Music in the Cathedral

In addition to matters liturgical, I’ve been at two concerts over the last couple of days. One of contemporary music and another by a brilliant new jazz ensemble. Both of these were taking place in St Mary’s as elements of the West End Festival.

It is wonderful to see the building open and in use for so many hours as it has been in the last couple of days.

The modern compositions on Sunday afternoon were varied – some seemed to have rhythm, some seemed to have tunes, some of it made you wonder if they had either. The challenge was to see how it made you feel. Not everyone’s cup of tea, but I enjoyed the mix. The highlight was a piece for four voices and harp, which sang out amazingly in the acoustic.

Last night it was a hot jazz ensemble. The climax was Rhapsody in Blue, which certainly got the crowd going, but I think I enjoyed Birth of the Cool by Miles Davies which preceeded it.

In between hot jazz solos, Frikki and I could be heard muttering to one another – oh yes, jazz mass.