So You Don't Have To - Part I

Hey, it's the summer season and the Pink Insider takes a look at the repertoire. As always, it is hard to find an exact recording of the arrangement we are doing. And I'm not even going to talk about the quality!

You Can't Stop The Beat, for instance, has been done to death by a million show choirs, but not our arrangement. In the end I went for one from NTU who hail from the island state of Singapore. Sunday, from Sunday In The Park With George, does not seem to have been recorded by anyone on YouTube, so I just took the version from last year's Proms featuring the rather yummy Daniel Evans.

This is also not the full repertoire of course, more to come in Part II!

Anything Goes


Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy


The Evening Primrose


Hello Dolly!


Sunday


To A Locomotive In Winter

You Can't Stop The Beat

Soul Wind by Andrew Swain

The Pinkies are singing this song as our joint number with Manchester Lesbian & Gay Chorus and Gay Abandon. I always like to know a little about the song, and Michael was wondering what the tempo of the song is supposed to be. We ran through it for the first time on Thursday and it sounds a bit of a dirge. So I googled its writer Andrew Swain.

Not very helpful as that appears to be a common name. What I did eventually find, after some sleuthing is a choir in London who have sung it before. They have two links to music here and here. It includes a rather wavery SATB version here.

The only other version I could find was on a CD by a Canberra women's choir call the Cyrenes.

The picture is of the image search I did. Apparently it is Megaman Soul - Wind version. Huh?

Pinkies' Repertoire Winter 2010

For Nathalina.

And So It Goes
There are two common arrangements, we are doing the slightly less popular Kirby Shaw version. Bob Chilcott's has the tenor solo singing "And ev'ry time I've held a rose". This is sung SATB in the Kirby Shaw version.


Cantique de Jean Racine Op. 11
Gabriel Fauré, orchestration by John Rutter
I am presuming we are singing this in French.


Come, Sing and Be Joyful
Sorry, this is the only video I could find on YouTube.


Flight of the Bumble Bee
Who suggested this one? By heart?


Härlig är Jorden
Sorry, there doesn't seem to be a version of Lindberg's arrangement of this song. Here's another acapella arrangement.


I Got Rhythm
This is the Mark Hayes arrangement. There are a couple on YouTube - this one is actually better than the other.


Like A Prayer
The other song from Glee which we're doing.


Lullaby of Birdland
Paris Rutherford's arrangements. Has female and male solos, and improv scatting.


Lux Aurumque
Last year's virtual choir piece by Eric Whitacre.


And if you haven't seen Whitacre's own instructional video have a look here:


Of course, if you are interested in joining in this year's Virtual Choir, then check it out here!

Proud Mary
Skip the preamble and fast forward to 1:40 in the video.

Summer 2010 Repertoire (updated 23 Feb)

Yes, despite the cloudy skies and wet weather the summer season really is starting today! To give you an idea of our repertoire I have searched YouTube to collate what the Pink Singers will be learning over the next 4 months (our concert is on Saturday the 19th of June 2010!). Not everything is here of course. For instance, the lower voices will be performing a medley called The Music Of The Chiffons, but as far as I can tell there is no TTBB recording available on-line. As for the rest, well, where possible I tried to go for the choral arrangement, but this wasn't always possible. What I will observe, looking at everything in aggregate, is just how diverse our repertoire relly is!

April Is My Mistress' Face


Choo Choo Ch'Boogie


Come Again


Does Your Mother Know?


Gloria In Excelsis Deo - Vivaldi


Send In The Clowns


Sh-Boom


Time To Say Goodbye


Voir Sur Ton Chemin (this is the one for the upper voices)


Cloudburst (there is an Eric Whitacre song in the repertoire, I just don't know which it is, so I thought I'd post this amazing version of Cloudburst). (Note the song we will be performing is With A Lily In Your Hand - see the update below)


Glory of Love (this is the version the barbershop quartet will be performing including the really difficult sustained A♭ ending by the tenor)


Update: Here is are the confirmed track from Eric Whitacre
With A Lily In Your Hand
Beautiful, and challenging - I don't think we have tried polyphonic singing before. And if we sound half as good as the choir Polyphony (who are masters of this art form) I will be amazed.

