Articles

Described by the composer as ‘Animal portraits made of musical notation’ but best seen and heard. Very clever amusement for lovers of music and cats. https://www.youtube.com/@Sympawnies.

 Thank you to Nick Reeder for sharing this.

My first introduction to the music of West Gallery Quires was made when we attended a lecture at The Cecil Sharp House (home of the English Folk Dance and Song society) by Professor Ian Russell. His lecture had the catchy title of “The Paradigm of English Carolling”. He started his talk by bursting into song and singing each verse of “While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks” to a different tune – and we were hooked.

It’s not entirely clear how West Gallery music developed but it seems to have been out of a desire of the church authorities at the end of the 17th century to ‘improve the quality of psalmody’. This met with a favourable response from parishioners who wanted to do more than sit in silence and listen to a single voice singing the psalms. And whilst singing at first was strictly confined to psalms – the Word of God only being permitted in the service it was not long before hymns started to develop. The most famous perhaps being While Shepherds Watched their Flocks by Night a paraphrasing of biblical texts.

In parish records from all around the country details of the setting up of singing groups can be found and these groups would sing in the often hastily erected galleries in the west end of parish churches – hence West Gallery Quires.

Initially the groups would sing unaccompanied and the melody line was invariably given to the tenor with an underpinning bass line, with contra tenor and treble voices in addition. It would appear that the introduction of instruments was to assist the relatively untutored singers to hold their lines against other parts. Whilst fiddles were available in most village communities the price of a bass instrument would often be beyond the reach of the middling tradesmen and artisans who made up the quires. Parish subscriptions were used to purchase a cello, flute or even a serpent.

This beautiful traditional music was found in churches from around 1700 to 1850 when sadly and ironically it was driven out and suppressed by the authorities. Thomas Hardy’s novel Under the Greenwood Tree was described by the author as the story of the Mellstock Quire and its West Gallery Musicians. It was he said “a fairly true picture, at first hand, of the personages, ways and customs which were common among such orchestral bodies in the villages of the 1850s”.In the story the new vicar informs the quire that he intends to replace their traditional gallery singing and string accompaniment with an accomplished organist.

West Gallery Quires disappeared for a number of reasons – the arrival of Hymns Ancient and Modern replacing the old musicians’ books of psalms and hymns, the growing industrialisation, the Oxford Movement to name but a few. It also did not go un-noted that some who sang in the quires would often be in conflict with the squire or vicar. When the Church of England brought in harmoniums and organs and replaced the quire with surpliced choirs the West Gallery musicians either moved to Methodist chapels or sang in pubs or the streets. To this day the singing continues in and around Sheffield villages at Christmas time. We have stood and sang in pubs such at the Royal Hotel in the village of Dungworth so very tightly packed with people that the only way to ‘refresh’ drinks is to pass glasses over heads – accompanied by the refrain “pass your glasses to the bar”!

Having sat mesmerised by Professor Russell, and then having attended the Village Carol Festival in Grenoside, Sheffield (if you don’t get your application form in on the day bookings open you don’t have a chance of attending this fabulous biennial festival) we now sing with the Chiltern West Gallery Quire which meets in Welwyn Garden City once a month. The music is robust and hearty, and everyone is welcome. Our fabulous MD [musical director] spends a great deal of time researching the music of Hertfordshire composers, and our concerts are interspersed with readings from the Hertfordshire archives, so there is a fascinating blend of history and song. We start each rehearsal with a hymn known in the West Gallery world as Gibraltar: the name of the tune written by W J White of St Alban’s. It cannot help but bring a smile to your face, and reminds everyone of the appeal and joy of West Galley Music.

Gibraltar by J W White

About West Chiltern Gallery Quire

About Village Carols organisation

Soprano Lizzy Franks is returning to sing Verdi’s Requiem with Royston Choral Society after a 22 year break from the choir. She explains why.

Why do you like singing?

It’s good for you – singing uses the whole body and it’s good for stress levels and mental health - I can feel my mood dropping when I can’t sing because I’ve got a cold or something. On the other hand, whether it’s singing in the shower or in a choir, it can massively lift your mood. Singing is good for the soul. It’s fun, a challenge and, if you don’t know a piece well, it’s rewarding when it all comes together.

Why do you like singing in a choir?

It’s sociable – there’s something special about coming together with others to sing. It’s collaborative and what you make together is slightly different each time. Our rehearsals and performance are live, real (even if not very often perfect!) but when you get it right it gives you tingles.

In a choir you often sing some pieces you don’t know – it’s good to be exposed to new things you might not know (or even like too much!) when you start out. I remember a Remembrance Sunday concert at Wodson Park in Ware – we performed a Karl Jenkins’ composition [The Armed Man] It was the first time I’d sung his work and I realised it was quite something - I would never have learnt that piece otherwise.

Did you have a musical upbringing?

Yes - there was always music in our house, I probably started singing as soon as I could talk – in the car, in the house, at church. My parents sang and I think you absorb it. I learnt music through playing instruments from aged six or seven and singing in school choirs and playing in orchestras. The people I’m still in touch with from my school days are all people I did music with – the shared history and shared experience creates a special bond.

