Day Three: St. Paul's Cathedral and Henley-on-Thames

Hello, Readers, David here. Day three was long, exhausting, and very satisfying. After a hearty breakfast care of our hotel in South Kensington, London, we headed over to the venerable St. Paul's Cathedral. Though St. Paul's has been around for centuries, its current form was built in the 17th century following the great fire of 1666.

As you can see from these photos, the building is epic in scope. The dome towers above visitors, and Susan and I realized that the venue from the previous evening could easily fit inside the main dome alone! After arriving, we warmed up in "the crypt," although it was much less dank and dark than I imagined.

While wandering through the crypt, fellow St. Olaf Choir member and baritone Chris Davis pointed Susan and I to memorial of particular interest to English literature lovers as ourselves. Although not buried in St. Paul's, famous British poet William Blake is seen above. Susan snapped this quick and very illegal photo.

The choir sang a shortened set in the cathedral as part of the Dome Dais concert series. By far the most memorable feature of this venue is its incredible reverb. Following one particularly intense chord in Penderecki's "Agnus Dei," Dr. Armstrong took an extended pause to allow the chord to wash through the entire space, which took advantage of the six-second reverb. This created a powerful effect on the music.

Following the St. Paul's performance, we headed to Henley-on-Thames, a town not far from central London. It was much different than the big city feel of Britain's capital and had more of an English town atmosphere. Above are shots Susan took of a typical street and the choir warming up in Christ Church, our venue for the evening.

Though much smaller than St. Paul's, our evening concert was special for other reasons. The intimate setting allowed for a stronger connection to our audience, which was extremely enthusiastic and receptive. We even had Madam Mayor of Henley-on-Thames Elizabeth Hodskin and member of Parliament John Howell in attendence, both of whom seemed to enjoy the music thoroughly. Tomorrow the choir will enjoy a free morning in London. I plan on taking in a little culture at the famous Tate Modern. More to come...