Amen! (non-liturgical!)

It was the school concert last night, and as ever I was impressed by the huge array of talent and genuine musical quality throughout. Bernie and Charlie play in the orchestra, which is the mainstay of these events: at their best yesterday, they were very good indeed, but a couple of times they fell apart a bit, which is not typical.

Many of the solos and ensemble performances were excellent as well - as they always are: there is a number of very talented and dedicated children in the school, and the school does a lot to encourage music.

However, the singing, which in the past hasn't always been a strong point, was the highlight. Solos, duets, the chamber choir and the full choir were all extremely good - and much better than sometimes in the past. The choir sang Amen (you know, the one that goes A--a--men, A--a--men, A--a--men, Amen, Amen, and breaks into some jazzy/gospelly stuff after that. It sounded wonderful, and for the first time I really enjoyed it: because it was in its right setting. I've only ever heard it before in a liturgical context, for which it is wholly unsuited. But in a non-liturgical setting it was fabulous.