We continue to enjoy our commitment to provide the music for School Communion services in the remarkable Henry VII Chapel, which has included some beautiful psalm singing and a memorable Ascension Day service (partly in honour of our Chaplain, who retires this year). For the third year running we have sung at the School Confirmation service, this time part of Mozart's celebratory Mass in C; and the May Day madrigals, sung in bright sunshine from College roof, were probably the best yet. Our 'Musics in Abbey' have enabled us to sing some of the more adventurous repertoire, including choruses from Handel oratorios, Mendelssohn's eight-part Ave Maria and Britten's Hymn to St Cecilia. We learned and enjoyed John Tavener's The Lamb for the Contemporary Music concert and Leighton's Lully Lulla for the Carol Service, and we had our first outside gig - to provide half the music for a concert, in St Margaret's, in aid of the St Thomas' Lupus Trust. Outside concerts like this enable us to sing programmes that a ten-minute Abbey slot could not possibly allow.
So in many ways things are, as I said, going splendidly. The most remarkable aspect of this is that we manage it all on only twenty minutes' rehearsal a week. With some singers being committed to other parts of School life, the vagaries of the Station programme mean that about a third of our number have to leave the rehearsals early. Yes, the rest of us sing for another twenty minutes or so, but in a choir of this size (16-18 singers) the best progress can only be made with everybody there. It is to my continued amazement, and gratitude, that we manage to do so well.
Gilly French
The year began with Caradoc King, who gave us a picture of life as a literary agent, which seemed to consist of long and expensive lunches with the rest of the time spent in the office reading the odd book. Ray Wilkins required a change of venue to School, so great was the turnout: he managed after a ten minute run-through of his life to fill the rest of the time fielding questions from angry Arsenal fans. Piers Gough showed us slides of all his buildings ranging from huge waterfront houses to designer loos. Meirion Thomas finally told the Upper School who John Locke was - it was surprising how few of us knew. He went on to discuss cancer treatments and the controversial placebo effect conveying his views passionately and persuasively. Sir George Russell defended the Lottery to a sceptical audience: he even attempted to justify his huge salary. Matthew Fort took us away from the horrors of College Hall and talked about his enviable job eating the finest foods and being paid for it. When he finished and lunch break began there was an audible sigh.
Next came two men who have both confronted sleaze in British politics in very different ways: Alan Rusbridger, editor of The Guardian, vehemently defended the press's right to investigate the corruption in our political system. Martin Bell, delighting the audience by wearing his customary white linen suit, impressed us with his magnificent presence and his ability to talk eloquently without any notes about his life first as a war reporter and then as an Independent MP. In between came Jim Cogan: at short notice he gave an informative talk about gap years and the choices that exist. Christina Odone tried to convince us of the importance of genuine religion in modern times and warned of the unhealthy alternatives, like Diana-worship. Simon Hoggart, political sketch-writer and satirist, amused the audience with his anecdotes about Parliament: the picture painted didn't seem too far away from Little Dean's Yard. Murray Walker once again packed out School as pupils swarmed to see the face behind the distinctive voice: most memorable was his self-deprecating wit. Ben Pimlott, the eminent Professor of Politics, spoke about the relationship between the monarchy and the people over the century, and also touched upon the hysteria shown over Diana (which was a common theme this year). Hugo Young, with his left-wing views, closed the term by shedding some important light on the complex and turbulent relationship between Britain and Europe.
A real high point followed as Michael Palin packed out the gym to reminisce about his life and times. His anecdotes brought the house down but he also had a surprising message: going to Oxford University serves no useful function unless you want to be a comedian. A quite different speaker came the next week: Janet Inglis confronted incest head-on and her unflinching and thought-provoking analysis of this 'last taboo' impressed all who heard her. Nicholas Roeg gave a long-awaited and enticing look at the world of motion pictures. Doris Lessing exhorted us eloquently to read more and refused to budge from this position despite a fairly cynical response from the audience, who seemed more interested in quizzing her about her story used for the 1997 GCSE paper. Gitta Sereny was spellbinding as she deconstructed the mind of Albert Speer with intelligence and reasoning, having interviewed him extensively. The term finished with Chris Woodhead trying to convince us that OFSTED did a good job and that Winchester was a model school. The audience found the latter rather harder to believe.
Another crowded lecture room received Ian Haworth, who, armed with sheaves of papers containing the 100+ alternative names of one particular cult, warned us of the dangers of beautiful women coming up to us on the tube. When he revealed to us the true extent of the damage cults can do, based on personal experience, we started to take notice. Hazhir Teimourian, renowned journalist on Middle Eastern affairs, informed us about the perils of his profession; his lively anecdotal style ensured we were always kept amused. Stuart Hampson, chairman of John Lewis, gave us all something to think about when he explained why John Lewis is so successful: the secret seems to be that all employees are allowed to complain about him anonymously. Professor Lewis Spitz gave us a vivid and exciting insight (complete with slides) into the difficult subject of separating Siamese twins. Irina Ratushinskaya was one of the finest speakers of the year: her unflinching account of life in a prison camp in Siberia, where she would be told regularly that she did not exist, was simply awe-inspiring. She turned out to be the final speaker of the year when Ken Livingstone failed to turn up. This has probably lost him 180 or so votes from the Remove, not convinced by his promise to reform the Underground if he is incapable of using it himself. Nonetheless with Ms Ratushinskaya's speech the year finished on a triumphant note.
Thanks are due to all those who came to speak, and to David Hargreaves for somehow convincing these busy people to come. Special mention must be made of Howard Gooding's concise and amusing speeches introducing the speakers and summing them up. He was consistently the linchpin that held the Society together.
Neil Fisher (Milne's), Jenny Steven (Liddell's)
& Lucy Davis (Wren's)