On ‘St Cecilia’s Day’, the patron saint of music, it seemed fitting that the Chapel Choir would sing their termly evensong in St Michael’s Church in Abingdon. For many pupils this was their first experience of this reflective service and following an afternoon rehearsal, the service opened with Ralph Vaughan Williams’ ‘The Call’. Philip accompanied the choir masterfully in their singing of Stanford’s Psalm 150 before the choir sang Stanford’s Evening Service in Bb with confidence. The Ayleward responses were sung with clarity with excellent intonation from Ed before the choir tackled their greatest challenge of the term so far, Howells’ ‘Like as the Hart’. The choir coped with the challenging long phrases brilliantly alongside singing with clear diction and balance. Philip rounded the service off with a lovely performance of Bach’s Trio Sonata No. 1 in Eb Major. The Chapel Choir now look forward to the Christmas season with preparations firmly afoot for the various carol services in the calendar.
