I can’t believe how long it’s taken me to post the first Conductor’s Notes of the Summer Term! It’s been a fabulous start to the term, and I’m so pleased to see so many of you enjoying such a fun set of music, and a huge welcome to our new members this term.
This is a bit of a long one with lots of helpful information, and a few interesting bits.
What we did on 27th April and 4th May
It was great to run through everything on the 27th April. I hope it was a good introduction to the programme, and well done to all for keeping up as we rattled through all of the pieces.
On the 4th, we did some work on the Old Hundredth, as well as both bits of Stanford (the Te Deum and Jubilate). The bits of Stanford, as challenging as they are at times, went really well, and over the forthcoming weeks we’ll explore more of the tricky harmonies and harder rhythmic sections. We then finished with Rutter’s The Lord Bless You and Keep You, which was a beautiful way to end the rehearsal.
Just FYI about the Vaughan Williams copies: all of those with photocopies, they are all legal as Susannah was able to get a photocopying licence. There seems to be a massive Vaughan Williams shortage this year due to it being his 150th anniversary.
What we will do on 11th May
We’ll be working on Parry’s I Was Glad, Handel’s Zadok the Priest, and Wesley’s Thou Wilt Keep Him.
Online Learning Tracks
As with last term, there are some useful resources out there to help with learning the music. Choralia, the same website as last term, has some of the repertoire we’re doing – you just need to search their catalogue here.
Eric has very kindly shared another website that he finds useful for learning the music: John Fletcher’s Files. If you have any more questions about it, please do email Eric and I’m sure he’d be happy to chat about it.
Spotify Link
The Spotify playlist for the term is HERE. I hope it also helps in learning the music for this term.
Marked Scores
Here’s the marked booklet for this term. Please do put the markings in as it’s SO helpful for in making rehearsals run more efficiently. I’m sure it won’t take you much time at all.
Section Reps
A massive thanks to our new Section Representatives. I’m looking forward to working very closely with them over the next year to keep moving the choir forwards. Just a reminder of who your fabulous new Section Reps are:
Soprano: Rachel
Alto: Naomi
Tenor: Peter
Bass: Bill
Any feedback, questions, or comments, please feel free to talk to them, or of course email me or Eric directly – we’re always here to chat.
Listening For The Week
Last weekend I went down to Cornwall to sing with a group called Man(n) Singt! – a German male-voice choir – as part of the Cornwall International Male Choral Festival. We came second overall (another German choir came first...) and we also won Best Single Piece of Music, with Poulenc’s O mes tres chers freres – which begins with a solo sung by their Artistic Director of the group and my good friend Peter Gortner. You may recognise a couple of the Acafellas in there as well.
Check out our performance HERE.
See you all on Wednesday!
– Ben