Celebrating Stanford

I promise I'll stop alluding to my problems with singing fourths and fifths now - for a bit, anyway - because today I sang all the music that had reminded me of this most grievous fault and got every single note correct. Result! 

Several things made today different. For a start, look at the sky in the second photo in the collage - it was sunny for long periods and dry except for a heavy shower around 2pm. It even felt warm in the afternoon sun ... The day began as usual on a Sunday, only earlier, because I had to deal with a picnic and flasks of coffee and tea to have with us when we'd finished church and were dashing for a ferry. A friend from church had decided she was going to come to the concert in Millport in which we were singing - celebrating the centenary of Stanford's death - and so our two cars made the midday ferry and met up in Largs. By then we'd eaten our picnic - or most of it - and were able to abandon our car and accept a lift on the Cumbrae ferry and all the way to the Cathedral of The Isles without resorting to the bus - a consummation devoutly to be wished.

We only had time for what is commonly known as "topping and tailing" before the concert (making sure of entries and joins with the organist and soloist), given by our quartet The St Maura Singers and a terrific young tenor, seen leaving the choir stalls at the end of the gig in the first photo, with the excellent organist with whom we rehearsed a fortnight ago. Before the Stanford songs, which are interspersed with choral hymns, we sang four 16th century pieces beginning with ... moi. It was only a bar and a half before the others entered, but ... It was fine.

In fact the whole concert was fine, and the mood euphoric, and the audience filled the tiny cathedral and were most enthusiastic. Afterwards we staggered back to our friend's car (second photo - it was parked behind the North College which appears on the left) and went down into the town to find a coffee before we went home. There is always this sense of two worlds when you go down from the College grounds into the town, especially in summer, when it's all ice-creams and visitors and hired bikes - I've been aware of it for over half a century now.

I reckon this rambling entry signifies the fact that I'm totally exhausted and perfectly cheery - but I have another relatively early start tomorrow and must desist. 

Now.