The Music Of The Chiffons

Here's something to look forward to in Summer season 2010. Of course the tenors and basses will be singing this. Methinks Jules will have costume ideas.

Bridge Over Troubled Water

I can't believe that we are finally doing a gospel song in the choir, and a doozy we've picked too: an arrangement of Simon and Garfunkel's Bridge Over Troubled Water. Interestingly, at the start of the sheet music is a recommendation to see Luther Vandross and Jennifer Holliday singing the song for "stylistic authenticity". Well, thanks to the magic of YouTube there is a video of the pair singing it, ironically with Paul Simon, and totally stomping the composer vocally in the process.
Watching the video and listening to Jennifer Holiday's vocal pyrotechnics, I am not sure we can be that authentic, but we sure can try!

New Eclectic Season

The Pink Singers season has started again, and none too soon I might add. It was with a bit of a hop, skip and a jump that I went to rehearsal, running into Ali, Gill and Kate O on the way (the last actually missing gay Sunday at the zoo!) and it was like the first day of school all over again, but with classmates you actually like. Of course there were many new members too, some of whom looked shell shocked even before we started rehearsing! Now that we have auditions, I imagine that it is quite stressful, but I think we did our best to make them feel welcome. Fingers crossed for them. We have 4 slots in the tenors this season, but there are about twice as many would-be Pinkies for our voice part, so there has to be some selection process.

As usual, the first rehearsal is also when we get a peek at the repertoire for this season. It is typically diverse, and we sang two songs yesterday: Rutter's For The Beauty Of The Earth which is is typical saccharine sweet loveliness, and Brecht's Mack The Knife. I think we did a fairly creditable job all considered, and the latter inspired the album art for this season's rehearsal tracks. My Pink Bits is actually open for business, but I won't be posting access until the foruth week when the choir has settled down. In the interim, get in touch if you want to take a peek!

Welcome back everyone!

Pink Singers Winter Season 2009 Next Sunday!

Just a quick reminder to one and all that the Pinkies' winter season will be starting in just over a week's time, on Sunday the 20th of September. I've just received word that one of our friends, Bernard, from Malta Gay Rights Movement will be coming to visit, and we have the usual bunch of newbies giving us a try too, so there's lots to look forward to. I've only heard rumours on the grapevine about this season's repertoire, but needless to say it is entirely new, and Michael De's arrangement of Wind Beneath My Wings is definitely in there. As for events, we are taking part in a competition in Manchester and our winter concert is some time in January, so not before the 25th of December as it was last Christmas (sorry, had to fit the Wham! reference in because of the gratuitous and not-at-all-gay photo above).

On a personal note:

I've got my sisters by my side,
I've got my sisters' love and pride,
And in my sisters' eyes I recognise,
The star I want to be.

And with my sisters standing strong,
I'm on the stage where I belong,
And nothing's ever gonna change the fact:
I'm part of one terrific sister act.

I really, really miss the choir now. Desperately need my Pink Singers fix ASAP!

Pride London 2009 - What Are We Singing?

As regulars know the Pink Singers will be celebrating our 26th London Pride march this year. We started back in 1983 when the march was markedly less festive.This year we will be on the stage as usual, and praying for great weather and suitable amplification.

The question remains which songs in our repertoire we will be performing. The Pink Insider doesn't know for sure but has heard on the grapevine that we will be doing three numbers (still very subject to confirmation):

California Dreamin'
The Mamas and Pappas classic - the version we're singing is actually very similar to the original arrangement, apart from the end.

Seventies Dance Party
No gig would be complete without a medley, and what better than a montage of seventies classics? We have rehearsed this piece since the start of the season, but the Pink Insider hears that we'll be joined on stage by Paleday to glam it up!

And what is the mystery third song? Stay tuned...

Fair Phyllis

Here is one of the madrigals the Pinkies will be performing for the summer concert. Quite a difficult piece, but expertly sung here by the King's Singers.

All Over The World

We ran through All Over The World yesterday, the joint song for Voices Of Our City, the joint concert by the Pink Singers, LGMC and Diversity at Various Voices London 2009.

Sadly I can't embed it here, but the YouTube video is taken from, of all things, Xanadu. Really, how gay is that!

