Final session

What a relief! The Pepys Motet is now completely in the can. I'm not even going to THINK about the next stage, the many hours of editing and things, until at least next week, but the thought that twenty voices are all down on virtual tape and that there have been no meltdowns, fall outs or terrible catastrophes in the studio is a great relief.

The tenors were brilliant. I was really proud of them. Some of the sounds they were making as a unit by the end of the session were just beautiful - mellifluous, moving - and more excitingly, we had what the altos had recorded last week playing for much of the session and they sounded as good as I'd remembered them.

Our new tenor, little Joe, who actually MD'd the Christina Bianco cabaret I went to see with Llio last month at the Hippodrome, was spot on; an absolute delight to work with.

As ever, Dear Ian delivered the heart-breaking vocal sound of the London Requiem's Pie Jesu, Anthony "Ding Dong" delivered the theatrics, Nigel was note-perfect, always the best prepared of all the male vocalists I work with, and then Christopher completed the equation by powering in with an operatic maelstrom of sound. At one stage I said to the group, "this is the moment to unleash your inner operatic divo," to which he replied, "back off bitches" and opened his lungs like a daemon!

So now I can watch Downton Abbey with a plate of food on my lap without feeling there's something dark looming in the shadows... That's if I can haul myself out of this lovely hot bath in time!