Ed Armitage on Boyle & In Tune
Arriving at St Cuthbert’s Church on Saturday afternoon, I was excited and nervous in equal measures. I couldn’t wait to hear the combined choirs of Aberdeen, Edinburgh & St Andrews again, but would they be as good as I remembered them from last year? Would the new Rory Boyle piece be as thrilling as it looks on paper? Would I be able to capture its intensity in the recording that I was making for Radio 3’s In Tune?
The first bit was simple; the choir sounded fantastic. They’re really gelling as one unit, rather than remaining as three independent choirs. Michael Bawtree’s clear direction bringing an increase in confidence by the minute. Come performance time, I’m sure that they will be the star of the show.
Rory’s piece is dynamically massive; it’s easy to forget just what an impact 5 brass players and a big organ can make! St Cuthbert’s organ is massive & speaks directly into the performance space, so it is very LOUD. Tallis’s Light gives the audience glimpses of O Nata Lux (Tallis) from the beginning, but not until the very end do we hear it in full, played by the brass, with huge interruptions from the organ. Fasten your seatbelts, audience; this piece will blow you away!
The recording was made easy by the skill of Michael Bawtree, Pure Brass and Tom Wilinson (organ). Their balance of playing was immediate, understanding exactly what Boyle wanted from his piece. A pair of matched omni microphones, cunningly placed, captured the piece and we were ready for Radio 3.
Live radio is always a little scary, and I’d never met Suzy Klein before, so I was a little nervous wandering into Broadcasting House. I needn’t have been; the In Tune production team were very friendly & welcoming. Suzy was amused that I was wearing a Franz Ferdinand tee-shirt – I’m not sure if she’s a fan of theirs, or not used to seeing pop groups represented in the In Tune studio. Like her colleagues, she immediately put me at ease, & helped me through a very relaxed interview. The 1st movement of Paul Mealor’s Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal and a short section of Rory Boyle’s Tallis’s Light were aired, and sounded rather fantastic in the studio – but, I would say that having engineered both!