our coach driver did an excellent job of maneuvering through the narrow, winding roads to our new hotel outside Gloucester.


Burford Street View

Chipping Campden

Chipping Campden Market Hall

St. James Church, Chipping Campden

Typical stone fence












Laura S.

Time with the Bard

Today the choir made the trip to Stratford-upon-Avon, the birthplace of William Shakespeare. Our first stop was in Shottery at the home of Anne Hathaway, to whom Shakespeare was married when he was eighteen. Together they had three children. It was a quaint cottage in the Tudor style framed with local oak and a thatched roof.

The bulk of the afternoon was spent in Stratford itself, starting with a driving tour of the main sites. The choir was then dropped off in the town centre for individual exploration. Possible places to see included the birthplace of Shakespeare, the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, and the like. Of course, there were many shops, cafes, and pubs to visit. There was even a magic shop where one could buy a wand similar to Harry Potter's.

In the evening we entertained the people of nearby Alveston with a small concert featuring a selection of music from our repertoire. Choral and ensemble pieces were punctuated with wonderful organ pieces performed beautifully by Warren and Tammy-Jo. It was wonderful to help St. James parish raise funds for the repair of their church tower.

It will be great to spend a few days rest in Gloucester before we start next week's evensongs.

Glen W.

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Tuesday, August 2: I've been to London to visit ...

Well, I'm not sure that any of us visited the Queen today, but about 20 of our group piled onto the coach at 8:00 am to see how much of London we could cover in a one-day visit. The rest of the group took the day to enjoy the relaxing atmosphere at the hotel and to explore more of Oxford.

The London group managed to cover a lot of territory in one day. I spent several hours at the Victoria and Alberta Museum, which was founded in 1852 as the Museum of Manufactures. It is now "the world's greatest museum of art and design" with huge collections of ceramics, furniture, textiles, sculptures, and other fine and decorative arts from around the world and through the ages.

I next tried to rent a bicycle to explore Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens, but the self-serve bike rental didn't work well for me, so I settled for a stroll through part of Hyde Park -- hard on my feet but a better way to take pictures of the lovely flower gardens there.

After a very hot and crowded rush-hour tube ride I got to St. Paul's Cathedral just as they were starting their Choral Evensong service. The first cathedral to be built after the reformation, St. Paul's was designed by the architect Christopher Wren and erected between 1675 and 1710. It's a breathtaking, awe-inspiring place in which to celebrate the beautiful evensong service. After the service I discovered that several other tour members were also there, and Warren was able to provide several details about the organ at St. Paul's.

Other London explorations by the group included the British Museum, double-decker tour buses, the Tower of London, the Natural History Museum, and a lot of great places to eat. Three of our group even managed to Brighton for the day.

One of London's newer sculptures

Flowers in Hyde Park:

Saint Paul's Cathedral

Monday, August 1- Oxford

We left Bath this morning for Oxford feeling positive about our presentations at the Abbey. Warren’s postlude, using the glockenspiel (a recent addition to their magnificent Klais organ) was a huge hit. No one left the church until he had finished playing!

The drive from Bath to Oxford took us through beautiful English countryside with its patchwork fields divided by dark green hedges. England is experiencing a drought this summer and all the rivers are quite low and the crops not doing as well as expected.

We arrived in Oxford with our courier quoting from Matthew Arnold’s poetry “that sweet City with her dreaming spires”. How right he was! There are forty colleges within Oxford University. Exploring the founding of many of the well known colleges such as Balliol (founded in 1263), Christ Church (1546), Magdalen (1458), Trinity (1554), Lincoln (1427) and Merton (1264) is fascinating. Each takes great pride in listing their famous graduates. For example: John Wesley – Lincoln; Lewis Carroll - Christ Church; T.S Eliot – Merton; Harold Macmillan – Balliol. We have particularly been interested in their chapels and the location of the choir stalls and the organs!

After David took us on a walking tour of the highlights of the city, considerately finding spots of shade for us to listen on a very hot day, we were able to explore further at our leisure. Of interest to me was the number of young people on the streets. The colleges are on summer break so obviously there are summer courses available as well as the opportunity for visiting choirs to provide glorious music in any of the numerous chapels in the city. One choir observed in rehearsal was being pulled up for incorrect pronunciation. It sounded very familiar!!

I was quite taken that most of the girls on the street were in lovely summer dresses and the boys in longer pants. I have not seen one young person in jeans!

We reconvened late afternoon to be transported about thirty minutes outside the city to the Oxford Belfry Hotel and our evening meal as a group.

In general we are exhilarated, but tired. Tomorrow is a free day with the coach taking folk to London. At least half of the group has elected to stay in Oxford, explore the city further while having the time to attend to housekeeping details.

Marg McKenzie

Sunday in Bath

The choir has arrived at the historic city of Bath. Situated on the Avon River, Bath is widely known for its Roman baths. Nourished by natural hot springs, Bath spa offered the Romans a perfect place to set up camp in 43AD. Much later, it became popular as a spa town during the Georgian era, which led to a major expansion that left a heritage of exemplary Georgian architecture crafted from Bath Stone.

