This morning, the director of music and his associate treated the choir to a freshly prepared breakfast of poached eggs and smoked salmon on sourdough. No Luceat funds were expended in the making of this meal (and don‘t worry, we‘ll be back at the famous cathedral cafe tomorrow).
The highlight of the morning‘s rehearsal was Dan Mathieson taking over as conductor for a while and instructing the choir to sing the rhythmically intricate Penalosa mass to ’dum dum dum‘ (a ’dum’ on every quaver), thereby turning us into the Kings‘ Singers. The Palestrina anthem, ’Assumpta est Maria‘, featured an extra special moment for the second sopranos (always sopranos, never THE sopranos..) in the form of one F natural before the rest of the choir comes in - this needed no extensive rehearsal, unlike the many many consonants..
At lunchtime, a group took to Loe Beach once again - undeterred by the positively foreboding weather - and rented two kayaks to paddle around the bay with (but not too far out, due to danger from strong winds.. yay British summer). Team Nottsbridge emerged triumphant over Team Oxbridge in the inaugural Luceat Boat Race (Jim maintained that his arm was ‘actually fine without a sling now’ and yet somehow still used it as an excuse for losing..).
Given the caloric deficit now present in all of us due to the (in most cases, unusual) high exertions of the afternoon, we decided we needed to go for an ice cream. Angelato near the cathedral served up not only classics such as vanilla and strawberry but excited our tastebuds with more exotic flavours like apricot and salted caramel. Jim‘s delight at this selection was only to be outdone by his glee at encountering a very adorable West Highland White Terrier in front of the cathedral (see below for evidence of him executing the town square equivalent of holding up a book upside down in order to spy on someone).
Then, finally, it was time for the day’s ’bells & smells‘ occasion (that’s ’incense & chimes‘, to the uninitiated) - solemn Eucharist for the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, brought off with suitable dignity and feeling. Incidentally - attention, subtle plug - the classic 3 Ps of Peñalosa, Palestrina and plainchant will be featured, along with other scintillating and rarely recorded repertoire, on our first commercial recording. It is being made later this month - once again, watch this space!
After Eucharist, we were kindly invited by the precentor to come to his house for drinks before Pizza Express (that most classic of choir dinner destinations). Even more exciting than the free alcohol were his two loveable basset hounds, Maddie and Ozzie (spelling unclear), and their adorable Yorkshire Terrier friend, Polly, over whom the choir drooled almost as much as the dogs did over them.
Stuffed after a doughballs extravaganza, the choir retired once more to their humble abode for an evening of meme creation, gin and tonics, Come Fly With Me and the awful realisation that we had run of tea. What will tomorrow, a well-deserved day off, bring? Other than a 100% chance of rain forecast, who knows..
- Rebecca (Sop 2, Social Secretary) & Beatrix (Sop 1, Head of Marketing & Publicity)