Jan Gabarek and the Hilliard Ensemble, St John's Cathedral, Norwich
I discovered the famous Gabarek/Hilliard work Officium thanks to a clip on You Tube about 2 years ago and so when I saw they were coming to Norwich as part of the NNF11 I was very excited.
The concert was held in the Catholic Cathedral here in the city and we had seats in the choir stalls which were actually behind the stage area. It didn't matter however as the 5 performers roamed around the building really making the acoustics work for them.
While the music, Officium Novum, didn't appeal to me as much as the first Officium I have never before been so aware that the voice is a musical instrument. The four singers filled the whole space with their voices in a way was astounding without microphones. The saxophone and the voices worked in perfect harmony and it was a splendid experience.
From hearing two such varied pieces of live music this week has been wonderful, but I really have learned that I do like to listen to music loudly, horizontal and with my eyes shut - it creates wonderful pictures that way.
Whenever I go to concerts, I rarely see people playing saxophones, and mostly all I see are rock bands. Every time I hear one, it always makes me feel at ease. I always wanted to learn how to play the instrument myself but, right now, that's not possible.
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