Festival of St Cecilia

It's a particular composer's pleasure to hear one of your old pieces sounding much more coherent (or having whatever else it lacked before) than you previously remembered. For me that was the case today at the St Cecilia Festival in Westminster Abbey, where Andrew Nethsingha directed Praise Him With Trumpets with the choirs of Westminster and St Paul's Cathedrals plus Westminster Abbey and (my impression) achieved a luxurious balance of voices, trumpets and organ sounds.

This Londoners' "Three Choirs" service is organised every year by Help Musicians UK, and it seems a bit of miracle each time it happens; that's a large number of choristers to get out of school, plus a generous number of busy adult professional singers. A particularly classy touch this year was the inclusion of Desdemona's Prayer (from Verdi's Otello) most insightfully sung by Sophie Bevan - herself grateful for HMUK's support during serious illness in the past, as she explained to the numerous congregation. Thanks to everyone who supports this important charity.