Category: Choir Updates

Morning all, good to see plenty of you at a surprisingly warm church last night.

It was evident that the time you spent last week in sections was worthwhile. We tackled the three movements you had looked at, and they started to come together very nicely.

They were:
1. Die Vorstellung der Chaos – notewise a very simple segment, but precision is everything. Work on the words so that we can get all the chords chiming absolutely together.
27. Vollendet ist das grosse Werk – This is one of the trickier movements, quite a lengthy one and with lots of motion and entries. We worked from the end towards the start, and by the time people were begging to move on to something else we were able to sing from letter C to the end. It was all very impressive, with the possible exception of the entries which were a bit tentative. Understandable when we are just learning the notes, but each one (Altos bar 32, Tenors bar 39, Basses bar 40 etc) needs to be emphatic. Phrasing of words like NAM-en and er-HAB-en, and slurred words like allein you were shaping beautifully, especially the Sops. It makes everything sound so much more musical when you do that.
2. Verzweiflung, Wut und Schrecken – a schizophenic movement with a chaotic mini-fugue entry followed by an almost twee section. Great job figuring out the complexity of the chaotic bits (A-B and at C). If you are working on it, make sure you are thinking 2 beats in a bar not 4. It makes much more sense.
Zadok – we finished up by looking at the third section, where there are some tricky semiquaver runs in each part. You sang these so well I felt that I had underestimated you in thinking we needed to clarify them. That said, with a piece you feel you know by heart, there is always the risk that there are occasional notes that you think you know but actually don’t quite. That Bass E, the last note of the second bar of the last page, is a good example, for me at least.

Practice Tracks – I haven’t made my own as there are several available. Cyberbass is a free option. The link is: https://www.cyberbass.org/Major_Works/Haydn_J/haydn_creation.htm. The movement numbers do not line up to the Carus score we are using but you will figure that out.

Scores – with huge thanks to Tricia Joshi for getting this organised, we are hopeful that the second batch will be with us for next week.

Until then

Chris

Hi all, I hope your sectional note learning last week was fun and successful.

This week we are back together in Christ Church – I’d suggest dressing warm. Even with the heating on, it is likely to be fresh.

Partly because some of us will still be waiting for scores, I’m going to stick to looking at the movements we have so far covered, which are on the website under Downloads.

And sincere apologies to those who printed off the Zadok copies I posted. That was the wrong version. I hate asking you to reprint and kill trees, but if you could please, the link is now correct, and is the same version as we used in 2019, so if you still have that copy, please use it.

And please also bring Bogoroditse Dyevo from last term’s concert as a repertoire sing.

See you tomorrow

Chris

Welcome back! Great to see a good turnout for the first practice of our 2-term season. Most of you know the plan but just in case, here is what we talked through this evening.

Our next concert is Saturday July 1st, and the centrepiece will be Haydn’s Creation, sung in German, accompanied by an orchestra of decent size. We intend to trim the oratorio down a bit by skipping some of the solo pieces and focusing on the choruses, while keeping the overall shape of the work. Additional pieces to bring the concert up to about 90 minutes of music will include Zadok the Priest and possibly other Coronation pieces, given that it will be a few weeks after the coronation of Charles III. [If anyone has any suggestions for pieces they would like to be considered, on any theme with orchestral accompaniment, please let me know.]

We will be sourcing Soprano, Tenor and Bass soloists and a conductor for the performance. So it will be the biggest production we have put on since pre-Covid days. Make sure you get it in your friends’ and families’ calendars asap.

Tonight we just took a quick look at the first two choruses, one of which is a tricky if short fugue, and a fun hack through Zadok. A good start to a few weeks of note learning. Thanks to Tricia Joshi for getting the scores in time for the first rehearsal against all odds.

Next week is sectionals – please make sure you are in touch so you know where to be.

There are various places you can go for practice tracks for the Creation – Cyberbass is one of the best free ones (thanks Siobhan). Choraline is another, but costs money. And if, like me, you haven’t sung this before, just get it on a playlist and listen to it often so the music starts to seep into your consciousness.

Enjoy that, thanks to all hosting the sectionals next week, and see you back at Christ Church on Tuesday 24th.

Dear All

Happy New Year everyone. Hope you’ve all had a lovely Christmas and are looking forward to getting back to singing at Sheen Gate Choir.

Our first rehearsal is next week Tuesday 10^th January, 19:45 -21:30 at Christchurch. Reprising a favourite tradition at Sheen Gate, everyone is invited to bring a bottle of whatever they’d like to drink and we’ll toast the new year, have a quick catch up and welcome any new members – as well as having a look at the music we’ll be tackling this term and next for our Summer concert.

See Chris’s earlier post for music we’ll be covering – note you’ll need to print some pages.

The second rehearsal (on 17^th January) will be a sectional, venues and details to follow, but they will be at local members’ houses as before.

Term dates are listed below:

Spring: 10^th Jan-21^st March, half term 14^th Feb

3 week Easter break (28^th March-11^th April)

Summer: 18^th April – 27^th June, half term 30^th May

The summer concert date will be on Saturday 1^st July – put it in your diaries and tell your friends! I hope this works for most people. Apologies to any of you who can’t make this date –  as always its tricky to find a date that suits everyone.

See you Tuesday!

Hello singers and welcome to SGC2023. I hope that the flush of the happiness of the holidays and the success of your singing in the December concerts still lingers pleasantly.