Il Faudra Leur Dire

I have never heard this song before, and the only reason I am posting it is that it is the joint song for our Parisian concert. The actual arrangement is much better than this version, and obviously is not going to be sung by children.

Teardrop

I'm a fan of Massive Attack, and I love Protection, the song they did with Tracey Thorn from Everything But The Girl. This season Andy M from the choir decided to arrange Teardrop, of which the original and frankly bizarre music video is embedded above.

We rehearsed it for the first time yesterday and what can I say? I think Andy's arrangement goes beyond the original. His arrangement emphasises its wistfulness and seems to heighten the tinge of sadness even further. I love it!

What Sweeter Music

BBC Music magazine recently conducted a survey of the (in their words) "top 50" choir masters and experts. The question? Which are the top carols of all time? The result? Not ten of the most popular pieces of Christmas music, but most assuredly some of the most beautiful.

Top 10 Christmas Carols
1. In the Bleak Midwinter
2. In Dulci Jubilo
3. A Spotless Rose
4. Bethlehem Down
5. Lully, Lulla
6. Tomorrow Shall be My Dancing Day
7. There is No Rose
8. O Come All Ye Faithful
9. Of the Father's Heart Begotten
10. What Sweeter Music

Of the above we will be performing Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day on Saturday, and in the past we've done Lully, Lulla in the small group. Our version of Midwinter is the hauntingly beautiful Chilcott version (rapidly becoming my favourite piece of our winter repertoire) and not the Darke arrangement as seen in the BBC's list.

Of note too, we will be singing Rutters Angels' Carol, which I linked to in my Christmas post of last year, as well his Candlelight and Star Carols. The only Rutter which made it into the top ten, however, is What Sweeter Music, which is certainly one of my most-loved carols of all time. So much so, that I'm going to reproduce the lyrics here. If you are watching the video above, look out for the bit where the music drops away for most of the mid section and returns at the end. This is technically incredibly difficult as the pitch must remain perfect during the acapella segment. Shivers down the spine good!

What sweeter music can we bring,
Than a carol, for to sing,
The birth of this our heavenly King?
Awake the voice! Awake the string!

Dark and dull night, fly hence away,
And give the honour to this day,
That sees December turn'd to May,
That sees December turn'd to May.

Why does the chilling winter's morn,
Smile, like a field beset with corn?
Or smell, like a meadow newly shorn,
Thus, on the sudden? Come and see,
The cause, why things thus fragrant be:

'Tis He is born, whose quick'ning birth,
Gives life and luster, public mirth,
To heaven and the under-earth.

We see Him come, and know Him ours,
Who, with His sunshine, and His show'rs,
Turns all the patient ground to flow'rs,
Turns all the patient ground to flow'rs.

The darling of the world is come,
And fit it is, we find a room,
To welcome Him, to welcome Him.

The nobler part of all the house here,
Is the heart,
Which we will give Him; and bequeath,
This holly and this ivy wreath,
To do Him honour; who's our King,
And Lord of all this revelling.

What sweeter music can we bring,
Than a carol, for to sing,
The birth of this our heavenly King?
The birth of this our heavenly King?

Hope to see you on Saturday when we'll be singing our own favourites!

Dancing Day: Extended Remix Edition

Gardner's Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day was not the total massacre I thought it would be on Sunday. It actually sounded like it was coming together, despite it being the first time we had properly rehearsed it, and in the absence of any rehearsal tracks. I'm still finding it difficult, particularly getting the rhythms of the second lines of each of the verses. And when it has been sped up to 180 beats per minute (as is annotated) then really, I have no hope in hell.

Anyway, in an attempt to try to learn the lyrics I searched and discovered that the carol actually goes on for several verses beyond what we have in our sheet music.

This is where it stands at present.

Tomorrow shall be my dancing day;
I would my true love did so chance
To see the legend of my play,
To call my true love to my dance;

Chorus
Sing, oh! my love, oh! my love, my love, my love,
This have I done for my true love.

Then was I born of a virgin pure,
Of her I took fleshly substance
Thus was I knit to man's nature
To call my true love to my dance.

In a manger laid, and wrapped I was
So very poor, this was my chance
Betwixt an ox and a silly poor ass
To call my true love to my dance.

