Concert: Spem in Alium

Well, no thought was required when I saw that the London European Club from Meetup was headed to an early music concert - Spem in Alium - in St. Martin-in-the-Fields last night. And so I booked. When I mentioned to my boss what I was going to, he put on his Latin cap to try and figure out what the title means.. (turns out it's "Hope in Any Other"; there's a Wikipedia article).

So, off I trotted. The concert itself was on good and late - 9.30 - which left us time to meet beforehand for dinner/drinks in the Silver Cross, down the road in Whitehall. I'd never been here before, but with Google Maps' help it was easy to find, and I turned out to be the first to arrive (apart from the organiser). He hadn't been able to find a very big table, but after a bit the next table became vacant, and we just slid it over.

It wasn't long before I abandoned him to go to the bar and order food. I had to wait an age to be served - and when I was, darned if I couldn't remember the table number! I had to go back and make note of it, as a result of which I lost my place in the queue and had to wait another age. Finally, I ordered a Hunter chicken - covered in cheese and bacon, and doused in bbq sauce: a British pub favourite. And wine. I must say, it took a lot less time for it to be delivered to my table than it had to order it! And although the chicken was small, it was delicious.. sadly, the fish goujons ordered by another of our group were less successful.

We sat for a good while and chatted, I went for another wine, and it was duly time to head to the church: good and early, to have a good choice of seat. First though, we had to pick up our tickets, in the box office - through the "glass pavilion". As you approach from the south, this is on the other side of the church, and I have probably been here before - I just can't remember when; when I've been here recently, someone has collected my ticket for me. So, downstairs is a box office, a large lobby, and a crypt cafe. Where, possibly, we could have come to eat instead. Never mind - when we all had our tickets, it was about 9 and time for the church doors to be opened, and we headed up.

We took seats near the front of the central nave - seating was unreserved. I discovered they had footrests under the pew in front, as well as very handy shelving to leave your stuff on. And in due course, the choir filed on - all 40 of them, dressed in black. Tiered staging had been arranged in front of the altar.

The concert lasted about an hour. And it was simply stunning! Under most circumstances, being so close to such a large choir would be an experience in itself - but this music made it extra-special. I didn't buy a programme, but this was part of the Brandenburg Choral Festival, and there were programmes for that lying around, from which I gleaned that, as well as the title piece, we'd be listening to Bach and Taverner (Spem in Alium itself isn't long enough to last a full concert). And it was chilling.. it's rare to hear such a large choir, unaccompanied by instruments (although one piece did have a couple of trumpets), and the sound of so many voices in this setting was moving - in parts, eerie. Spem in Alium, which came last, was the highlight though, and I could hear why it's so well regarded. It was breathtakingly moving - as I remarked on my way out, much better than on YouTube..!

Afterwards, some of us elected to go for a drink in the nearest pub, given the coldness of the night's breeze. And so it was that we went for one drink in the Chandos, just across the road. Downstairs was being refurbished, so we headed to the cosy upstairs lounge, where we nabbed a table in the corner. I ordered a drink from a seriously tired-looking (and sounding) barmaid, and we had a most pleasant time before venturing out in the cold again.

This evening, I'm back to Ireland for the weekend.. tomorrow, we're off to Glór to see Regina Nathan in concert. On Monday, I'm back - at last - with the Let's Do London - for less! group, to see the Barber of Seville at the Coliseum. Upper Circle - it's always nice not to have to climb all the way to the balcony, in this extremely high theatre. For Tuesday, I got a cheap ticket for a play called Moments, in the Drayton Arms - honestly, chosen because it was the closest option. And on Wednesday, I'm back with Let's Do London - for less! again, for Carmen, at the Opera House.