We were singing at the historic Abbey of St. Peter and St. Paul, or more well known as Bath Abbey. We will be singing evensong on Saturday and Sunday, as well as Sunday morning services. The Abbey, completed in 1132, has been left to ruin and rebuilt many times, with a major restoration in 1860 by Sir George Scott. It's walls are 80% windows, which give the Abbey a light, airy feel. The Abbey is built in a cruciform, which was not a common building style at the time, but being a cross formation, has been copied by many other churches since.

The choir did the choral matins in the morning and a mid-afternoon evensong. We filled the cathedral with Healey Willan's O How Glorious and ended the day with Rise Up My Love. We experienced the traditional choral matins which focused on the passage from Matthew 14 reading of the feeding of the 5000. The bishop of the Diocese of Bath and Wells offered a moving reflection inspired by Jesus's words "Let none of it be wasted."
The vicar theologian skillfully bridged the message and the prayer, inviting the congregation to meditate in silence when they believed times in their life which there was waste.

After the service we were free to go on our own to explore the city of Bath. Next we are off to Oxford for a few days to take in the sights, with a quick return to London on Tuesday.

Glen Warren
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Our First Evensong a Success!

It sure felt like a short night, but we all managed to get to breakfast, then get out to the bus with our robes and music by 8:45 am. After a short rehearsal on the lawn in front of the hotel, we boarded the bus and headed into Bath for a full day of sight-seeing and singing.

After we made a brief stop at Bath Abbey to park our robes in the choir vestry, David, our tour guide, started us out with a very informative walking tour, during which we learned a lot about the history, the architecture, and important people of Bath. We then had several hours to explore on our own, joining the huge throngs of other tourists enjoying narrow shop-lined streets, old limestone buildings, beautiful gardens, and sunny weather.

We gathered back at the cathedral around 3:30 to don our choir robes and rehearse for our first Evensong service. The abbey was filled with tourists during our public rehearsal. Many were exploring the beautiful building and taking pictures, but some sat and listened. It's a good thing we rehearsed the processional, because we lined up the wrong way the first time and all ended up on the wrong side of the choir loft -- kind of like driving on the wrong side of the street!

Our first Evensong service featured several works by Healey Willan, the Halley responses, and Psalm 11. These are all works that we have studied a lot and performed before, but what a different feeling to sing in such a lofty place! The stone walls and the spectacular, high vaulted ceilings reverberated with the sound of our voices.

After the service, many of us took a special tour to the top of the bell tower -- around 220 steps up a narrow, spiral staircase to see how the bells are rung, to see and hear them up close, and to look out over the city in all directions from the top of the roof and then from the top of the tower. At one point in the tour we were just above the vaulted ceiling, which is carved of stone only 7 cm thick. We could look down into the abbey through a little hole in the ceiling. The stone floor of the abbey looked very far down from there!

Laura Snyder





A few pictures taken from the tower ...

Arrival at last!

We're finally here! The United Voices of Edmonton have arrived in England!

After many people arrived from different locations (Ireland, Holland, Scotland, Denmark, and other parts of England) and one major group arrived from Edmonton to our meeting point at Heathrow airport, we met our kind, humourous, and knowledgeable "courier" David and our coach driver Lee. There was a fair bit of traffic getting to Bath, which allowed us more time to see the beautiful, picturesque countryside of some of the Cotswolds area. The fact that it was a bit drizzly and foggy added to the ambiance of the view from the bus window!

After some time to shake of a bit of jet lag and freshen up at the lovely Bailbrook House Hotel (photo above) we had a group dinner in Bath. There were oo's and ah's as we drove past gorgeous buildings, and arrived at the restaurant which was right in the shadow of Bath Abbey where we will sing tomorrow! The excitement (and perhaps a bit of overtiredness!) was obvious at dinner and we all look forward to a good sleep tonight. Tomorrow - walking tour and our first evensong. All our hard work will finally be realized!

Tammy-Jo Mortensen

Bon Voyage!

It's finally almost here!

Time to leave behind all the hard work that the United Voices of Edmonton have put in, and go on the journey that we've been planning for almost 2 years!

During this time of preparation, we've had a lot of extra rehearsals, sang at four evensong services around Edmonton, met and planned, had some "fun"draisers, and have gotten to know better our fellow choristers from our own choirs and the other choirs that have comprised the group (Robertson-Wesley, Knox-Metropolitan and the Willan Chorale) and perhaps even gotten to know ourselves better too.

It's been a wonderful time of great music-making, as well as researching and learning a lot of new Canadian music. We're truly thankful for the musicians across Canada who have shared their music with us, which we will now share with the congregations and audiences in England.

The tour takes place from July 29-August 15. Stay with us on this journey and share with us in the experience!

Photo: United Voices of Edmonton at Knox-Metropolitan United Church
Taken by Katharine Moore

Tammy-Jo Mortensen