Choral and Orchestral Concert

Confirmation this year was by His Grace the Lord Archbishop of York who, on the next day, celebrated at the Holy Communion Service. I feel one must add our thanks to the Chaplains of St. Peter's and St. Olave's for all their hard work in making the service so successful.

The week-day services were somewhat different this term. Queen's delivered passages from The Passover Plot and although the readings suffered naturally from nervousness and inexperience, the general feeling amongst the School suggested that it was a noble attempt. After Queen's, the Staff; Mr. Croft, Mr. Coulthard, Mr. Nixon, Mr. Exham, read passages from Hugh Montefiore's book Beyond Reasonable Doubt which proved to be highly interesting.

The term ended with the Passion Service, which Mr. Exham organised as a dramatic presentation of the Biblical narrative.

H.J.G. BROTHER DAMIAN'S VISIT, FEBRUARY 1st-6th

After the tremendous impression that Brother Aidan left with the School, a similar invitation was extended to Brother Damian of the Society of St. Francis. He arrived on the Saturday, February 1st and stayed until February 6th.

The purpose of his visit was to see how school life in a public school differed from the life that he had chosen to lead. Throughout his stay he visited all the Houses and discussed with the boys their varying opinions of school life and what life in a monastery was like.

On the Sunday he preached to the Junior School, proving to be very popular. During the week-days he took the Senior School morning services and he impressed the School with his vigour and good sense.

Brother Damian stated that his great ambition was to set off without any money or possessions and see how long he could survive with reasonable comfort. He taught the boys that his habit produced charity and that his life was full as a member of S.S.F.

Brother Damian left on Thursday, February 6th with the well-wishes of the School who felt, as I am sure he did, that his visit had been worthwhile.

H.J.G.

The Concert given in Chapel on March 21st and 22nd by the Orchestra and the Choral Society was admirably devised to suit the musical talents of the performers and to introduce an audience to the music of Bach, Handel and Beethoven. It consisted of extracts from Bach's St. Matthew Passion; an organ prelude and an orchestral section from a cantata, both also by Bach; three boisterous movements from Handel's "Music for the Royal Fireworks"; and finally a dexterously snatched excerpt from the finale of Beethoven's Choral Symphony, in which choir and orchestra came together.

In its entirety, the St. Matthew Passion could hardly be performed by School musicians without paralysing every other School activity, but, by means of these extracts, a listener was able to hear some of the recitatives, here sung by tenors and basses in unison, an aria, in which the choir of St. Olave's distinguished itself, some chorales and the great closing chorus. Thus the full musical range of the work could be glimpsed if not experi- 12