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Don’t miss Robert’s next knitting concert!

For those who are not familiar with Robert’s concerts they are a wonderful opportunity to hear Robert perform an always beautiful choice of piano music in a lovely church on a green in Putney. Attendees are welcome to bring something to do (preferably silently!) while listening – hence “Knitting Concerts”.

Poster here

Sunday 30th June, 6pm

All Saints’ Church, Putney Common

Robert Bridge (piano)

Music by Chopin, Bartok and Moszkowski

Two choices: stay at home and watch an outstandingly dull England team trying to cling on their Euros hopes – you really don’t need that kind of stress; or pop along to All Saints and hear an hour of wonderful piano music, enjoy free wine and soft drinks, and let me do the stressing for you.

Your choice.

Retiring collection (cash only) will hopefully raise a bit of money for Help Musicians.

Piano Recital – Maria Levandovskaya, Sat 29^th June

We are grateful to Maria Levandovskaya who stepped in at the last minute yesterday to cover for Robert’s cover(!) at our rehearsal. She played beautifully so we were delighted when she told us she happens to be performing in concert in Barnes this Saturday 29^th June. Details of the event are below and flyer is here. No tickets required but donations are welcome.

Event:                   Maria Levandovskaya – Piano Recital

Date:                     Saturday 29^th June 2024

Time:                    19:00

Venue:                 St Michael’s Community Centre (adjoining St Michael’s Church) Barnes SW13 0NX

Programme:      Including pieces by Rachmaninov, Bach, Szymanowski & Prokofiev

Tickets:                No tickets required but donations welcome at end

Annual Come and Sing – Richmond Opera, Sat July 6th 

Neighbouring Richmond Opera are holding their annual Come and Sing day on Sat July 6^th. Everyone is welcome and they have very kindly said they will similarly advertise SGC’s next Come and Sing for us (Sat, Sep 28^th!)

Sign-up now to join Richmond Opera for our annual Come & Sing day! We’ll focus on choruses from our next concert (November 2024) and a preview piece from our April 2025 opera!

Event:                   Richmond Opera – Come & Sing

Date:                     Saturday 6^th July 2024

Time:                    10:00 – 16:30 (detailed timings below)

Venue:                 Raleigh Road United Church (Raleigh Rd, Richmond TW9 2DX).

Programme:      Handel – Ode for St Cecilia’s Day, Purcell – Come Ye Sons of Art

Tickets:                £23 for the day (£14 for under-30’s).

Timings:
– From 10am registration
– 10:30am-1:30pm morning session
– 2pm-3:30pm afternoon session
– 4pm informal performance
– 4:30pm finish

We will provide music (or you can bring your own), primarily:
– Handel – Ode for St Cecilia’s Day
– Purcell – Come Ye Sons of Art

Cost is £23 for the day (£14 for under-30’s). This covers all the above plus tea/coffee/biscuits provided. You’ll need to bring your own lunch or use an eating place or supermarket nearby.

Dear All

One-off change of venue for 25/6: 

Tuesday’s rehearsal (25/6) will take place at St Michael’s Church in Barnes, address: 39 Elm Bank Gardens, Barnes SW13 0NX https://stmichaelbarnes.org/contact-us/ . Same time as usual 19:45-21:30

St Mary’s unfortunately double booked us with an election hustings event leaving us little alternative but to move.  None of our previous venues were available hence the choice of St Michael’s. Sincere apologies to everyone for the inconvenience. Parking is possible in the local streets but I suggest leaving a bit of extra time to locate a spot. 

As promised, we will be looking at some of the music for the Autumn term. See below for list of music to bring to the rehearsal.

And don’t forget the choir party on 2/7 – details below. Let me know what you’ll be bringing!

Music to bring to 25/6 rehearsal:

Please bring the following pieces of music to rehearsal. Many people will already have Vivaldi’s Gloria Novello edition which they can bring along. Otherwise you’ll find a link to a printable file below.

