Friday 24 October

Some rather bleary-eyed choristers and lay clerks climbed aboard the bus at 5.30 am in Hereford for the start of this year's tour. Some eighteen hours later we arrived at St Thomas' Church in Whitemarsh. Maybe it was because we didn't have those little screens in the back of the seat in front to play games on that the flight seemed even longer than nine hours. We met our delightful hosts, who are all very welcoming. I can't remember the last time I went to bed at 9 pm, but needs must, as Shakespeare used to say.

Last Tuesday, 21 October, we gave a concert of the tour programme to a very enthusiastic audience in Hereford Cathedral. The music was as follows:

O quam gloriousum William Byrd 1539/40–1623
O Lord, rebuke me not Orlando Gibbons 1583–1625
O God, thou hast cast us out Henry Purcell 1659–95

Fantasia & Fugue in C minor BWV 537 J S Bach 1685–1750

Like as the hart Herbert Howells 1892–1983
Set me as a seal William Walton 1902–83
O clap your hands Ralph Vaughan Williams 1872–1958

Requiem Maurice Duruflé 1902–86

To download a PDF of the choir's tour brochure, please click here.