Soundbites
Late revival
An orchestral work by Samuel Coleridgetaylor unperformed for over a century has been given a new lease of life at this year’s Three Choirs Festival. His Solemn Prelude was premiered at the festival back in 1899, but has since gone unnoticed – until, that is, a recent stock-take of works premiered at the Three Choirs brought it to light. For the 2021 re-release, performed by the Philharmonia at Worcester Cathedral, a new orchestral score was specially prepared by Faber Music.
Not such an ill wind
Research carried out at Bristol University has shown that playing woodwind or brass instruments generates fewer aerosols and droplets than singing or speaking. The study, carried out on a range of instruments and assisted by leading trumpeter Alison Balsom, was triggered by the need to assess and make allowance for the risks of Covid-19 transmission during performances.
Carnival capers
Ahead of the performance of Saint-saëns’s Carnival of the Animals at this year’s Proms, the BBC has launched five Carnival-related activity films to keep children amused during the summer holidays. Involving wellknown presenters, the films invite kids to ‘Craft a cuckoo’, ‘Stomp like an elephant’, ‘Dance around the aquarium’, ‘Create an animal mask’ and ‘Draw a tortoise’.
See bbc.co.uk/proms for more.
It’s good to be Bach
To mark the return to singing after
18 months of lockdown, the Bach Choir has commissioned no fewer than ten new choral works. These include Richard Blackford’s Vision of a Garden, which will be performed at Royal Festival Hall on 24 October and is based on the diaries of Bach Choir member Peter Johnstone, who had to go into intensive care with Covid-19 in March 2020.