• Vivaldi, Gloria, first movement link here
• Gjeilo, The Rose link here
• Gjeilo, Ecce Novum link here

All music may also be found on Music and Media page under the tab still labelled Spring/Summer 2024

Choir Party – Tuesday 2^nd July:

We are going to have our choir party on Tuesday 2^nd July (week after the last rehearsal of term). Sorry to pick a school night but it seemed the best option having left organising it to the last minute (looks like we might already have a social secretary to do it properly next time… )

For the same reason we’re going to keep it simple and hold it at my house (Siobhan’s) and ask people to bring a bottle of their favourite tipple and a plate of food/nibbles. If you can give me an idea of what you plan to bring then we can avoid ending up with a mountain of sausage rolls….

Date: 2^nd July

Time: 7:30 pm 

Venue: 28 York Ave, East Sheen SW14 7LG

Come & Sing  – Sat 28^th Sep ’24:

We will be holding our second Come and Sing on Sat 28^th Sep at Christchurch. 

As anyone who made it to the last one will know, it is a wonderful event both for the singing and the chance to meet visitors who have come along for the day just for the fun of it (…then some of them stay!).

As before we need support from choir members to make this event work. Please let Siobhan know if you can make it siobhan.waswood@icloud.com

Schedule for Remainder of Summer Term + Autumn Term:

Summer Term:

25th Jun               Final rehearsal St Mary’s

2^nd July                  Choir Party, 7:30pm 28 York Ave, SW14 

Autumn Term – back at Christ Church:

10^th Sep – 10^th Dec, except 2 week half term 22^nd & 29^th Oct. 

• Come & Sing:     Sat 28^th Sep, 10:30am – 4pm, Christ Church
• Holly Lodge:      Thurs 5^th Dec, Christ Church
• SGC Concert:      Sunday 15^th Dec, Christ Church

Late call for this but if you are free tonight this promises to be an interesting evening of music, poetry and interviews about the church and its rich artistic history. All Saints is celebrating its 150th anniversary and both William Morris and Burne-Jones were involved in its original design with Burne-Jones contributing designs for the windows whilst William Morris created the tapestry ceilings. I’ll be teaming up with singers Hannah Cox and Chris Stevens for some songs broadly linked with the Pre-Raphaelite movement, including some gems by some neglected women composers Adele Maddison and Clara Kathleen Rogers, and I’ll also contribute some piano solos by Elgar, Debussy and Liszt.

Dear All

What an enjoyable and positive rehearsal with Penny on Tuesday! 

The only bit we stumbled on was the ‘Ne ab-sor-be-at….’ in Domine Jesu p47-48, bar 21-32. So, if you get chance have a look at that ahead of Saturday. 

And, after Penny’s exclamation (mid-conducting!) in the Lux Aeterna keep singing through the ‘et lux per-pe-tu-a…’ phrase p79 bar79(33) -81(35).

Saturday’s schedule is copied below together with other concert details. Please could all those who offered to help set up arrive at All Saints (https://www.allsaintschurch.org.uk/ )  for 2pm.

For SGC rehearsal arrive by 3:30 and sit in pews. The soloists will be rehearsing at that time so please arrive quietly and sit in pews until Ben calls us forward.

Ticket Sales!!!!:

It’s not too late to spread the word about the concert:    flyer here

Remember, we ask every member to sell at least 3 tickets. This is vital to cover our costs.

Please email me (siobhan.waswood@icloud.com) & Lesley ( lesley.morley1@gmail.com ) with list of names of those who have bought tickets. We will have a list of ticket holders on the door on the night.

