What to say about doing great music in one of the great churches of the world? That’s what I got to do in July, when I traveled with Cantori Domino, conducted by Bunny Thornburgh, to northern England. I was serving as the accompanist.
We made wonderful music, singing for several Evensong services in two great buildings, York and Beverley minsters.
I’d planned to go to the Sunday morning Eucharist and the Minster, but my biorhythms never fully caught up, so I arrived near the end.
The Minster choir had all girls on the treble line, by the way. With inspired direction from Robert Sharpe, they sang Swiss composer Frank Martin‘s Mass for double choir.
At Matins a bit later, the same group sang William Walton‘s Coronation Te Deum and Jubilate, seldom heard and difficult for both choir and organist. Glorious singing, with a talented guest organist from one of the Cambridge colleges as well.
Hearing the Walton canticles so well sung had made my day, but I wanted to rest and explore the city, so I skipped their Evensong (the last of the season for the Minster Choir), finding instead a bicycle race through the town—someone told me it was a rehearsal for the Tour de France!
Ray Urwin 
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