Following the Cathedral Choir's tour to France after Easter 1996, a post-tour concert was held in Lichfield Cathedral on 2 May. The post-tour concert's programme included the list of concerts and services at which the choir had sung during the tour, and a Tour Diary.
Itinerary and Provisional Music List
TUESDAY 9th APRIL Concert at Les Soeurs de l'Assomption
- Rejoice in the Lord Mulliner Book
- In pace John Sheppard
- Hosanna to the Son of David Orlando Gibbons
- Lord, let me know mine end Maurice Greene
- Ave Maria Camille Saint-Saens
- Ex ore innocentium John Ireland
- Lord, thou hast been our refuge Ernest Walker
- Locus iste and Christus factus est Anton Bruckner
- Ubi caritas Maurice Durufle
- Faire is the heaven William Harris
WEDNESDAY 10th APRIL Concert in British Embassy
- Rejoice in the Lord Mulliner Book
- Ave Maria Robert Parsons
- Faire is the heaven William Harris
- Friday Afternoons (Jazz-Man; Cuckoo; A tragic story; New Year Carol; There was a monkey; Old Abram Brown) Benjamin Britten
- Quem vidistis pastores Francis Poulenc
- Ubi caritas Maurice Durufle
- Ave Maria Franz Biebl
- Somewhere over the rainbow arr. Pickard
WEDNESDAY 10th APRIL Evensong in St George's Church
- Preces & Responses Michael Walsh
- Psalm 114 Edward Bairstow
- Magnificat & Nunc dimittis in A E W Naylor
- Locus iste Anton Bruckner
THURSDAY 11th APRIL Evensong in St Paul's Church, Lyon
- Preces & Responses Michael Walsh
- Psalm 121 H Walford Davies
- Magnificat & Nunc dimittis in A E W Naylor
- Faire is the heaven William Harris
FRIDAY 12th APRIL Concert in Ste Foy Centre Church
- Rejoice in the Lord Mulliner Book
- In pace John Sheppard
- Hosanna to the Son of David Orlando Gibbons
- Lord, let me know mine end Maurice Greene
- Organ solo: Piece d'Orgue J S Bach
- Locus iste; Christus factus est; Os justi meditabitur; Ave Maria Anton Bruckner
- Organ solo: Carillon Sortie Henri Mulet
- Evening Hymn H Balfour Gardiner
- Ave Maria Franz Bieble
- Vox dicentis E W Naylor
Tour Diary
Sunday 7 April
Depart Close after Evensong. Have supper at Chieveley Services. Leave for Portsmouth but have to return to Chieveley after 10 minutes to pick up an abandoned chorister coat. Once on the ferry, boys to cabins, most adults to bar. Despite the extremely smooth crossing, one boy sick (too much chocolate - Ed). Very clear announcement on ferry tells us that breakfast will be at 5.15am and that the boat works on British time. 4.15am - knock on Barnards' cabin door - one chorister, fully clothed, saying that his cabin were up and dressed and shouldn't we all be at breakfast! Dealt with swiftly. Ten minutes later, another chorister appears on the same mission. Dealt with even more swiftly. Precentor (who is sharing said cabin with the Barnards) snores through it all.
Monday 8 April
To Paris via L'Arche for coffee and Les Andelays (a medieval ruined castle) for a stretch of the legs. Arrive at Convent in Paris in time for lunch and making of beds. Interesting experience. 16 choristers look rather bemused, not knowing what to do with sheets and blankets ... 'oh for a duvet!' Headmaster extols the virtues of hospital corners to Organist, who looks even more bemused. Boys go on Bateaux Mouches and up the Eiffel Tower where visibility was not at its best - Precentor puts this down to all the incense used in the churches the day before. Adults scatter all over Paris - some even walk to Sacre Coeur - a good two hours which might have been much longer had not the Bass Choral Scholar come to the rescue with a map. Boys return to Convent for supper and bed. A sign of the times: four choristers have to be told that they are actually supposed to sleep between the sheets. Much mirth amongst the adults.