Schedule 15/6:

2:00 Church open          

• RO set up their own chairs
• SGC set up their chairs 
• Bar set up

230: Robert’s concerto

315: Deh se piacer

330: flute quintet 

330: choir arrive quietly & sit in pews

345: three chorus numbers (so this would be when the choir are called) 

415: short break 

425: requiem

530: break

6:30 bar opens

700: concert starts

8:00 ish:’15 minute’ internal

 Concert programme running order:

• Che del ciel (La Clemenza di Tito) – Soloists & Chorus 
• Deh, se piacer mi vuoi (La Clemenza di Tito) – Soprano solo 
• Placido e mar (Idomeneo) – Chorus & Soprano solo
• Hmmm hmm hmm (The Magic  Flute) – solo quintet (SATB Soloists & Claire Michelet)
• Finale (The Magic Flute) – Chorus & Bass solo 
• Concerto No.27 in B flat, K.595 – Piano & Orchestra (conductor Martin Smith)
•  INTERVAL 
• Requiem, K. 626, 

Concert Dress:

Men: White shirt, black trousers

Women: White shirt/top, black bottom

Black Folders:

Please bring black folders for the concert. Lesley is placing an order for all those who asked for one after Tuesday’s rehearsal.

Reminder of Concert Venue:

It may be worth reminding or pointing out to any regular concert attendees that we are performing at a different venue on this occasion. I will put a note at Christ Church directing people to All Saints just in case.

Post Concert Rehearsal:

We will have a break from rehearsals the week after the concert, 18/6, but return for one last rehearsal this term on 25^th June when we will look ahead to what we will sing in September.

Summer & Autumn Term Dates (also see Calendar tab):

Summer Term:

16th April – 25th Jun inclusive, except half term 28th May & 18th June when we’ll have a week’s break post-concert.

• Concert Sat 15th June

Autumn Term – back at Christ Church:

10^th Sep – 10^th Dec, except 2 week half term 22^nd & 29^th Oct. 

• Come & Sing:     Sat 28^th Sep, 10:30am – 4pm, Christ Church
• Holly Lodge:      Thurs 5^th Dec, Christ Church
• SGC Concert:      Sunday 15^th Dec, Christ Church

Dear All

We had a thorough work through of the three opera choruses with Penny on Tuesday as well as looking at Osana from the Sanctus.

Points to take away:

Magic Flute – COME IN EARLY! at the start of of each phrase 

Che del Ciel – place clear emphasis on the ‘Cu-sto-di-sca-no Co-si’s’

Placido è il mar – smooth/even singing

Next week, 11/6, is the last rehearsal before the concert and we will run through the whole programme.

Schedule for 15/6 is shown below plus a request for VOLUNTEERS (from 2pm)! 

Note, on 15/6 choir should arrive at All Saints (https://www.allsaintschurch.org.uk/ ) by 3:30pm. The soloists will be rehearsing at that time so please arrive quietly and sit in pews until Ben calls us forward.

Concert programme running order:

• Che del ciel (La Clemenza di Tito) – Soloists & Chorus 
• Deh, se piacer mi vuoi (La Clemenza di Tito) – Soprano solo 
• Placido e mar (Idomeneo) – Chorus & Soprano solo
• Hmmm hmm hmm (The Magic  Flute) – solo quintet (SATB Soloists & Claire Michelet)
• Finale (The Magic Flute) – Chorus & Bass solo 
• Concerto No.27 in B flat, K.595 – Piano & Orchestra (conductor Martin Smith)

 INTERVAL 

• Requiem, K. 626, 

Ticket Sales:

Keep spreading the word about the concert:    flyer here

Remember, we ask every member to sell at least 3 tickets. This is vital to cover our costs.

Please email me (siobhan.waswood@icloud.com) & Lesley ( lesley.morley1@gmail.com ) with list of names of those who have bought tickets. We will have a list of ticket holders on the door on the night.

Schedule 15/6:

2:00 Church open          

• RO set up their own chairs
• SGC set up their chairs 
• Bar set up

230: Robert’s concerto

315: Deh se piacer

330: flute quintet 

330: choir arrive quietly & sit in pews

345: three chorus numbers (so this would be when the choir are called) 

415: short break 

425: requiem

530: break

6:30 bar opens

700: concert starts

8:00 ish:’15 minute’ internal

Volunteers:

Volunteers are needed on the day. Please see list below and let me know if you can help.

We have a much shorter window than usual for setting up and will be working round Richmond Orchestra so we need as many helpers as possible to be there at 2pm.  

For door and bar we ideally need some non-singers (partner/friends or grown up children) so that we can keep things manned after the choir assemble.

