Tenebræ in concert

The steps at the front of the Sanctuary were too close to the audience for comfort, so we sacrificed the tiered effect for the better blend achieved by standing slightly further back on the flat marble. The boys were widely spaced allowing the second row to be fully visible through the gaps in the first.

Once again we began with a sequence for Holy Week, with a small variation from the Atlanta programme. After Malcolm's Ingrediente - sung from the extreme East of the Sanctuary and beginning out of sight before moving West to the concert position - came four Tenebræ responsories. These are texts taken from the night offices of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday. Two of them were by the Spanish composer Victoria. Victoria set all 18 of the responsories and these were recorded by George Malcolm with the Cathedral Choir in the late 1950s. They weren't allowed by the Cathedral authorities to close the Cathedral and record in a studio environment as we do these days, so everything was done live. Apparently Malcolm was dissatisfied with the tuning of the first recording attempt and decided not to issue the disc, instead waiting a whole year to re-record them in their next live performance. The result was, and is still, an iconic choral recording - the sound Malcolm drew from his choristers shocked those who were accustomed to the gentle and rather hooty sound that choirboys made in those days.

Here are some photos courtesy of Mr O'Brien showing the boys' morning activity at the Franklin institute and the applause at the end of tonight's concert. The singing was, once again, excellent.

Alex and Peter step forward to receive applause for their solos

Synchronised bowing