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Sheffield
Cathedral Choir Tours 2004
In
2004, Sheffield Cathedral has made two international tours - the
Boys and Men visited Holland in April, and the Girls and Men visited
Germany in July.
Short accounts of these tours
are below (the account of the Germany tour will appear shortly),
together with photographs from the tours. To view photos in full
size, simply click on the small versions on this page.
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Tour
to Holland, April 2004
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Wednesday |
The boys
and men set of for Haarlem, Holland on Wednesday April 25, 2004.
Despite one or two last minute hitches (such as taxis not arriving,
and one of the senior choristers breaking his wrist the day before
we left!), the long coach journey was relatively smooth and peaceful
- that is, as much as a couch journey involving choristers can
be peaceful! Unlike the choir's previous tour to Haarlem, in 1999,
we arrived in good time and were met by our (very welcoming) hosts
in the early evening. |
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Thursday |
The
following day, armed with packed lunches from our host families, we
visited Utrecht. In the morning we rehearsed and gave an informal
concert at the choir school (see photo below), and were also
treated to a rendition from the Utrecht children, with whom we had
lunch afterwards. A visit to Utrecht's impressive Cathedral followed
in the afternoon, and the boys climbed the 465-step, 112 metre Dom
tower to get an impressive view of the local surroundings, while
(most of) the adults enjoyed the sunshine in the square below with a
drink or two!
We then
returned to Haarlem, where we sang Choral Evensong at St Bavo's
Cathedral, before going home to our host families. |
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Friday
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On Friday, we spent most
of the day visiting Amsterdam. In the morning the boys visited NEMO -
a futuristic science centre - while the men went off to enjoy some of
the other attractions of the city. It was a beautiful day, and
everyone enjoyed the glorious architecture and canals under the sun.
In the evening, we had
a rehearsal for the weekend's concert and service, after which the
boys went home with their hosts, but the adults were joined by the St
Bavo's choir men in their crypt, which miraculously converted to a
fine bar! We were entertained riotously all evening (indeed, well into
the small hours of Saturday)... many thanks indeed to the choir of St
Bavo's for this (but personally I'm not in a hurry to drink any more
Dutch gin!!).
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Saturday
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During the day on
Saturday, we all spent time with host families, doing a variety of
things... but the main activity of the day was the concert we gave at
St Bavo's in the evening. We very much enjoyed singing in what was a
very generous acoustic. Following this we were again entertained in
the crypt, but this time at a reception for the whole choir and host
families, which was again enjoyed by all, and was (slightly!) more
sober than the previous night.
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Sunday
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Sunday saw out final
singing of the tour - singing for the main Mass at St Bavo's in
Haarlem. Again, it was a lovely acoustic to sing in, and we gave
probably our best performance of the tour. It was also interesting to
sing parts of the service in Dutch!
After the service, we
bade farewell to our hosts, and set off on our long journey home after
a highly successful tour. We would sincerely like to thank all our
hosts for making us so welcome, especially Carel Weijers for all his
organising. We would also like to thank our chaperoning choir parents
- Margaret Burgin, Richard Bevan and Sue Payne - for helping to ensure
the tour was so smooth.
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Click
on a picture to see it in full size
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Tour
to Germany, July 2004
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Friday
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The
girls and men met in the Cathedral car park just after 6am
to
set off on the long coach journey to
Germany. None
of us, however, was prepared for quite how long it actually turned
out to be! We set off for Dover,
stopping at Leicester
Forest
to
swap drivers – picking up the driver who had taken the boys and
men to
Holland
in
April. The journey went smoothly and to time until we reached
Belgium.
Because of road works, we were diverted via Brussels. This
was the first of many occasions during the week when we got lost! An
impromptu tour of Brussels
city
centre at 5pm
then
followed. We arrived at Essen-Werden Youth Hostel just before 10pm
–
only four hours or so late. The hostel very kindly laid on a cold
buffet before everyone retired after a very long day. It was a hot
and humid night!
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Saturday
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Following
breakfast and morning rehearsal in the Youth Hostel, the choir was
taken into Essen-Werden to go to the park for a run-around and
picnic lunch. We then rejoined the coach to go
to Gelsenkirchen-Buer, which was not that far away, but we got
rather lost and went around
Essen
city centre twice! We rehearsed in the rather ornate
St Marien-Hospital Kapelle for evening mass. Like the night before,
it was extremely hot and humid. Don Enrico, the Hospital Chaplain
was very welcoming and apologised profusely for not being able to
share the sacrament with us. In the service, fully robed, many
members of the choir found it really hard work in the heat, and
indeed some admitted to having fallen asleep during the sermon!
Canon Howard Such was promoted (albeit fleetingly) to Archbishop,
having been introduced to the congregation as the Most Reverend
Canon Such. At the end of the service, the choir was given a round
of applause by the congregation. The return coach journey to the
Youth Hostel was much quicker! |
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Sunday
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An early start to a busy
Sunday saw the group having breakfast at 7:15am
(which for most was still
6:15am
Sheffield
time!). The morning mass was at the Propsteikirche St Peter (17th
Century) in
Recklinghausen. There was an initial panic from Peter Heginbotham
when he saw the organ console – there were lots of switches he had
not come across before. We
rehearsed and sang mass in the church. For the
11am
mass, the church was full.