Siobhan will be posting a message shortly with dates and details. Thanks to her and all who have helped shape the plan for the coming two terms. As you know, we are tackling Haydn’s Creation, starting on Tuesday next week, Jan 10. I hope you are looking forward to learning a big work that this choir has never sung before.

Tricia Joshi has very kindly taken on the job of ordering scores. Please see the earlier post from her and let her know if you would like to be part of the bulk order of scores.

Just as with the music for last term, the lead time for getting music has increased and despite ordering back in early December it is likely that we won’t have the scores in our hands on Tuesday. So I have to ask you please to do some printing of music to bring along. There are 4 files on the Downloads page of the website, 3 Creation movements and Zadok the Priest. If you wouldn’t mind, please print those off and bring them on Tuesday evening. And for fun, please also bring Bogoroditse Dyevo.

Watch out for those 12 drummers today, and see you on Tuesday.

Chris

From Tricia Joshi 

We have ordered a bulk quantity of Haydn’s CREATION for those going on the Tour and have a number left over for those aren’t.  

Could all members of the choir who aren’t going on the tour please let me know (ASAP) that you would like me to order you a copy.  It is difficult to get the version we want of this work and there are delays with deliveries from the publisher at the moment.  Your deadline to respond is Monday 9th January.  We will be using the Carus Vocal score in GERMAN.

I’m handling this to help Chris and Siobhan, so please reply to patricia@joshifamily.co.uk  

See you all soon, 

Tricia

For any of you who found Xmas insufficiently intellectually demanding, and to any closet cruciverbalists amongst us (and you will know who you are), here is a puzzle to tease the brain cells.

Each year I compile a crossword for my long-suffering family. Clues are hopefully at a similar level to the Times Concise Cryptic but, as a devotee of the Listener Crossword, there is always a little more to be done than filling the grid.

This is this year’s offering. If you’d prefer a word.doc version send me your email, and If you’d like to have a go and get stuck feel free to ask for a nudge.

You sang absolutely beautifully tonight. I just wish you could all hear what you sound like as a complete choir from out front. You watched, you followed, you ignored my mistakes perfectly (thank you, Robert, for recognising that it might be a good idea for the choir to have their notes before we start Sleep….), and you sounded very impressive indeed. I only hope you all enjoyed the concert as much as I did. If the audience feedback was sincere – my kids are not good at masking their true opinions, and they genuinely enjoyed it – then you put on an excellent show. Thank you to our soloists, Claire, Tricia and Sarah. It is so good to have soloists within the choir. Huge thank yous to Robert, as always, the Chopin was brilliant. Thanks to those who introduced the segments, for your lovely words. And thanks to all of you for your hard work at home and in rehearsals which made the whole term’s music possible. And thanks to our new joiners, who sang a concert with us for the first time tonight. We love having you as part of our choir family.

I look forward to having a spicy meal with you on Tuesday night (thank you Roger for organising) and I look forward to next term and a totally different musical experience!

Chris

Happy Holidays to all

Chris

Black Salt Sheen. Address – 505-507 Upper Richmond Road West, East Sheen, London, SW14 7DE. Date and time – Tuesday December 20, 8pm. Drinks in the restaurant bar, from 7pm. Please let me know, if you haven’t already, if you’d like to come – Roger.blitz@ft.com

Dear All

Please see below concert timings and directions for Saturday, as outlined last night (note change to seating during Robert’s performance):

Tickets (£10):                     

May be bought in advance or on door

For advance purchases: transfer money to choir bank account (include your name and ‘tickets’ in reference) then email me at jonezfamily658@virginmedia.com advising number of guests 

On the door: cash or card payment

Bar:

Cash payment at the bar

Or card payment on entry (collect ticket to exchange for drink at bar)

Timings:

16:15                     Set-up (AS MANY VOLUNTEERS TO HELP AS POSSIBLE PLEASE!!)

**16:55                **Arrive for short rehearsal

17:00                     Rehearsal

17:30                     Bar opens

17:50 Gather in side room ready to go on stage

18:00                     Concert start

19:30ish               Concert end – clear up

Concert Directions:

Walk on stage from side room, back row first (NB railings remain in place)

Stand in arc formation, probably 3 rows – will confirm at short rehearsal

10 Sops , 10 altos, 6 tenors, 7 basses

Simon introduces first three pieces (see running order below)

After “Sleep” move to side aisles adjacent to audience (NB not choir stalls as suggested on Tuesday) for Robert’s solos

Return to stage from side aisles after Robert’s performance

Remain in place for Chris’s thank yous – ready for Rusby encore

Introductions – given from centre front of choir

Soloists – performed from front of section or wherever soloist feels comfortable

Dress – black + red &/or green

Running Order:

Introduction (Simon Renton)

Rameau, Hymne a la Nuit (O Nuit), Soloist Sarah Mackenzie

Rachmaninoff, Bogoroditse Dyevo from the All Night Vigil

Lauridsen, Sure on this Shining Night

Introduction (Tricia Joshi)

Rheinberger, Abendlied

Whitacre, Sleep

Introduction (Robert Bridge)

Piano interlude – Chopin Nocturnes

Introduction (Siobhan Jones )

Gjeilo, Dark Night

Christmas segment: Introduction (Lesley Morley )

Beamish, In the Stillness

Stopford, Lully, Lulla, Lullay, Soloist Tricia Joshi

Adam, Cantique de Noel (“O Holy Night”)

Thank yous (Chris Hawkins)

Encore: Rusby, Underneath the Stars, Soloist Claire Michelet