Members and a guest gathered at the Cathedral on the 18th September to attend Choral Evensong followed by the President’s Evening which was again kindly hosted by Director of Music, and the Society’s President, Mark Duthie.
The attendance in the choir stalls for Evensong was somewhat depleted due to the delays caused by traffic on the roads into Carlisle. The other attendees gathered in the transepts and regimental chapel during the course of the Service, with all present in time to hear Ed Taylor’s stirring rendition of Jongen’s Pièce pour Grand Orgue (W. 28) as the closing voluntary.
Following the Service members congregated in the choir’s rehearsal room for coffee and biscuits. Mark outlined the plans, announced publicly the previous day, to conduct a feasibility study into refurbishment of the organ. Work was necessary to remedy deterioration of the organ and secure the future of the instrument. He noted that it was hoped to take the opportunity to meld the Willis, Harrison and Harrison, and David Wells work into a more coherent whole, rather than reinstating the original Willis, or subsequent builders’, character of the organ. A charitable pledge of £1.6m toward the work had been received and the feasibility study would test support for the campaign and shape the strategy.
Following Mark playing Camille Saint-Saëns’ Fantaisie in E-flat (second part) members then had the opportunity to play the organ. A wide range of pieces were performed including:
- Arthur Somervell : The Shepherd’s Cradle Song
- Felix Mendelssohn : Prelude in G, Op.37 No.2
- Franz Schmidt : Prelude and Fugue in D major (Hallelujah)
- J S Bach : Herzlich tut mich verlangen (BWV 727) & O Mensch, bewein dein Sünde gross (BWV 622)
- Bert Matter : Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern
- Percy Whitlock : Fidelis
Members then departed to face the much reduced traffic on their way home.
Thanks go to Mark for again hosting a most successful and enjoyable President’s Evening.
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