2pm -2:30pm   set up choir & bar

6pm       bar complete set-up and man

6:15       door

c8:00    interval bar

end        clear up – we ask everyone to help with this 

Concert Dress:

Men: White shirt, black trousers

Women: White shirt/top, black bottoms

Black Folders:

Please bring black folders for the concert. Lesley is placing an order for all those who asked for one after Tuesday’s rehearsal.

Reminder of Concert Venue:

It may be worth reminding or pointing out to any regular concert attendees that we are performing at a different venue on this occasion. I will put a note at Christ Church directing people to All Saints just in case.

Music for 11^th June (bring all music & a pencil):

• Mozart, Requiem 
• Mozart, Tito -Che del ciel
• Mozart, Magic Flute – Finale
• Mozart, Idomeneo – Placido è il Mar  

Post Concert Rehearsal:

We will have a break from rehearsals the week after the concert, 18/6, but return for one last rehearsal this term on 25^th June when we will look ahead to what we will sing in September.

Summer & Autumn Term Dates (also see Calendar tab):

Summer Term:

16th April – 25th Jun inclusive, except half term 28th May & 18th June when we’ll have a week’s break post-concert.

• Concert Sat 15th June

Autumn Term – back at Christ Church:

10^th Sep – 10^th Dec, except 2 week half term 22^nd & 29^th Oct. 

• Come & Sing:     Sat 28^th Sep, 10:30am – 4pm, Christ Church
• Holly Lodge:      Thurs 5^th Dec, Christ Church
• SGC Concert:      Sunday 15^th Dec, Christ Church

Dear All

We had an excellent run through of the whole Requiem on Tuesday. Ben is very pleased with how it’s going! 

And here are his specific notes to work on (three weeks and two remaining rehearsals before the concert!).

• Find space in e and i vowels – get the yawn in the sound so it doesn’t get tight, especially in the upper register

• Confutatis – place more importance on the semiquavers – it’ll help things line up better. “con-FU-tatis ma-LE-dictis flam-MIS” etc 

• Sopranos and altos – “Voca me” – you can put tone and pitch through the V – do this and get in early to make sure we’re not scooping up to the note. 

• Altos throughout: you’re probably musically the most secure, I’d love you all to show off a little bit more in the juicy bits 

• Tenors: I know you’re having a sectional this week, thank you! Things are improving ALL THE TIME. I know Robert will have thoughts too: from me, just Rex and the Osannas could do with a zoom in, if you get a chance. 

• Sopranos – lux aeterna – in the phrases where you imitate the soloist, can you accentuate the contrast between what you’re doing and the angular stuff in ATB by being as legato as possible – leave the consonants (think of them as like the necessity like flour in a cake batter) as late as possible, and spend as long as possible on the vowels (cream and butter) to make the contrast, and the sound as luxurious as possible.  

• Have a general look over the opera bits please, these will be the focus on the first rehearsal back, then 11th June is a full run through. 
  

I’m still searching for a version of Placido with more legible Italian. As soon as I find it, it’ll be with you! Homeward straight!

Half term this week so next rehearsal (still at St Mary’s) will be 4^th June.

Ticket Sales:

Keep spreading the word about the concert – flyer here.

We will be collating ticket sales after half term. We ask every member to sell at least 3 tickets. This is vital to cover our costs.

Please encourage tickets to be bought in advance. If choir members are buying on behalf of friends/family then please pay direct to choir bank account as that avoids Sum-Up fees, and include name and ‘tickets’ in reference. Otherwise it’s very easy for guests to pay via the link or QR code on flyer (remind guests to include their email address – they’ll also see this request when they pay). Tickets will also be available on the door.

Tickets £15 per person (under 16s free)

Choir Bank Details:

Account Name: Sheen Gate Choir

Account Number: 47107324

Sort: 60-01-39

Music for 4 & 11^th June (bring all music & a pencil!):

Bring ALL music to remaining rehearsals:-

June 4^th focus will be 3 opera choruses, June 11^th full run through 

• Mozart, Requiem 
• Mozart, Tito -Che del ciel
• Mozart, Magic Flute – Finale
• Mozart, Idomeneo – Placido è il Mar  

Summer & Autumn Term Dates (also see Calendar tab):

Summer Term:

16th April – 25th Jun inclusive, except half term 28th May & 18th June when we’ll have a week’s break post-concert.

