District of Columbia: That's the official name of the US nation's capital and the Federal District. Locals and local media call it the District or DC. What about the name "Washington?" Well, Washington and District of Columbia are two names for the US capital city. There is no Washington in the District of Columbia. They mean the same thing. That's why it's repetitive to say, "Washington DC." So why do the corporate media and others say, "Washington DC?" To cater to stupid people in the US who don't know what the District of Columbia is or where it is. So rather than educate people and consistently use the official name of the US nation's capital — which is the District of Columbia — they use "Washington DC" which is not the official name. It's okay to say DC, the District, or Washington, but not "Washington DC" because that's like saying San Francisco, San Francisco. That's how it was explained to me when I moved there. It's redundant since, again, they are two names for the same place, the same city. District residents care very deeply about this topic. It's a pet peeve of many District residents, including myself as a former District resident. I've heard political talking heads in DC on YT cater to stupid people — rather than educate them — by changing the name of the judicial courts in DC. For example: United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit gets changed to the Appeals Court for Washington DC. There is no such court with that name in the District. The same for the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. No court in the District ends with the language "Washington DC" because, again, that is not the official name of the nation's capital. Also, they use the acronym DMV which stands for District, Maryland and Virginia. It is this site's goal to educate, and not cater to stupid. Not surprisingly, the 34-count convicted felon and now US dictator from the Epstein Class always says, "Washington DC". This nut has lived there how long and he is still saying that? One can't fix stupid so don't bother wasting your time trying. Yet I've heard his staffers say to guests "Welcome to DC."
Howells – St Paul’s Service – The Trinity Chapel Choir (CoE)
What a glorious performance. And the tenor section looked like they were enjoying themselves singing Howells.
One of my complaints about Anglican Choirmasters is that when they conduct Howells’s St Paul’s Service — which was composed for the vast acoustics and Cathedral Choir of St Paul’s Anglican Cathedral in London — that they don’t savour/linger over the “men” of “A-men” at the end of the Magnificat or the Nunc Dimittis. So I usually end up saying to the video about the final chord: “Well, I would have held that longer. Why the rush?” But the above video gets it right, although I may have even held the last chord longer than Stephen Layton did. This is a recording session from 2011 in Lincoln Anglican Cathedral — it’s a beautiful cathedral and just right for the music of Howells — with the superb Trinity College Chapel Choir from the University of Cambridge (UK). The above video is only the Gloria but conductor Stephen Layton (now their former Choirmaster) holds the final chord longer than most. I believe there’s a fermata over the final chord but I’m not positive. It’s a glorious performance and it moves me every time I watch it. These choristers look like they enjoy performing Howells. The full performance (audio) is on their Hyperion CD that they released after this recording session. I read recently from Hyperion (the recording company) that Howells’s music is best performed by trebles/boys (Men and Boys) and in large spaces (cathedrals). I do agree with that, in part, because Howells’s music was written for Choirs of Men and Boys and cathedrals mostly. Being from 2011, one wonders what these outstanding Choral Scholars are doing today? With their background, training and skill level, they could do anything they want.
I also liked how Stephen indicated from his conducting that he wanted the choristers to “grow the sound” on the final chord by his leaning down and slowly coming back up before giving the final release. The organist was also superb. That was the best accompaniment I have heard in some time for the St Paul’s Service. Someone in the comments said they had been to Lincoln Cathedral several times, but had never heard the organ sound like that. The organist really supported the Choir. It’s good to hear them in a cathedral since they’re usually in the Trinity College Chapel, a much smaller space and organ.
This also brings to mind when we (San Francisco Symphony and Symphony Chorus) performed Beethoven’s Ninth under conductor Kurt Masur. One of Masur’s signatures for the piece is how he held the word “Gott” for a day and a half. I don’t remember whether he said anything particular to the Symphony Chorus about that but we were prepared to do staggered breathing to hold that chord indefinitely, just like the choristers did for the Howells. It’s something Masur did whenever he conducted the Ninth. He was good to work with I remember and I’m sorry he’s no longer with us. But I always remember him from having sung under him when I was in the Symphony Chorus.