Monday 11 April 2011

The Schola Abelis at the GCN Chant Course

Six members of the Schola attended the Gregorian Chant Network's Weekend Chant Course directed by Colin Mawby, which took place last weekend (Friday to Sunday) at the Oratory School near Reading. Five of us provided a schola for the opening Mass.
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The course was extremely successful, and we all learnt a huge amount from Colin Mawby's experience of singing and directing chant, which goes back to the 1940s, and his great sensitivity to it. He demonstrated in a quite remarkable way how small changes to tempo and emphasis can make a piece of chant sound quite different, and how groups of singers can respond to interpretative suggestions.

Colin Mawby is well known as a composer, and was Director of Music at Westminster Cathedral in the 1960s. For more on the course, see the Gregorian Chant Network.
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