2019, some new music and some more familiar

2019 began with some exciting musical moments.  First we went with Jeff and Fi to the Epiphany carol service in Lichfield Cathedral the day before we set out back to France.  Our friend Andy sings in the small choir there and they provided the music for the service, some Rutter, some modern carols and the Coventry carol in a rather sanitised version with too many sharpened sevenths!  But it was a lovely occasion, and a fitting way to leave for home.  We had not been able to get to carol services before Christmas so this was a real treat.

Then almost as soon as we'd arrived back we went to Montpellier for the first of the concerts some of our friends have given us as a 40th wedding anniversary gift.  It was a wonderful start, and since the programme is in the picture just here I won't make a list.  But the Webern was a revelation, unknown to either of us, and the whole programme was fantasticaly well played by a young French group which has also gained a following in the UK as BBC new generation artists..  Their precision and lightness of touch were remarkable.  As a student I got to know a lot of the Beethoven quartets, and the 3rd Rasumovsky with the Arod Quartet has only just added to its repertoire was at once familiar and a revelation, the opening almost as if I'd not heard it before, looking forward to his later quartets but also making a powerful link to the Webern we'd just heard.  A magnificent evening.

Listening has been OK of course, but for me singing is still only just possible after an English cold I brought back from our Christmas trip.  I had to miss the first rehearsal of the Bach choir I sing with in Montpellier, no voice at all, but I was determined to take the plunge this week with my first rehearsal with a small choir near Béziers.  It's over an hour's drive each way, so perhaps rash to take on especially with weekly evening rehearsals in winter, but I'd really hoped to find a new musical challenge.  And although I was still croaky and had very shaky top notes, I wasn't disappointed - around 18 people, 2 of whom share the conducting, and 2 concerts to prepare before the summer, one of Bach and Buxtehude, some of which I know, and the other all Rossini, which is new to me and challenging.  It is a friendly crowd with some very good voices, and I did not regret the effort despite difficulties finding the venue after dark.

Mary meanwhile has also taken the plunge again, with extra rehearsals for her Vauvert music group on Wednesday evenings as well as her regular Friday orchestra.  So life in 2019 has started with a rich tapestry of musical activity as well as the usual enjoyable radio 3 which starts my mornings and punctuates our days.