This evening I have been to the Exon Singers concert. After a first half comprising a number of short pieces all of them new to me (mostly by living composers), the second half was a single major work: Russell Pascoe’s Secular Requiem.

I was bowled over. This was far-and-away the most exciting new work I’ve seen since lockdown, and somewhere high on my lifetime list of new works. Pascoe goes straight onto the short list of living composers I shall now watch with an eager interest. And to complete the experience, I got to shake his hand and exchange a few words in the pub afterwards.

I won’t try to describe the work. Google finds it, and I see there’s a wikipedia entry. The programme notes tell us it’s a Gramophone Magazine Editor’s Choice. Not sure how much that accolade is actually worth, but the work absolutely merits it. Having heard it, of course I now want to sing in it!

Wow!