• Concert Sat 15th June

Autumn Term:

10^th Sep – 10^th Dec, except 2 week half term 22^nd & 29^th Oct. 

• Come & Sing:     Sat 28^th Sep, 10:30am – 4pm, Christ Church

• Concert:               Sunday 15^th Dec

A good session with Penny Homer last week cracking Rex Tremendae and the Offertorium. If you were not there, hope you have had chance to catch up on those with the learning tracks or your own chosen method. Tomorrow Ben would like to run the whole Requiem to assess what needs particular attention. Don’t forget your pencil!

Dear All,

Last Tuesday we focused on the following parts of Mozart Requiem and here are the notes:

Hostias – p57, bar 46: mark first syllable of faceas as FARK

Confutatis – we must sing through the AR in ConfutARtis – attack!

Agnus Dei – there is no R in the middle of Donna Eis make sure this is two words not donnareyis. 

Lux Aeterna – this is nearly but not quite the same as the Kyrie with different words. We have to attack it especially in the lower parts where the sopranos are floating over the top. Very last two bars – mark the middle S in pi-uS es as attached to the last note so it is pee- uuuu – ses! (because you are merciful)

Next Tuesday Penny Homer is taking us through:

Rex Tremendae – new

Offertorium – new

And other bits of the Requiem. Do try the learning tracks/listen these before if they are new to you or you need a reminder.

TICKETS – choir members can and are encouraged to buy tickets by payment direct to the bank account. Then no fees for us. Just let me know so I am not guessing whether its your subs or six tickets. Lesley.morley1@gmail.com

Dear All

This week we did some thorough work on Tito’s Che del Ciel, and looked at the last movement of the Requiem, Lux Aeterna (beautifully similar to the first), and the Hostias, including the ‘Quam Olim Abrahae’.

Ben’s tips:

Brighten the sound of Hostias by aiming for a mid-Atlantic ‘Has-tias’ pronunciation and keep the semi-quaver runs in the Lux Aeterna light rather than laboured.

Next week we will work on:

• Lux Aeterna 
• Hostias (make sure you prep the Quam Olim Abrahae bit if you can!) and 
• Confutatis Maledictus (new movement).

Do have a look at the cyberbass site  when learning the new pieces it really is very helpful. Using the go slower button makes the tricky bits learnable and the Tutti option is a great way to test which bits need some more focus.

Concert flyer is available now – see below. Huge thanks to David Corless for this – it takes a lot of work! Please circulate and get your friends and family signed up.

Music for 23rd April (bring all music & a pencil!):

• Mozart, Requiem 

-Introitus

-Kyrie

-Dies Irae

-Confutatis Maledictus

-Lachrymosa

-Hostias

-Sanctus

-Benedictus

-Agnus Dei

-Lux Aeterna

• Mozart, Tito -Che del ciel
• Mozart, Magic Flute – Finale
• Mozart, Idomeneo – Placido è il Mar  

Concert Flyer 15^th June:

Concert flyer here (as seen on homepage). Payment can be made via link on flyer.

Subs:

Don’t forget to pay subs! £90 / term. Please pay by bank transfer to the choir account – details as follows:

Account Name: Sheen Gate Choir

Account Number: 47107324

Sort: 60-01-39

Summer & Autumn Term Dates (also see Calendar tab):

Summer Term:

16th April – 25th Jun inclusive, except half term 28th May & 18th June when we’ll have a week’s break post-concert.

• Concert Sat 15th June

Autumn Term:

10^th Sep – 10^th Dec, except 2 week half term 22^nd & 29^th Oct. 

• Come & Sing:     Sat 28^th Sep, 10:30am – 4pm, Christ Church

• Concert:               Sunday 15^th Dec