Unjustified Criticism.

As a child singing there were certain highlights to the calender. Ash Wednesday. The Advent Carol Service. Christmas Eve could not not be a highlight. And Good Friday. Today we mark Good Friday in the Christian calender, the day of the crucifixion of Jesus. According to Scripture both Jewish and Christian he will or did rise again. They just don't agree if Jesus was the Messiah. To Christians Sunday is the holiest of days, the day of the resurrection.

Early this morning I a caught train in the damp and drizzle to Cambridge to go to that service. Finally I would get to hear Allegri's Miserere live after all those years. I was hoping too for Lotti's Crucifixus. In a very full chapel I heard the former and found myself sadly disappointed. There were moments when the timing as all out and it felt it would fall apart. The occasional badly pitched note. The top Cs were glorious just that it didn't hang together.

Then I began to think. What are we expecting of children quite so young? The oldest of them is only in Year 8. They do amazing things. We did lots wrong in my time. Palestrina's Stabat Mater once completely collapsed. Likewise Tallis' Puer Natus Est Mass. Singing hard music live is tough. The overall event was stunning with emotion such a day evokes.

Back home after a long and tiring day I listened to our 1983 recording of the Miserere, it is exceptional and sublime. I listened too to Crucifixus and was almost overcome with emotion. I realise now that I was overly and unjustifiably critical. Those kids really are amazing.

I Heard a Voice.