4.16.2005
salisbury
Back in Oxford after a fantastic two-day jaunt to Salisbury. First was a stop at the cathedral itself for evensong. Salisbury has the highest church spire in England, and some said in Europe. It's also one of the oldest holy sites in England, though I honestly do not know how far back that goes. I think someone said c. 1050 AD. I suppose I should qualify that last statement then - it's one of the oldest Christian holy sites in England, certainly I'm not arguing with the druids who built Stonehenge. Salisbury cathedral is also the largest cathedral close in England.
The cathedral is gorgeous in a quietly meditative and contemplative way - there is a lot of stained glass, but it's not quite as flashy as Notre-Dame in Paris or Westminster Abbey in London. It's also big, but not oppressively big like National Cathedral in DC. There is a fountain in toward the end of the nave which spouts off in four different directions and the surface of which remains a calm and almost static mirror, even though the water is constantly in motion. From various angles, you can look down into the fountain and see reflections of the stained glass, which is beautiful.
Evensong was a bit off, unfortunately: this was probably due to it also being the first evensong we'd done together in more than a month's time. After Salisbury, we drove to Chilmark, which is a very cute little village, and home to Bill, one of the members of our choir. We did a quick concert in Chilmark for the locals, who were incredibly gracious hosts. Chilmark is only a community of about 400 people, and the turnout for the concert was outstanding. We didn't sing as well as we have in the past, but again, this was the first time we were singing together after an Easter hiatus. Then off to Bill's house for dinner.
Evidently, we were the biggest thing to hit Chilmark for a while, as our hosts (and host families) were out in force to chat with us and make friends with us. We went through three gigantic pans of meat lasagna, and I think the same amount of veggie lasagna, as well as a fantastic garden salad and several loaves of garlic bread. And there's nothing like homemade dessert to round out a meal. I stayed at Bill's house, which was really very very charming. Bill's parents, by the way, are fantastic as well. His mother was even so kind as to break out the baby pictures of Bill, which caused, as one might imagine, hilarity to ensue.
Bill's mom has one major fault, however, and that is a complete inability to gauge how much food one person needs to survive. There were three of us at the house for breakfast the next morning: Bill, Will, and me. We were served a pot of porridge (oatmeal), about half a loaf of bread in toast form, five eggs, 18 sausages, 10 slices of bacon (the big British stuff too; not the wussy American bacon), 8 croissants, and two big pots of coffee, not to mention ready availability of corn flakes and the full assortment of condiments: English mustard, homemade marmalade and raspberry jam, local Shropshire honey, brown sugar, fresh milk from the farm down the road (the eggs, by the way, from the family's hens), and creamy butter. I ate so much that I felt ill. It was a wonderful breakfast.
We had a wonderful rehearsal back in Salisbury in the morning, as we will be recording a CD next week at Queen's. Then free time until about 4pm, when it was back to the cathedral for another evensong. Salisbury is a very quiet little city, with not much to recommend itself except the cathedral and a good bit of shopping. Shopping not being my thing, I could only wander around aimlessly with other choristers. We ended up in an art gallery & cafe for lunch. Evensong the second night was oh-so-much better, and we went out for a pint before climbing back into the van and heading home.
The cathedral is gorgeous in a quietly meditative and contemplative way - there is a lot of stained glass, but it's not quite as flashy as Notre-Dame in Paris or Westminster Abbey in London. It's also big, but not oppressively big like National Cathedral in DC. There is a fountain in toward the end of the nave which spouts off in four different directions and the surface of which remains a calm and almost static mirror, even though the water is constantly in motion. From various angles, you can look down into the fountain and see reflections of the stained glass, which is beautiful.
Evensong was a bit off, unfortunately: this was probably due to it also being the first evensong we'd done together in more than a month's time. After Salisbury, we drove to Chilmark, which is a very cute little village, and home to Bill, one of the members of our choir. We did a quick concert in Chilmark for the locals, who were incredibly gracious hosts. Chilmark is only a community of about 400 people, and the turnout for the concert was outstanding. We didn't sing as well as we have in the past, but again, this was the first time we were singing together after an Easter hiatus. Then off to Bill's house for dinner.
Evidently, we were the biggest thing to hit Chilmark for a while, as our hosts (and host families) were out in force to chat with us and make friends with us. We went through three gigantic pans of meat lasagna, and I think the same amount of veggie lasagna, as well as a fantastic garden salad and several loaves of garlic bread. And there's nothing like homemade dessert to round out a meal. I stayed at Bill's house, which was really very very charming. Bill's parents, by the way, are fantastic as well. His mother was even so kind as to break out the baby pictures of Bill, which caused, as one might imagine, hilarity to ensue.
Bill's mom has one major fault, however, and that is a complete inability to gauge how much food one person needs to survive. There were three of us at the house for breakfast the next morning: Bill, Will, and me. We were served a pot of porridge (oatmeal), about half a loaf of bread in toast form, five eggs, 18 sausages, 10 slices of bacon (the big British stuff too; not the wussy American bacon), 8 croissants, and two big pots of coffee, not to mention ready availability of corn flakes and the full assortment of condiments: English mustard, homemade marmalade and raspberry jam, local Shropshire honey, brown sugar, fresh milk from the farm down the road (the eggs, by the way, from the family's hens), and creamy butter. I ate so much that I felt ill. It was a wonderful breakfast.
We had a wonderful rehearsal back in Salisbury in the morning, as we will be recording a CD next week at Queen's. Then free time until about 4pm, when it was back to the cathedral for another evensong. Salisbury is a very quiet little city, with not much to recommend itself except the cathedral and a good bit of shopping. Shopping not being my thing, I could only wander around aimlessly with other choristers. We ended up in an art gallery & cafe for lunch. Evensong the second night was oh-so-much better, and we went out for a pint before climbing back into the van and heading home.
