Staved Off Saint Mary’s Cathedral Choir

WATCH VIDEO FOR THIS EPISODE ON OUR WEBSITE AT https://cathedralchoir.sydney/podcast

In this special remotely recorded episode, Thomas and Richard talk about Vespers at St Mary’s Cathedral: in particular the daily streamed service of sung Vespers (Evening Prayer), available to view on the Cathedral’s YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/c/StMarysCathedralSydney).

We talk about the structure of Vespers, about the music that is sung throughout the Divine Office, and about what defines ‘chant’.

Send us your questions about Vespers, or about anything to do with the Choir! You can get questions to us by sending them by email to stavedoff[at]cathedralchoir.sydney. Questions received by Sunday 5th September will be addressed in our next episode.

Music in this episode is from the Vespers of Friday 13th August 2021 (Friday week III), sung by two Lay Clerks from Saint Mary’s Cathedral Choir.

Watch Vespers streamed from the Cathedral: https://www.youtube.com/c/StMarysCathedralSydney

Thomas and Richard are back after nearly a year to talk about the singing of the Passion during Holy Week. The ‘Crowd’ parts sung by the Choir have taken a lot of preparation! Can the Choir be expected to walk and sing at the same time? Plus, we answer some listener questions.

In this episode, Thomas and Richard talk about Thomas’s time in the UK, which was cut short before he had to dash back to Australia before quarantining started. Then he participated in one of the strangest sets of Holy Week and Easter liturgies that the Cathedral has ever witnessed. The congregation, and parts of the Choir, have since then been gradually returning to the Cathedral. Meanwhile, we answer some questions about countertenors, soloists, and the Divine Praises.

Music in this episode
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525–94), Iesus iunxit se discipulis suis, recorded at Vespers for the Third Sunday of Easter on 26th April 2020.Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525–94), Kyrie from Missa Brevis, recorded in rehearsal by the Cathedral Scholars in June 2020.

In a special episode recorded in the car in the dead of night, Thomas reveals his plans for his long-service leave, while also recounting details of his trips to Ballarat and Brunswick Heads in January. (Apologies for the even-worse-than-usual audio quality in this episode.)

Music in this episode:Anton Bruckner (1824–96), Os iusti, sung at Mass in the Cathedral on 20th October 2019 (19:27)

In this episode, Thomas and Richard give an exit interview to two of the Choir’s departing Scholars, Blaize and Perrin. But first, Thomas recounts his experience going to Dubbo to see Moorambilla Voices. Finally, Thomas teases us with information about the results of the inaugural Archbishop’s Prize for New Composers.

In this episode, recorded in June 2019, Thomas and Richard talk about some of the more ‘modern’ music which was on the Choir’s programme at the end of the Easter season and around Trinity Sunday. Music discussed includes Gerald Finzi’s ‘Lo the the full, final sacrifice’, Matthew Martin’s ‘Ut unum sint’, and Francis Grier’s Missa Trinitatis Sanctae. After Thomas answers a listener question about Vespers in Latin, Richard has the opportunity to talk to some of the boy Choristers.

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