Tuesday 9 April
Boys to Science park to push buttons, clamber over submarines and generally get lost. Adults on more church/art gallery crawls and, for some, a jolly decent lunch. Rehearsal in the very warm chapel at the Convent for our first concert that evening. A few worries about how many will be there - turns out to be over 100 and very enthusiastic too. Assistant Organist does marvels with the transistor radio - i.e. a rather ancient electronic organ.
Wednesday 10 April
Leisurely morning build up to a lunchtime concert and reception at the British Embassy. One chorister, when asked if he was looking forward to this event, says "well, I don't really know why we're singing there". When pressed on this, he continues "well, all they do there is drink beer and play darts". He had to be told that it was actually the British Legion that he was going to, not the British Embassy. Everyone bowled over by the building and the hospitality. Some interesting mirrors, including one which was supposed to make you look slimmer - one or two were not convinced. The warmth of the audience reception and our host was matched by the stunning food and wine served afterwards. Canapes, quails' eggs, 1990 claret ... several adults look rather uneasy and mutter that perhaps they should get their tax returns in a little earlier this year. After a drive to Sacre Coeur (passing a few areas where the boys' eyes were out on stalks), Evensong at St George's Anglican Church, which is modern and in a basement and had a much better acoustic than the Organist feared. The route home included an amusing journey round the Arc de Triomphe - Keith, our driver, rolled up his sleeves and was heard to say something along the lines of "when in Paris..." before putting his right foot to the floor. Also, some French person had broken down right in the middle of all the traffic and cars were at all angles trying to get past ... with much honking of car horns, of course.
Thursday 11 April
An all day drive to Lyon, aided and abetted by a spoof Robin Hood film and Mr Bean. We run later and later and, after a very brief mayoral reception in Ste Foy, we sing Evensong in St Paul's Church in Lyon where, having been told that there was only a chamber organ, discover a sizeable newly-renovated instrument that was to have its opening that very night! Our first sizeable echo which the choir laps up. Disperse to hosts for supper and, for a few of us, some very rusty O-Level French.
Friday 12 April
Morning visit to a vineyard for a little degustation (well, it had to be done) and, after several tastings, the plastic glasses were more heavily laden. Meanwhile the boys played football in the car park (honest - Ed). Back to Lyon for a superb picnic in glorious sunshine outside Fourviere, the massive church which dominates the Lyon skyline. Much gloating after the word gets round that it was snowing at home. The church has an enormous acoustic and we sing some Bruckner for fun. Boys' eyes on stalks for a much healthier reason. Disperse for quick visits to either a Roman amphitheatre, some patisserie in Old Lyon or the bar at Fourviere. Evening concert at Ste Foy, which was a great success, though one Alto Lay Vicar's host did admit afterwards that she had never heard a noise like that coming from a man. The church lighting proved to be different. During the first piece, the local priest decides to fiddle with the switches with the result that, for about ten seconds - though it seems an eternity - the choir was plunged into darkness. Meanwhile, at the other end of the Church, the Chancellor and Precentor were puzzling over why the lights came on for about 20 seconds and then went off. The reason: movement/heat-detectors fitted to the lights. The result: Chancellor and Precentor waving and leaping around at the back of the church trying to keep them on. (Fabric Advisory committee, please note.)
Saturday 13 April
Beginning of the long journey home, this time aided by the more sober version of Robin Hood, via a cave and a hypermarket for purchasing of smelly cheese etc. Another lovely picnic in a wooded lay-by, where the boys decide on re-enactment of the aforementioned film, which leaves one of them holding an ice-lolly to his bruised head. Alastair Maclean keeps the assembled company quiet for most of the rest of the journey. Safely on to boat ...
Sunday 14 April
.... which docks an hour earlier than we were originally told. Despite the article in the Times about radioactivity given off mobile phones, the Headmaster rings the Service area where we are to have breakfast to warn them of our impending arrival. They cope superbly, even if we did arrive before the place was even open. One chorister dumped at a Little Chef near Oxford (parents were present) and, an hour and a half later, 33 rather sleepy people arrive in the Close, just in time for Eucharist.
