Tenebrae

This Easter is a bit different from my usual mad choir overload! For once I don't have a full four days of choir in a row leading up to Easter - just the one. I guess this is because the Cathedral Singers isn't the main choir of St Pat's, so the choirboys will be doing the bulk of the work instead. It's nice because I get time off when everyone else does, but it's also a shame because Holy Week music is my favourite in the church year.

Tonight we're singing Tenebrae for Good Friday. We'll be doing some of the familiar Tenebrae motets by Tomás Luis de Victoria (1548-1611), and the chant Vexilla regis. I know these well from my years in St Mary's choir.

Here are two of the Victoria motets, O vos omnes and Caligaverunt:

For comparison, here are two rather different settings of the same texts by Carlo Gesualdo (1560-1613):

Because I can't resist, here are a couple of Baroque pieces for Holy Week. The famous eight-part Crucifixus by Antonio Lotti (1667-1740), which I had the pleasure of singing with the Tudor Consort a couple of years ago:

And the Première Leçon from Leçons de Ténèbres, Office du Vendredi Saint by Marc-Antoine Charpentier (1643-1704):

Have a great Easter weekend, everyone!

A most successful weekend II

On Sunday we headed off to the Queen Victoria Market, along with seemingly half the city. We grabbed some breakfast first, including some round doughnuts that reminded me of oliebollen (one of my favourite seasonal treats), and then made a beeline for the deli zone. To get there we had to pass through the meat section, which I found a bit much - loud, crowded, and omg the smell! *shudder*

The deli section was still crowded, but the huge range of cheeses and cured meats and other treats made up for it. Willie chose some cheeses, I chose some tea, and we both tasted some different raw honeys.

When we emerged from the market, we found a spot to sit and have some cold drinks, and then scored a raincoat for me from a nearby tramping/outdoors shop. The weather is no longer the boss of me... :)

Willie in cheese heaven!

Our goodies from the market

A well-deserved rest (and iced coffee)

That evening I took a tram to St Patrick's Cathedral, to listen to the choir that sings at their evening Mass (the St Patrick's Cathedral Singers). In the course of my research on choirs in Melbourne, this group had seemed like a good one for me to get back into choral singing - it's similar enough to St Mary's choir to not be too far out of my comfort zone, but it's a smaller, auditioned choir, which will encourage me to work hard.

Not even the main entrance - this is a side door!!

The choir sang some pieces by Mozart (Missa Brevis and Laudate Dominum), and various chants and responses. They have some lovely voices among them, and I was impressed with their general skill level. I noticed that there was much less Latin than at St Mary's, and a little less singing overall in the Mass. But the building is stunning, and I was especially taken with the wooden angels 'hovering' in the ceiling (see my last photo below).

Looking towards the altar

Looking back towards the entrance

I decided to take the plunge, and when Mass was over I tracked down the choir director and explained that I was looking for a choir to join. He said he was in need of more sopranos (hooray!), so I filled him in about my musical background, and did a mini audition in the choir room. That was a bit scary because I wasn't warmed up, but I gave it a shot nonetheless. I sang some scales, sight-read a little bit of plainchant, and sang a bit of the soprano solo from Laudate Dominum (which, fortuitously, I've been learning).
I made the grade, and now I have a choir!