I think I first started singing with Royston Choral Society when I was 14 or 15, when I was studying GCSE music. I suppose I was ticking a box at first and then fell in love with it! I left the choir when I went to university where my course was full on (and at the other end of the country!) I also wanted to try other things – my life had been filled with a lot of music up until then! Then teacher training and being new to teaching was very demanding and there wasn’t much time for singing in choirs.

In 2010, ill health intervened and I didn’t have the energy to do rehearsals or concerts. A few years ago I re-joined the church choir, but it’s only reducing my working hours since Christmas that I’ve got more energy, and I’ve realised singing in RCS and making rehearsals are now do-able.

How are you viewing the upcoming concert?

I’ve sung Verdi’s Requiem a couple of times before, with a university choir in Durham Cathedral, and with Royston Choral Society at Thaxted. I haven’t sung with a large audience for many years, so I’m really excited. I’ve learnt so much in half a dozen rehearsals with Andrew [Andrew O’Brien, RCS Musical Director] – it’s like each one is a singing lesson, and he’s very patient!

I don’t feel scared about the performance because I know it’s not just about me – if there are bits where I’m less confident I can just sing a bit quieter! I find the choir amazingly supportive – everybody has been so friendly and welcoming – the social side is really important; it’s more than a choir rehearsal.

I think people should come to the Verdi concert, even if they’re not into classical music - it’s a spectacular piece. Helping on the door at past RCS concerts, I’ve overheard people, who may have been dragged along by to choir members, saying afterwards how pleasantly surprised they’ve been!

Neil Heywood remembers Leonard Bernstein

I thought I’d share something which simply shows why I revere that absolute genius Leonard Bernstein. His 1944 musical On The Town has always lived in the shadow of West Side Story, which came more than a decade later, but it’s full of great songs – by turns joyous, sardonic, wonderful and bitter-sweet.

And the most bitter-sweet of them all is Some Other Time, which never fails to bring a lump to my throat, or a tear to my eye, or both. It’s a lovely evocation of regret at parting, understated, witty and rueful - and for my money, it’s a little gem, one of the most perfect songs in any 20th century musical.

Find it on YouTube; there’s a fine rendering by Elizabeth Stanley; here’s the link. There’s also a vintage recording featuring Bernstein himself on piano accompanying ageing opera star Eileen Farrel, with a basso profundo verse contributed by Lenny himself. It’s here.

And the original cast recording is very fine too. Do listen to one of these and see if you agree.

In opting for a Desert Island Discs, there is simply too much music to decide so I will choose a category each time.  On this occasion I am choosing choral pieces that I have performed in church.  All of these pieces share the characteristic of taking the words and making them go much deeper spiritually than if they were simply spoken. Here are my chosen eight:

1. I heard a voice from heaven, from the Requiem by Herbert Howells.

2. O Salutaris by Marcel Dupré.

3. Kyrie, from the Messe Solennelle by Louis Vierne.

4. Agnus Dei, from the Missa Brevis by Zoltán Kodály.

5. O Magnum Mysterium by Morton Lauridsen.

6. Requiem Aeternum & Kyrie , from the Requiem by Maurice Duruflé.

7. Peace be to you by Paul Manz.

8. And I saw a new heaven by Edgar Bainton.

If I were to have the option of an object I would choose an organ, and my book would be the complete organ works of J S Bach.  That should help pass the time.

Singing is a wonderful form of catharsis and it's something Rajiv is doing constantly when he's alone. Whether you're singing just for yourself, or you have a goal to share your voice with an audience, a singing lesson is something that can turn out being a lot of fun. Here, Rajiv is joined by his vocal teacher, Laura Kay, who tackles a new piece Rajiv is working on.

Carols and choirs are enjoying a boom in popularity, and science is showing how they improve lives.

Singing has brought humans together, and driven social bonding, since the early history of the species. Over the course of human evolution, the activation of endorphins, which creates a sense of contentment and peace with the world, emerged as a primary means to bond large communities. It turns out that singing is an incredibly potent trigger.

“Singing is one of the mega-mechanisms we use for bonding,” said Robin Dunbar, a professor of evolutionary psychology at the University of Oxford. “Singing in the shower gives you a bit of an uplift, but when doing it communally, there’s something about the synchrony of singing that creates this massive endorphin uplift.”

Read more here.

On a sun-filled day in September 2023, Jacob Collier invited a group of fans to meet him at the Heritage & Arts Centre in Bow, London, for a special, Audience-Choir-inspired rendition of his new single, Little Blue.

Thanks to all who came, in their bluest attire, learned the song that day and sang so beautifully – and thank you to Mahogany Blog for capturing this gentle moment so sublimely.  All audio was recorded live - Jacob had a hidden lav mic in the front of his hat!

Watch it here.

The best humorous commentaries are those with at least a ring of truth about them; something people can relate to.

If you’ve every sung in a choir with a conductor and voice parts, you may well be amused by the observations in this graphic (submitted by a choir member).  

Two minutes of pure joy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0S80iaN6Gk