Articles

As a child I always loved Welsh folk songs and hymns. I was always drawn to their beautiful melodies. Suo Gan and Lisa Lân were favourites as were hymn tunes Llef, Tydi a roddaist and Calon Lan.

Growing up in Merthyr, there was no way you could hide away from the beautiful hymn Myfanwy written by local composer, Joseph Parry. The singing in my local chapel was always quite extraordinary.

When I started playing the piano, I immediately fell in love with Beethoven.

Getting into county and national youth ensembles widened my tastes and I was drawn to Britten, Shostakovich and Stravinsky. 

As a child, I would go to a huge variety of concerts and operas. I loved classical opera but also used to enjoy going to rock and heavy metal concerts. I was always open to all types of music (except Graham Kendrick). I remember one week watching a ballet in Cardiff, travelling to Birmingham to see Blur, then singing in a Cymanfa Ganu [A Welsh festival of sacred hymns]

A track I inherited Suo Gan .

One to pass on Myfanwy

Shrewd observations from a choir member that raise a smile because it’s so well observed. The commandments were shared by one of the RCS tenors but originated in the USA – so it would seem that choral singers are the same the world over!

When author Oliver Burkeman talks about his experience of singing in a community choir he notes “the boundaries of the self grow fuzzy, and time seems not to exist’. This is what I understand by the term ‘being in a state of flow’ – something I most often experience when woodworking. It got me thinking about my own experience of singing with the Royston Choral Society for nearly 25 years. For much of that time, I’ve been pleased to have made the effort to attend each weekly rehearsal, and science tells us why.

Stacy Horn - a self-proclaimed poor choral singer - has identified a cocktail of health-giving chemical stimulants associated with singing with others. “Music is awash with neurochemical rewards for working up the courage to sing. That rush, or ‘singer’s high’, comes in part through a surge of endorphins, which at the same time alleviate pain. When the voices of the singers surrounding me hit my ear, I’m bathed in dopamine, a neurotransmitter in the brain that is associated with feelings of pleasure and alertness. Music lowers cortisol, a chemical that signals levels of stress... and also releases serotonin, a neurotransmitter associated with feelings of euphoria and contentment.”

The all-consuming demands of singing – listening to my own and other voices, watching the conductor, reading the music, and listening to the accompaniment – demands focus. Singing is a very mindful activity and, yes, for the best part of each rehearsal, for me as well as Oliver Burkeman, time does not seem to exist.

Early on in my time with the choir I was asked why I liked to sing with others and I replied “The buzz I get when it all comes together in harmony makes all the effort worthwhile”. 25 years later I still get that buzz.

Further reading on singing in a choir

https://slate.com/human-interest/2013/07/singing-in-a-choir-research-shows-it-increases-happiness.html

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/dec/18/why-singing-makes-people-happy-oliver-burkeman

1    The first single I bought… I literally never bought singles. I jumped straight to Cassettes (remember them?) and I ‘think’ it was Elgar's Enigma Variations, which also had Vaughan William's In the Fen Country  on it, which introduced me to R V-W, who became my favourite classical composer. Either that or Tubular Bells. 

2    The song I know all the words to …. The first was probably Humpty Dumpty. Now? I am really bad at remembering song lyrics, other than my own (as below)

3    The song/ piece of music I want played at my funeral… Not touching that question!

4    The song/ music I listen to most often is… Depends entirely on mood. If I am reading or writing I cannot listen to vocal music - different words coming to the eyes and ears at the same time confuses my poor old brain! I find that Status Quo is a great cure for low mood - you cannot listen to Caroline with the volume turned up to 11 and still feel depressed. 

Graham Palmer, a tenor with RCS, recounts three musical memories and tell of a recent discovery.

Pianos at dawn
As a lad whose voice had just broken, trying to practice with Dad acting as répétiteur while from the other side of the wall another much stronger tenor did a good job of drowning us out!

It’s MAD
Diving out of the way of huge Dalek-like cameras as an audience-member on Top of the Pops while Gillan played Mutually Destroyed Destruction on guitars strung with bungee-cords. (I think it was more in protest at not being allowed to play live, than at the stationing of US nuclear weapons in the UK).

A bit of a Goon
Being the only streaky grass-skirted South Pacific islander in Gilbert & Sullivan’s Utopia Ltd, directed by Harry Secombe’s brother (I had smothered myself in barrier cream before the body paint was applied).

An archeological discovery
Having sung (and completely forgotten) Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal as a solo competitor in the local music festival 40 odd years ago, rediscovering in the last few weeks that I really like Quilter [Roger Quilter, British composer]. I’d have remained ignorant if my current teacher hadn’t given Come Away Death and Fair House of Joy to help develop my reawakening voice.

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.