Hathersage Choir
  • Home
  • The Choir
  • Concerts
    • Christmas 2016
    • Summer 2017
    • Carol Singing 2017
    • Christmas Concert 2017
    • Summer Concert 2018
    • Christmas Concert 2018
    • Summer Concert 2019
  • Come & Sing Days
  • Quotes
  • Contacts
  • Dates 2021
​Hathersage Choir Concert Programme December 10, 2017
All                    Once in royal David’s city, arr. Willcocks
Choir               A Spotless Rose, Herbert Howells
                         Away in a manger arr. Willcocks
Solo,               When a child is born, Zacar
Choir               O little one sweet, J. S. Bach
                         Fantasia on a Christmas Carol, (Baritone Solo), Ralph Vaughan Williams
 
Choir               Jingle Bells, arr. Willcocks
                         The Three Kings, Peter Cornelius
All                    O little town of Bethlehem, arr. Vaughan Williams
Solo                 Wind through the Olive Trees, Neaum
                         Angel’s Carol, Rutter
All                    Unto us is born a son arr. Willcocks
Choir               Whence is that goodly fragrance, (Baritone solo), arr. Willcocks
                         Jesus child, Rutter
                         We wish you a merry Christmas trad.
All                    Hark, the herald angels sing, arr. Willcocks

Hathersage Choir Concert Christmas 2017
By Roger Hilyer

The choir has a new musical director, Kate Mercer.  She introduced Glyn Webster to us, a young student building up a body of experience in pursuit of his ambitions for a career in music. Our rehearsals begin with Kate asking us to massage our ankles.  (Our own ankles which is just as well.)  Up the legs and body to the head.  Cheeks, temples, forehead.  Concentrate on the very highest point of the head and the whole skull can be a resonating chamber.  No, it can’t, there’s other stuff in there.  But if you act as if you think it can, it will.  And sticking your finger in your mouth to see just how large the cavity really is, is a revelation. The choir sings a chord.  The pitch is raised one semitone at a time.  We pause to contemplate the new chord.  The singing gets tighter, better pitched.  The sensation is one of being inside the chord and so we begin our rehearsal.
 
The programme for the Christmas concert this year was nicely balanced, including three really demanding pieces.
 
The Jesus Child keeps up a breath-taking pace, with no opportunity to pause and recover.  Any chorister not absolutely in control of the text is lost.  The fugal sections of Fantasia on a Christmas carol require great concentration to ensure that the repeated phrases maintain their sequence and relationship.
 
A Spotless Rose demands exact allocation of syllables to notes; some syllables stretching over six or seven notes with others on a one note one syllable basis, with the added complication of unusual, and constantly changing, time signatures.  The finished effect is unhurried and beautiful.   To introduce this piece Kate tried to develop our mental flexibility by clapping to the ever-changing rhythm.  We weren’t bad at that, but then we went on to suspended stamping.  (Stamp four times, alternate feet, but don’t stamp a fifth – wave it nonchalantly in the air.)  Odd, but fun.
 
The choir continued its policy of giving a platform to local talent.  Kate, who sang three contrasting songs, is very young, but already poised and confident.  She sings with intelligence, respecting the logic and structure of the song.  She is blessed with a sweet voice that gives great promise for the future.  Andrew is an old friend of the choir.  His tone is beautiful, his articulation clear and his timing impeccable.  Those of us who find counting difficult can rely absolutely on him for their entry.
 
Kate has inaugurated the new order with energy, discipline and style.  We look forward to future adventures. Glyn has played his part well as an assistant to Kate.  He is sixteen.  Doing what he can do now, what will he be able to do in ten years’ time?  We shall follow his career with interest.

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • The Choir
  • Concerts
    • Christmas 2016
    • Summer 2017
    • Carol Singing 2017
    • Christmas Concert 2017
    • Summer Concert 2018
    • Christmas Concert 2018
    • Summer Concert 2019
  • Come & Sing Days
  • Quotes
  • Contacts
  • Dates 2021