Connecting Crouch End and Hornsey with news, views and information
Time: March 23, 2011 from 7:30pm to 9pm
Location: St John's Wood, Conventual Church of St John of Jerusalem
Street: 60 Grove End Road
City/Town: London NW8 9NH
Event Type: fundraiser, a, capella
Organized By: Simon Lillystone
Latest Activity: Mar 24, 2011
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A great idea Adrian,
I love choral music and visiting churches.
But what has it to do with N8, pray.
Richard
How lovely but unfortunately I won't be able to make it. @Richard. Surely a function of this site is to alert N8 folks to what's going on in the environs surrounding our little enclave so we can broaden our horizons from time to time?
Thanks Adrian. I see the connection.
I went to this concert last night and enjoyed it enormously. I can find nothing to fault with it.
The venue is surprising. St John's Hospital is a state of the art hospital with the most modern equipment - they boast of their cutting edge MRI scanner, but right in the middle of the building is the archetypal Roman Catholic chapel, with neo classical heavily gilt corinthian capitals on numerous columns, a marble sarcophagus and holy icons. An ideal setting for sacred music.
The choir was made up of fourteen enthusiastic volunteers and a conductor. The music was from the English renaissance of the mid 16th century, deriving from medieval plainsong but elaborating on it with the use of multiple parts in different registers to achieve rich polyphony. At least I think that's it. My only previous encounter with this type of music was an installation at the Whitechapel Art Gallery, an recorded arrangement of a piece by Tallis for 40 voices, in which each voice was given its own speaker set out in a huge circle. The live performance in an intimate chapel was just as stunning.
Each piece was introduced by the conductor in terms which the depths of my ignorance just about enabled me to understand. Discussing the pieces and other music with members of the choir in the pub afterwards only served to emphasise just how ignorant I am. The experience might very well encourage me to learn more.
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