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Rupert Street reports his experience as a Choral Scholar at the Langlais Choral Course in 2010 "Study the music of Jean Langlais... his contemporaries... influences...." That's what it said on the tin. So I sent off my application, bought a hard-backed A4 spiral bound notebook from Lidl for my notes, a new ball-point pen and prepared for l'attague. The warm welcome at Course HQ at La Fontenelle and a glass of wine or two warned me that this was going to be a week of hard work. The choral scholars (for that is what I'll call us) arrived as did Malcolm Archer, David Bednall and Hilary Jones. These three top musicians were our tutors for the week. Several scholars attended from France, many from different parts of the UK and a Chinese soprano came all the way from Hong Kong.
While the Angelus was ringing. Rehearsal on Day One took place in 3 Rue du Moulin, the capacious home of Brenda Dean of Brittany Music Workshops who organised the Course. No one was late. Anybody staying within a 100 miles of La Fontenelle would have been woken up by the Angelus. It started at 7 'o-the-morn. What a din. While the locals were called to 'plough the fields and scatter' we were summoned to Hilary's Healthy Warm-up. Hilary has trained probably more Oxbridge and Cathedral singers than anyone else. She is unique amongst voice coaches in that she has studied the physiognomy of the voice. You'd be amazed at all the little gadgets which come into play when you sing. Understanding them makes you realise how much there is to producing a good sound.
We were then introduced to Malcolm Archer and David Bednall who could detect immediately whether we had taken advantage of the bundle of scores and practise CD which was sent to us 5 weeks in advance. They were relieved that note-bashing wasn't necessary; nobody was sight-reading. Indeed the only sight-reading was for the first rehearsal performance of a new work commissioned from Malcolm as a gift to the Baltic Exchange by Michael Drayton, the retiring Chairman. Both he and his wife Gail were on the Course.
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Hilary introduced us to breathing. You might wonder what Hilary was doing while the rest of us were singing. As a part of the Course fee, all of us were entitled to a lesson with her. Many singers took the opportunity for further lessons. Amazingly, through Hilary I learned about breathing; the idea should catch on. And that's not all she had in store for us.
Everybody was intrigued by Hilary 'voicing' the choir. She listened to each section in turn and moved the singers around until the balance sounded right. Finally, she assembled all the sections and handed over a choir to Malcolm, not just a collection of disparate voices. This was particularly instructive to the choir conductors who took part as scholars. There was even an opportunity for hands-on which was accepted by composer and conductor, Alexander Campkin. Lunch hour (approximately). There were two rehearsal sessions per day. If this sounds like a lot of hard work, you're right. However, we were given a French lunch hour ie. 2 1/2 hours. At 12 noon, the Angelus rang so loud that who were we to argue? Most people enjoyed a 3-course meal at La Petite Fontaine. It was a good opportunity for singers to meet each other; different company every day. Excellent food and unlimited wine if you dared! Even more food was provided on the first evening where we were all guests at Brenda's Buffet.
La Soirée Musicale The Langlais Course has many repeat customers so there is a danger that it can appear to be cliquey and exclude new participants. To prevent this, Gordon arranged a Soirée Musicale where everybody was invited to sing, dance, play, recount. Gordon comes from industry but somewhere in his life he became a very accomplished pianist. The indefatigable accompanist was Colin Spinks. The final act was the Cantique de Jean Racine. Our French friends didn’t have any problem with the words. The talent shown was amazing and I don't just mean the attractive girls.
Director of Music at St. Mary-le-Strand, London. What about the music? We all know the Widor Toccata from his 5th Organ Symphony but here was a chance to sing his Mass. Wow! This was real 7.1 surround sound. Then we had a Langlais Mass and Lauda Jerusalem. That completed the French selection. For the English music there was Holst's Nunc Dimittis ‘Lord now lettest though thy servant depart in peace...’, the words of St. Simeon having been promised by the Holy Ghost that he would not die until he had seen the Saviour. Very moving. This is acknowledged to be one of the most difficult 'sings' in the repertoire. We also sang the Stanford Motets, Howell's Te Deum from Collegium Regale, The Law of the Lord by David Bednall and Malcolm Archer's O Quam Gloriosum (O how glorious is the kingdom in which all the saints rejoice with Christ!).
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Brenda is well liked by the local community and they supported her by taking part in the first concert in the local church of Saint-Samson. This was followed by a Vin d’honneur at the Mairie.
Two Organ Recitals in five days. On the following evening, Malcolm, David and Peter (Malcolm's Organ Scholar at Winchester College, now at Oxford) gave an organ recital at the Church of Saint-Léonard, Fougères. The next was given in Saint-Malo. French audiences guard their organ traditions very carefully and they find it difficult to accept something challenging.
All work and no play? No way! Strange as it might seem, there was plenty of time for socialising, sight-seeing, visiting chateaux and generally enjoying Brittany. For those who can trip the light fantastic without tripping themselves, Brenda arranged a Scots Band and a Ceiledh. The picture at the top of the page shows how La Fontenelle is beautifully located on a hill with distant views over farm land. This was awarded the sobriquet ‘Cardiac Hill’ by those who had to climb it every morning to rehearsals.
Delightful Dol Cathedral The climax of the five days was the concert in Dol Cathedral. Malcolm generously included the first performance of Alex Campkin's 'I saw Eternity' for three voices which he wrote while on the course as a participant. You can see here. The Oxbridge Singers in the video are Hilary Jones, Ruth Allington and Marie Macklin who also sang it in Dol Cathedral. The French Regional Press gave a glowing report. Was it worth the journey? Or as the Michelin Guide would say did the Langlais Festival ‘vaut le voyage’? Yes, definitely. Was I right to term us 'scholars'? Strictly speaking, no. Just take your voice, a bucketful of stamina and a 4B pencil. You wont need the Lidl spiral-bound A4 notebook. Mine remained unused. Oh, wait a minute, I did use one page. What did I write on it? That's my secret. Mine to keep forever. Rupert Street |
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Rupert Street is going again! Like to know more? You can read the brochure here without having to open the pdf. |
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