The choir and its faithful supporters had a splendid day out in Winchester. We went by coach and took picnic lunches with us, which we ate on the cathedral lawn amid a Pentecostal funfair which included a Winchester Cathedral bouncy castle! The cathedral staff made us welcome and contrived to make us feel special – as indeed in some sense we were, since none of the choral music in the service had been heard before in Winchester. It included the Denis Browne Evening Service that we sang at Southwark, and a newly-minted set of preces and responses from our very own James Cryer. The anthem was ‘O Rex Gloriae’ by Charles Wood, newly edited by Richard Lyne from the original manuscript. The voluntary was Carillon by Vierne. We knew the music well, so we could relax and concentrate on matching our voices to the splendid acoustic. Someone remarked afterwards that we sounded as good as the resident choir. Sheer flattery of course, but nice to hear in the excited aftermath of the service.
Three churches, one parish
