Christianity imbedded in Culture..

on sunday evening, Jerry (landlord) invited me to join him to go for a concert. my landlady, Anne was part of the concert.

Now what do you think happen? I did not know what to expect. of course i wasnt expecting hard rock..i mean obviously but still i was curious what to expect. he did not want to tell me either!

so we head off to a village, Coggeshall. Another place for the well to do's!! ...its another really peaceful village.

it was held in another church, St Peter ad Vincula, as most church deep in history. it looks really good.
short history: this glorious church was built by wealthy wool merchants during the thriving wool industry in East Anglia (thats where im at) in the first quarter of the 15th century. It is one of the very few churches in the country dedicated to St. Peter ad Vincula (St. Peter in chains). It is reputed to be one of the very best specimens in the County of the Perpendicular period.

impressive as it is, it isnt the warmest of places..high ceilings mar....lol..ok..so back to the concert..there were three distinct teams in this concert. You have the choral group, or better known as the choir, a philharmonic orchestra, and the four soloist for the four voices (bass, tenor, alto and the soprano).

Two pieces were performed. Both were by Beethoven, The Mass in C and Christ on the Mount of Olives

Ok, im sure you all follow me so far.. we had lyrics to follow too..the concert began as the conductor swung his hands and a strong chorus was sung. i tried to follow..like most of you would if you had lyrics ud look to follow the words... ignorantly i asked "where are we? where are we?" to Jerry. only then he told me The Mass in C would be in Latin and the Mount of Olives in German.

as there were certain headings in German, Jerry and I always tried guessing which section we were on.....we had to look out for words like Kyrie, Credo (Latin, ..i think) and Jehova, du mien Vater (..quite possibly German). lol...

albeit that, it was brilliant. i enjoyed it! the soloist will sing their recitativo notably and were replied by an equally impressive chorus by the choir...

the sanctuary

the choir

another one of those experiences to store in my little box of cherished UK memories. =) =)