Dear Overgaters
Welcome back!
We made a very good start indeed on Wednesday evening, after being unable hold a rehearsal the week previous.
We are very sorry that some folk had made the journey to Choir on the evening of Wednesday 17 January to find our Hall at St Jude’s a music-free zone that night.
Among those who did make it was perhaps our member with almost certainly the longest distance to travel – David Allen from Barnsley. We congratulate David most warmly on the award of a British Empire Medal in the recent New Year Honours List. David is Chairman of the Friends of Locke Park and the Barnsley Disabled Sports Club. He is also treasurer of the Barnsley Biodiversity Trust, which aims to protect wildlife. He still works five days each week and travels to Choir on a Wednesday!
Anyway, on Wednesday just gone, we tried through pretty much the complete selection of hymns for our March event at Brighouse and also got stuck into Sir Charles Villiers Stanford’s glorious Te Deum in B flat as well as the van Dyk setting of Psalm 23. Michael Thaxter tells us he first sang the Stanford 75 years ago as a treble in the Choir of St John, Moor Allerton in North Leeds; he also, somewhat casually, remarked that Wednesday was his birthday – those of us still in the Hall when this news was vouchsafed gave an impromptu recognition of Happy Birthday with some rich harmonic embellishment!
Also on Wednesday this week were handed out the papers for the upcoming Annual General Meeting to be held on the evening of Wednesday 21 February. If you could not be with us this week, do please make sure you get hold of the papers at your next attendance, or contact Lesley on 01422 373 252.
The Committee held the first meeting of the New Year yesterday morning and, as I said in my very recent letter, I was, once again, reminded how very fortunate we are as a Choir in our Officers and Committee. The provision of resource for our next two concerts – the Hymn Sing on Saturday 10 March at Brighouse and the Spring event at Elland All Saints [Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance on Saturday 16 June] – is now in place – so very special thanks go to all involved with that. It is hoped to be able to present a cheque for a five-figure sum at the Hymn Sing to a representative from the Hospice from us all.
The crucial thing for us in terms of the funding for the Hospice that remains our constant aim is selling tickets for the upcoming concerts! We hope to have the posters and tickets for the Hymn Sing very shortly now and casting is now well underway for our Pirates venture in June. Once again this year, Elisabeth Horsey will be on hand to provided links and background for our performance as she has done previously to so much acclaim with similar presentations.
Support for our “Breezing down Broadway” event in 2017 exceeded all expectations – as will be clear from the accounts at the upcoming AGM. Do let’s see if we can muster up a similar goodly number for The Pirates of Penzance this season!
Circulation of the Hymn Sing poster has been made electronically to all local churches of the Methodist tradition and your help in getting a poster to as many local congregations as possible will be a real bonus to our ongoing publicity endeavour for March. Soprano Claire Strafford has accepted an invitation to be our guest soloist again.
If, for any reason, you find yourself unable to make a rehearsal, do please let us know – Kathie certainly and, ideally, your voice rep as well. I wonder if everyone has the phone number of their voice rep? We had quite a number of folk in the alto and bass sections missing on Wednesday, and subsequent phoning around revealed that there seems to be quite a lot of illness about. We do wish those under the weather a speedy recovery to full health and strength.
I am looking forward very much indeed to attending this evening’s concert at Halifax Minster featuring the Elland Junior Silver Band and the Cory Band and may very well see some of you there!
Very sincerely
Simon
Saturday 27 January 2018
Hi everyone
Dates for forthcoming rehearsals are as follows:
January – 31st
February – 7th, 14th, 21st (AGM in the first half of the rehearsal) and 28th
March – 7th, 14th and 21st
April – 11th, 18th and 25th
May – 2nd, 9th, 16th, 23rd and 30th
June – 6th, 13th, 20th and 27th
Then we shall break for the summer and return on 1st August.
Hymns sung by all
And can it be that I should gain Tune: Sagina, Thomas Campbell
Amazing grace Tune arranged by Robert Ramskill
Be still, for the presence of the Lord Words and Music: David Evans
Come, labour on Tune: Ora labora, T Tertius Noble [Descant SL]
Fierce raged the tempest Tune: St Aelred, J B Dykes
Great is Thy faithfulness Tune: Faithfulness, W M Runyan
Hail Redeemer, King Divine Tune: King Divine, Charles Rigby
In heavenly love abiding Tune: Penlan, David Jenkins
There’s a wideness in God’s mercy Tune: Corvedale, Maurice Bevan
Lord, for the years Tune: Lord of the Years, Michael Baughen
Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah Tune: Cwm Rhondda, John Hughes
Choir Music during the evening
Ireland – Greater love [Many waters cannot quench love]
Van Dyk – Psalm 23 [The Lord is my Shepherd]
Stanford – Te Deum in B flat
Adams – The Holy City