|
CIRENCESTER PARISH MUSIC – ANNUAL REPORT
As I write this report, we are in the middle of the Cirencester Organ Festival and people are converging upon our church from all over the country to hear the newly rebuilt organ and see what the parish has to offer musically. It has been an incredibly busy year, much of which has led up to this still more incredibly busy week.
Advent Sunday 2009 saw the Father Willis organ of Cirencester Parish Church return to liturgical service. It is testament to the quality of the workmanship that has gone into the instrument’s reincarnation that it did not put a foot wrong over Christmas. Whatever they might say, most organ builders would secretly hope that their new instruments would enter service in a quiet and pressure free time of the year as, inevitably, there is a bedding-in period to negotiate which may include some teething troubles. There was no such luxury in Cirencester, where the organ was launched straight into the busiest period of the year. It has continued to fascinate and delight all who have seen and heard it from the first Sunday onwards.
On 17th April, in the presence of a congregation of over two hundred people, including many clergy formerly associated with Cirencester, the instrument was blessed by Fr. Leonard at Choral Evensong. The guest preacher was Fr. Michael St. John-Channell, former vicar of Cirencester and now Precentor and Sacrist of Winchester Cathedral, and it was my honour to conduct the choir to organ accompaniments provided by David Briggs, who gave the first public concert on the instrument later the same evening. The church was packed to bursting for the opening concert, at which we launched the new C.D. recording of the rebuilt instrument. This album was recorded by me for Priory Records, Britain’s leading label for organ and choral music, in February. It is a great accolade for Cirencester that the album has become the eighty-first entry in Priory’s long-running Great European Organs series, which immediately puts our instrument up alongside such masterpieces as the organs of Lincoln Cathedral and Westminster Abbey in England, and the Parisian churches of Saint-Sulpice and La Madeleine in France. The series has distribution throughout the U.K. and abroad, so the reputation of Cirencester’s new organ will travel far and wide.
The festival itself is showing every sign of being a huge success. We have been fortunate to secure a line-up of very fine players, all of whom bring their own personalities to bear on the instrument and create something different with it.
Elsewhere within the parish the music is going through exciting times of change. Following the retirement in January of Gordon Webb as Director of Music at Holy Trinity, Watermoor, in March it was my pleasure to accept a new post as Director of Music for the whole Parish of Cirencester. We are in the process of seeking to appoint a Deputy Director of Music to assist me in this new role, whose principal responsibility will be for the day-to-day running of the music at Holy Trinity. It is hoped that a suitable candidate will be found who possesses organ playing skills sufficient to undertake some additional accompanying work at the Parish Church, where the choir continues to thrive. At present we are somewhat constrained by being able to do only such music as can be directed by the organist from the organ console, which is rather an inconvenience. The triumph of the Organ Festival Choral Evensong is evidence of what could be achieved with both a conductor and an accompanist present at a service.
After such a hectic year, with many events taking place of major historic significance, it might be expected that there would be a time of consolidation and breath-drawing. True to form, the Parish Church Choir scoffs at such a suggestion. In May we will welcome a choir from Tibro, Sweden, to sing with us for the Ascension Day Eucharist and in July we head across the water to Dublin to provide a weekend of services at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. There will be hard work to be done in advance of both of those events but then, perhaps, there is the outside chance of a bit of holiday!
Anthony Hammond – Director of Music
|
Choirs
The Parish Church justifiably is proud of his choral tradition. There are three choirs: The Parish Church Choir, the Junior Choir and the St Johns's singers.
We are always very happy to receive interested enquiries from people who would like to join the choirs and experience different styles and forms of music at a high level.
For anyone wishing to join the choirs, please contact the Director of Music, Anthony Hammond, directly or via the Parish office (contact number at the bottom of this page).
Concerts
Please see Anthony Hammond's website www.anthonyhammond.com
|
|
