St Michael Singers in Southwell 2023

I'm back now from our latest St. Michael's Singers reunion in Southwell.  We sang in five services and a lunchtime concert over four days in Southwell Minster. Somehow my voice managed to just about last out.

It was great to meet up with everybody again and enjoy making wonderful music together. Many thanks Guy for organising it all and also to Kevin, Michael and Charles for conducting us in a riot of good music, including compositions from both Guy and Charles. Thanks also to our brilliant organist Michael D'Avanzo. I'm looking forward to us meeting again next year already.

I didn't take many photos but here are a few (and thanks to Ruth for Adrian's photo at the top of this post). See more from our previous visits in 2021 (here) and 2018 (here) (which includes links to posts about our 2012 and 2005 reunions))

Southwell Minster is quite an impressive church,

We rehearsed in the Trebeck Hall (unless we were in the Minster). We started with two hours rehearsing on Wednesday evening, Here we are assembling.

It has quite a low ceiling so it was easy to fill with our sound. At one point later in the week Michael told us "I've just had an alarm go off in my smart watch. It says 'Warning - decibel levels are dangerously high'."

On Thursday morning I was up early and it was a lovely sunny day so I took a little stroll before breakfast. The town was still quiet.

They were just getting set up at the market.

After two rehearsing sessions of 1 1/2 hours, with 1/2 hour break in between, we had 3 hours until our rehearsal in the Minster for Evensong. Sister Sue and I took a short walk to The Final Whistle for our lunch.

They have a great selection of beers and ciders...

...and pies.

I had the charcoal ploughman's pork pie with pickle. Too much to eat in one go so I took some of it away for my lunch on Friday when we wouldn't have much time.

We had 28 in the congregation for the Thursday Evensong, which is rather more than the Minster usually gets on a weekday... including, I'm told, 3 bishops!

We did lunchtime concert on Friday of settings of poems by George Herbert by both Guy and Charles, interspersed by readings by Susan. We got a good audience.

Yesterday we got a three hour break between our morning and afternoon rehearsals and I got to go on one of the Southwell Heritage trails, Westhorpe and the Dumble. More on that in another post anon.

Throughout our stay we were accompanied in the Minster by the awe-inspiring 7m in diameter suspended Gaia globe. Read about the project here.

Here is the service schedule for while we were in residence which lists the music we performed.

Saturday Evensong was possibly us at our best.

The Minster streams the services on Sunday online and the recordings are available for 7 days afterwards. The sound quality isn't great with the choir a little distant and the balance weighted rather towards the organ, but it will give you an idea. For the next 7 days you can hear us in the Sung Eucharist service (here) and the Sunday Evensong (here).

For the Eucharist we sang the amazing Louis Vierne Mass, with our organist prodigy combining both organ parts on the one instrument. I'm told we sang it in the Basilica of Sacre Coeur in Montmartre when we were on tour in France, but I didn't remember it. You can find the individual movements in the stream as follows:

Kyrie 12:20

Sanctus/Benedictus 56:54

Agnus Dei 1:06:00

Gloria 1:22:30

Organ Voluntary Carillon de Westminster by Vierne 1:30:28

In the evensong we sang the Howells St. Paul's service and, for the anthem Joubert's Lord Thou Hast Been our Refuge with Wood's Oculi Omnium as an introit.

Oculi Omnium 6:25

Preces 8:42

Magnificat 23:45

Nunc Dimittis 33:30

Responses 40:00

Lord Thou Hast Been our Refuge 45:18

Organ Voluntary Te Deum by Jeanne Demessioux 1:07:55

[Update 15/8: Unfortunately the Evensong recorded live stream was available for only 1 day.]

What a great 4 days! Thank-you to all for making it a great time to remember. And I now have a whole canful of earworms!

Update 14/8 : Guy sent this picture of Gaia in the minster this morning.

Is that what's meant by the earth being flat?