Canon Such was invited to read the Gospel and
join in the prayers and Blessing, and we were privileged to share
in the sacrament. Again, everyone was very welcoming, and there
was more applause at the end.
After
the service, there was an opportunity to explore the market square and
the local ale-houses and the world-renowned icon museum before
departing for Bochum-Hiltrop. Somewhat astonishingly, we got to our
next destination without any hitches and arrived a good hour before we
were expected. It was pouring with rain and the church was in a suburb
away from the town centre so the choir remained on the coach and
watched a video! Tea and cakes were provided for the choir following
the rehearsal. The concert was very well attended (including the Lord
Mayor of
Bochum) and received.
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Monday
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A more
leisurely day began in the rain with a boat trip on the lake in
Essen.
This was a nice relaxing couple of hours for the choir. At one of the
stops, keen-eyed members of the choir spotted Al Murray (the comedian)
recording for television by the lakeside. By the time we returned to
Essen-Werden, the sun had come out. We walked through the town and dispersed to
various locations for lunch. In the afternoon we rehearsed in St
Ludger’s Basilika in Essen-Werden. A rather large dark building with
a very baroque (in the true sense) altar-piece containing a statue of
Bishop Ludger and cherubs all rather tastelessly lit! The concert
audience was smaller than the previous night, but the singing was of a
high standard nonetheless, and those who were present appreciated the
choir’s visit.
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Tuesday
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A moving day. Canon Such
left for Sheffield while the rest of the group left Essen-Werden in
the morning for Cologne, stopping at Wuppertal en route (after getting
lost…again!) for the Master of the Music to enjoy the unique
suspended railway through the
town. Of course, he let the rest of the choir join him. It was a
strange experience riding in a carriage following the river valley,
but very enjoyable. We enjoyed some refreshments before continuing our
journey to
Cologne, where we arrived in the early afternoon. The Youth
Hostel was located on the south bank of the
Rhine, close to the famous railway bridge and about 15
minutes walk from the Cathedral. The choir had the rest of the day
free to enjoy the city with the Songmen enjoying the local hostelries. A few members
went to the organ recital in the evening given by Frederick Swann on
the two magnificent Cathedral organs.
There were 2500 people in the audience!
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Wednesday
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The
highlight of the tour - an opportunity to sing in the gothic splendour
of Cologne Cathedral. Following a very short rehearsal in the nave
choir stalls the choir robed to take part in a half-hour lunchtime
prayer and music service. Several times the choir heard the echoes as
the sounds reverberated through the
massive nave. Following the service, our host Herr Sperling (director
of the Cologne Cathedral Girls Choir) took a small group on a tour of
the organs while the rest had lunch. Not only did we get to walk
inside the choir organ but we also climbed up to the so-called
Sparrows’ Nest Organ high up on the North nave wall. The views
across the Cathedral from here were quite stunning. We rejoined the
rest of the choir in the nave for a brief history of the building by
Herr Sperling, who then took us up one of the great west towers. Herr
Sperling was surprised to learn that our complement was the full size
of a British cathedral choir – explaining that in Cologne
they
have 90 boys and 30 men or 120 girls singing for the services!
Following
all the excitement of the early afternoon, we rejoined the coach for
what were assured would be a short journey to our next venue. The
driver having walked the route promised that we would not get lost
this time. Well…not only did we go down the wrong street at one
point but we also caused a significant traffic jam! The evening
concert was in the Basilika St Aposteln, a reconstructed Romanesque
church, again with a wonderfully generous acoustic. As with our
previous locations, the organ was situated on the west wall while the
choir was in front of the altar at the east end. Much of the rehearsal
was spent getting the timing right so that choir and organ were
together (which was, of course, achieved). We returned to the Youth
Hostel for dinner before the concert, the last of the tour.
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Thursday
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Before
the long journey home, the choir had a free day to either explore
Cologne, packing in some shopping in the Summer sales, or to
go to a local theme park, “Fantasialand”. For many, both were on
the agenda. At the end of the day, some of the men chose to eat out
and enjoy traditional German fare before returning to join the whole
choir back at the Youth Hostel for the traditional end of tour quiz.
The quiz questions all related to events and places we had been to on
tour. There were also prizes for the girls for their various
contributions throughout the week.
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Friday
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We
left Cologne
in the
morning to return to
Sheffield.
The
return was much quicker than the outward journey and we arrived in Sheffield
a good
hour ahead of schedule. Thus we came to the end of a very successful
and enjoyable tour.
The
choir for the tour consisted of 15 Girls and 8 Songmen. It was
directed by the Master of the Music, Neil
Taylor, and
accompanied by the Assistant Master of the Music, Peter
Heginbotham. Andrew
Furniss made his debut as Organ Scholar. The choir was also
accompanied by Sarah Lester, Corrynne Osborne, Helen Etherington and,
for the Essen
part,
Canon Such.
Sheffield
Cathedral Choir would like to thank all who have contributed
generously towards the tour fund, without which this tour would not have taken place.
Story by Nigel Russell
Click
on a picture to see it in full size
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