No. 140 The Trusty Servant nevertheless challenging: there were excellent recitations of Wilde, Auden, Eliot, Burns and Milton, but the judge, contemporary poet Hannah Copley( her collection Lapwing was on the 2024 T. S. Eliot Prize shortlist), ended up rewarding the two most modern choices. Kirin Ranpura( K, 22-) came second with a stylish performance of‘ Speaking American’ by Bill Hicok, and Oli won with the deeply moving‘ Aubade with Burning City’, by Ocean Vuong.
Mallory George Mallory( Coll, 1900-05) was introduced to mountaineering by the College Tutor, R. L. G. Irving( Coll, 1890-96; CoRo, 1900-37; College Tutor, 1901-09; HoDo, E, 1909 – 37) and his Olympic gold medal for Alpinism has been kindly loaned by the Mallory family to the College. It is now, for the first time ever, on public display, and can be seen in the Treasury, just opposite the former College Tutor’ s Flat. He and his fellow Wykehamist climbers, Guy Bullock( Coll, 1901-06) and Henry Morshead( E, 1896-1900) are commemorated in Cloisters.
WinColl round-up
Music Three of last year’ s leavers are now choral scholars at Oxford and Cambridge. Edward Thomson( Coll, 20-5) has followed in the footsteps of Zach Roberts( I, 17-22) and Ivo Sawbridge( A, 19-24), which means that there is currently an academical clerk from Winchester in all three undergraduate years at New College. Dominik Clark( H, 20-25) is singing for The Queen’ s College. Oxford, where Luke Mitchell( B, 15-20) was recently Organ Scholar. As for Alex Winnifrith( I, 20-25), he has joined the choir of King’ s College, Cambridge, and so will soon be gracing our screens in the Christmas Eve Nine Lessons and Carols. Two other 21st century OWs spring to mind as his predecessors: Joseph Zubier( Coll, 14-16), now of Classic FM, and Ashley Riches( Coll, 00-05), as seen in the BBC Proms this summer, performing together in Stravinsky’ s Requiem Canticles. Do write to tell me whom I’ ve missed!
In associated news,‘ The News’, New College’ s close harmony group, came for a mini-residency at the beginning of Short Half, which culminated in a joint concert with Cantores Episcopi, and it was Winchester’ s turn to host the Amicabilis Concordia Evensong, with the massed voices of Eton and Winchester’ s Chapel choirs doing full justice to McKie,‘ We wait for thy loving kindness, O God’, Psalm 48, Smith responses, Howells’ Gloucester Canticles and Bairstow’ s anthem,‘ Blessed City, Heavenly Salem’, directed by that embodiment of the Concordia, Dónal McCann( Eton, King’ s College, New College, Winchester, CoRo, 24-) and expertly accompanied by the doubly Wykehamical Benjamin Cunningham( K, 07-12; CoRo, 18-).
More singing: Short Half is also now the term for the epic confrontations of Bobber Pot. The Julian Smith Cup for the best performance of a classical song was won by Cook’ s with C. V. Stanford’ s beautiful part-song‘ The Bluebird’. Schuster Pot returned to Trant’ s for the third time in four years with a homegrown arrangement of‘ Copacabana’ by Morgan Hayes( H, 22-) and a fine solo
Amicabilis Concordia Evensong
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