New Music
Well, our first rehearsal was cancelled due to the snow, but luckily we have a fantastic ring-round system for such occasions – once the decision is made, the secretary and chairman each ring half of the committee members, who each phone a designated number of singers, thus covering all members without anyone having to do too many. So, we finally got together on Thursday 14 January, all thoroughly delighted to renew our friendships after the Christmas break. Then we started! A sing-through the Fauré Requiem offered a nice, gentle beginning, it being a work many of us have sung frequently, though it was harder on three potential new members, not all of whom were familiar with it. The Rutter Magnificat took up most of the rest of the evening, also sung before by many (though fewer than the Fauré), but not too demanding for the most part. Then this week (with another two potential new members) we tackled Bob Chicott’s Little Jazz Mass for the first time. Wow - what a shock to the system! All cross-rhythms and awkward little rests where you don’t expect them, you just have to feel it rather than count the bars. The first rehearsal of any new work is frequently a bit tricky, but this was a real challenge for many of us - great but definitely challenging. We’ve had an unexpected disappointment, our Swiss contact choir, who we had hoped to welcome for a return visit in our 50th anniversary year starting in 2011, are not now able to join us. It will probably happen in 2013, though it’s hard to be thinking that far ahead, maybe we should try to see if our Belgian choir contact might like to come!
(Rosalind Taylor-Byrne)
2010
Well, here we are into yet another year, and we are starting back at rehearsals on Thursday 7 January with an interesting mix for our spring concert on March 20th. It’s always good to have a variety of pieces combining known favourites with something which not all members of the choir know, and we’ve certainly achieved that both with composers and music. The Fauré Requiem is a favourite with both choirs and singers, but how many non-singers know that, besides all those popular carols, John Rutter also wrote a delightful Magnificat? To complete our programme, we have Bob Chilcott’s Little Jazz Mass, which few of our members have sung before, but those who have were delighted to hear it was being included. Something old, something new then, and enough to keep all our brains from furring up this spring!
(Rosalind Taylor-Byrne)
HCS celebrate Christmas.
The Hailsham community Hall, which is our regular rehearsal venue, was once again packed out with an enthusiastic audience for our seasonal offering. On one of the few fine evenings of recent weeks, mainly local people flocked to fill every available seat, to listen to the choir’s offerings and to join in with old favourites. By opening with the choir among the audience for ‘The Boars Head’ carol, everyone was instantly involved – if possibly almost deafened by the proximity of around fifty singers in full choral mode! Although it can be hard to find new material to present, Barbara Edwards, our deputy conductor, always comes up with a really varied and enjoyable programme, covering carols from all over the world. Some were new arrangements of familiar tunes, others completely new, and being interspersed with the audience carols, both the old and the new received an airing. Our Christmas concert always supports a local charity, and this year the Quicken Trust, which works with the inhabitants of an African village to improve their lives, was the recipient of a generous retiring collection. There was also (of course!) a raffle and a ‘hand-made’ stall, this last offered an amazing range of goods from patchwork items (made by Barbara mentioned above, a multi-talented lady indeed) to cakes and sweets. People bought generously, and when the first raffle winner was drawn and turned out to be the choir’s retiring chairman, there were good-natured cries of ‘fix!’ all round. We really appreciate the local following which is building up for our concerts in our ‘home’ venue, and will be there again in the summer to welcome all comers.
(Rosalind Taylor-Byrne)
AUTUMN CONCERT 14 NOVEMBER 2009
Well, no-one ever suggested we weren’t prepared to try something new, and this concert, while the music is anything but new (Haydn’s, in honour of his death 200 years ago), “The Seasons” is seldom performed or heard. I knew only one person who had sung it and only two who had been to a performance. As one singer in the audience asked afterwards, ‘Why aren’t we singing this?’
Of course, Haydn’s ‘Creation’ is his best-known and loved choral work, and most choirs have sung it at some time, as we have ourselves, but ‘The Seasons’, though even more popular at the time it was written, has unjustly faded from view. It follows the seasons of the year, with choruses and solos celebrating the events of each in turn. While some might regard the high-minded ‘From thee, oh industry, springs every good’ with cynicism, or argue with the rollicking deer-hunting chorus, surely no-one could complain at that in praise of wine, successively referred to as “old age’s friend” and “of pain and grief the cure”! Admittedly, in the current politically-correct climate this could be misinterpreted as binge drinking, but for those of us who go for a harmless pint or its equivalent after rehearsals it undoubtedly rang a chord.
The weather over the whole weekend was atrocious, with gales and torrential rain (which appropriately came at some relevant seasonal moments). However, our relatively small but select audience were enthusiastic, loud in praise not only for our terrific soloists, but also for the excellent orchestra, and indeed the choir’s performance under our conductor Jozik. We certainly enjoyed it, and look forward to greater exposure in the future of this thoroughly enjoyable work.
(Rosalind Taylor-Byrne)
SEPTEMBER 2009 - Now approaching our 49th year, everything just seems to get better and better! Making music in company with a group of like-minded people has to be one of the best therapies in the world. However we may feel when arriving at rehearsal on a Thursday evening, by the time we finish we are all feeling in tune with the world, (and sometimes with the piano too).
After our highly successful Christmas 2008 concert in the Hailsham Community Hall, our 2009 spring concert of 'Cathedral Classics' at St. Saviour and St Peter's in Eastbourne was very demanding, (both for choir and listeners!) with a range of music from the 16th to the 20th centuries, but was very well received by our audience. In complete contrast, we brought Gilbert and Sullivan to the Hailsham Community Hall in June, with extracts from 'The Pirates of Penzance' and 'Iolanthe', followed by a concert performance of 'Trial by Jury'. The highlight here was definitely our conductor Jozik singing (and acting) the part of the Judge. Complete with gown and wig, he took the hall, and the plaintiff, by storm. There's no doubt about it, it is very satisfying to sing such a wide variety of music.
We are just back from our fantastic trip to Switzerland, to visit the Kirchenchor Cäcilia in Rütihof near Baden. The weekend included a fascinating town tour with two of the Baden Tourist official guides, both of whom were excellent and entertaining, and since it included a climb to the top of the ruined castle above the town, we all got our full quota of exercise on Saturday morning. Our hosts gave us a wonderful social evening in their home village, where we sang a short 'cabaret' for them, greatly enhanced, not only by the alcohol, but by Jozik also singing several songs, thereby starting up his very own fan club in Switzerland. On Sunday afternoon we sang a concert jointly with our host choir in the church in Baden, (Vivaldi, Mozart and Handel) to about 800 people, after which aperitifs were served in the square in front of the church. The day finished with a riotous meal in an Italian restaurant in Rütihof, everyone sang, and unbelievably the evening ended with the Hokey Cokey! Some of us may have cringed, but, believe it or not, we were asked to supply the words for them, so no doubt we shall be singing it again when their return visit comes up in 2011 - already in the forward planning stage. A crowd of us are planning a week in Brittany next May, and I bet we shall sing there too!
Singing is obviously a major part of our lives, have you tried it recently? If you used to sing and currently only do so in the bath, why not come along and meet us? We are always glad to welcome new singers, especially if they aren't afraid of enjoying themselves.
(Rosalind Taylor-Byrne)
We welcome new members and at present we would particularly welcome Tenors and Basses. As any singer knows, Tenors especially are like gold dust! If you would like to come and sample the music and social atmosphere of the society we would like to see you. Make your way to the Hailsham Community Hall any Thursday at 7.30pm. Just click on MEMBERS to see details of our rehearsals and planned concerts.
Please come and give us a try!