The Royal Jubilee Service

[handsoff]

I noticed in the Radio Times that it will be possible to watch the service from St Paul's Cathedral without commentary by using the Red Button option.

Might Wimbledon be next? Please............

[Adnosad]

............... or better still............ press the " Off " button on the telly!

[S_L]

On 02/06/2022 at 17:46, Adnosad said:

............... or better still............ press the " Off " button on the telly!

I'm trying my best to think why you would want to do that!!

Stunning music superbly performed, stunning organ playing, great ceremony done well in a stunning location. Some of us will watch it from afar with pride. As an American once said (and said with a deep American accent) "Only the British can put on a show like this!!"

And, whilst I hate to quote the Daily Mail, I see Our Sovereign Lady, Queen Elizabeth is not able to be present in St. Paul's today. 'She will be missed!'

 

[DaveHarries]

6 hours ago, S_L said:

Stunning music superbly performed, stunning organ playing, great ceremony done well in a stunning location.

I watched the service and couldn't agree more. If anyone from St. Pauls' music department happens to read this: "well done ye!"

Dave

[sotto]

I thought the Parry was ruined by the brass which completely drowned out the organ in the introduction and largely overwhelmed the choir throughout. My strong preference is for the organ entry to coincide with the choir at the start of each verse of the psalm rather than jump in early as on this occasion. I was once asked to do that accompanying  a service in Lichfield Cathedral and found it almost impossible. Apart from that I would agree the singing was excellent as was the organ playing, it was good to be able to hear so much of the Walton at the end. It was also pleasing to hear music written during Her Majesty's reign with both Jackson and Weir pieces new to me. (Mind you Purcell's "Hallelujah" still comes over as a mighty fine hymn tune!)

[MikeK]

I beg to differ! I thought the Parry balance was about right, bearing in mind what you hear is what the sound engineer wants you to hear. Microphone placement is critical & the only way to really judge the balance is to be there & experience it live, not through a set of speakers.

[Colin Pykett]

1 hour ago, MikeK said:

I beg to differ! I thought the Parry balance was about right, bearing in mind what you hear is what the sound engineer wants you to hear. Microphone placement is critical & the only way to really judge the balance is to be there & experience it live, not through a set of speakers.

Agreed that being there removes a raft of uncertainties.  But the problem still remains - where do you sit?  Balance might well be fine, or not, at that position, especially in such a large building.  But what about everywhere else?

There isn't a single answer to the problem and one can argue for ever about it.  Multichannel recordings, each one arising from a different microphone, can enable you to post-mix to achieve a subjectively satisfactory result (after the event) by endless knob-twiddling.  But even then you are only satisfying yourself.  Others, sitting at the same mixing desk and twiddling the same knobs, will arrive at different solutions.  The posts above demonstrate this.

In situations like this I prefer to do something else and get a life ...

[S_L]

I have some experience of conducting in vast spaces. I've never conducted in St. Paul's but I conducted frequently in Liverpool Met., which was always supposed to be difficult, and was an interesting and sometimes hair-raising experience. Notre Dame in Paris, St. Peter's in Rome as well as the Basilica of St. Paul in Rome were all utter nightmares but largely due to the noise. York Minster's stalls are very wide apart and take some getting used to for the singers. Getting the balance right, in these vast spaces, is always difficult. I'm sure, wherever you sit, as a member of the congregation, the music will always present differently.

The Beeb (I presume it was the Beeb!) have a lot of experience of St. Paul's and I'm surprised that there were issues of balance on the broadcast.  

[Andrew Butler]

Totally off-topic, I have just tried to PM but got the reply "S_L cannot receive messages" and I've mislaid your email address!