The Wessex Chamber Choir spent last weekend at St George’s Chapel Windsor Castle, singing in place of the regular Choir, who were taking a well-earned break, due to it being half term.
You can imagine the surprise, when just before the morning service on Sunday, it was announced that The King would be in attendance! Luckily, the choir were well rehearsed under the leadership of their Musical Director Oliver Tarney and had practiced over the weekend with Peter Gould, the organist.
Before the service, The King took time to talk to some of the choir members.
The service went well and the choir were relaxed, treating it as if it was just a normal service. At the end, The National Anthem was sung. It was amusing to see the surprise on some of the congregation’s faces, as they obviously hadn’t seen The King slip in at the beginning!
It was fortunate, because Oliver had watched a television programme on the composer Sir Charles Villiers Stanford, where King Charles commented on two of his favourite pieces; Stanford’s canticles in B flat. This was in the repertoire for the service that morning and on his way out, The King spoke to one of the clergy and asked them to inform the choir that they had sung very well.
The Wessex Chamber Choir have been invited back to sing for another weekend. The question is, will King Charles will be there again? Maybe he would bring The Queen next time!
If you would like to find out more about the choir the website is wessexchamberchoir.co.uk.