Then afterwards baptized I was;
The Holy Ghost on me did glance,
My Father’s voice heard from above,
To call my true love to my dance.

That's where it ends in our music, but the song actually goes on!

Into the desert I was led,
Where I fasted without substance;
The Devil bade me make stones my bread,
To have me break my true love's dance.

The Jews on me they made great suit,
And with me made great variance,
Because they loved darkness rather than light,
To call my true love to my dance.

For thirty pence Judas me sold,
His covetousness for to advance:
Mark whom I kiss, the same do hold!
The same is he shall lead the dance.

Before Pilate the Jews me brought,
Where Barabbas had deliverance;
They scourged me and set me at nought,
Judged me to die to lead the dance.

Then on the cross hanged I was,
Where a spear my heart did glance;
There issued forth both water and blood,
To call my true love to my dance.

Then down to hell I took my way
For my true love's deliverance,
And rose again on the third day,
Up to my true love and the dance.

Then up to heaven I did ascend,
Where now I dwell in sure substance
On the right hand of God, that man
May come unto the general dance.

I guess you can see why the subsequent verses are generally left out of the canon, much like the extra verses of God Save The Queen which could be quite offensive to the rebellious Scots.

And what does any of this have to do with Alesha Dixon? Nothing really, apart from the fact that (a) she is so pretty, (b) the picture is from the Strictly Come Dancing Christmas special last year, so it is vaguely seasonal and (c) Strictly has started again. Yay!

Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day

Looks like it is YouTube to the rescue. Here is King's College choir performing Tomorrow Shall Be... unlike our slaughter of the song in our first rehearsal yesterday.

New Season, New Repertoire, New Pinkies!

If you hadn't noticed, I figure you had better realise that the Winter 2008/2009 season will be starting this Sunday. Welcome back returning Pinkies, and an even warmer welcome to those who are thinking of joining too. Get in touch with Liang if you are intending to give singing a shot!

We also have this season's repertoire, which, as I alluded to before, is the first one where we are actually learning proper Christmas music. Most of our winter concerts are not particularly seasonal, so this makes a welcome, if slightly conventional departure. As usual though, we're not just trying out boring old carols. No, we have a bit of classical, a bit of pop and a bit of rock, and to top it all off, Michael De's magic Christmas megamix.

A Ceremony Of Carols, Op.28
Wolcum Yole!, As Dew in Aprille, This Little Babe, Deo Gracias
Music by Bejamin Britten, Arranged by Julius Harrison

Carols
Angel's Carol, Candlelight Carol, Star Carol
Words and Music by John Rutter

In The Bleak Midwinter
Composer Gustav Holst, arranger John Bertalot & Lyricist Christina Rosseti

Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day
composed by John Gardner

Good King Wenceslas and Maoz Tsur

Merry Christmas Darling
Lyrics by Frank Pooler, and music by Richard Carpenter
Arranged for choir and piano by Harry Simeone

About Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree
By Johnny Marks
Arranged by Kirby Shaw

Christmas Medley
Jingle Bells, Santa Claus is coming to town, I saw Daddy kissing Santa Claus, I'm dreaming of a White Christmas& We Wish You A Merry Christmas.
Arranged by Michael Derrick

The John Rutter Christmas Album: An Impression

I would make a very bad straight man. I mean, when I get a new mp3 player or mobile phone what are the three albums I load onto it straight away? Well, the sad answer is Dreamgirls: The Original Motion Picture Sountrack, Hairspray: The Musical and The John Rutter Christmas Album. Yes, I fully admit that I am conforming to stereotype when it comes to my choice in listening music, and all three albums are about as gay as you can possibly get, short of a combined Juday Garland/ Barabara Streisand/ Cher medley. However, while the first two are pretty damn obvious, the John Rutter Christmas Album is, arguably, the gayest of the three.

I'm not sure many people are acquainted with Rutter's music, but if you are then you will realise that he really can out-Disney Disney. There is no holding back on the sheer emotional "manipulativeness" of his music; he is quite glad to use a solo oboe to denote sadness, or sleigh bells in abundance to bring forth the Christmas spirit. Every tune is simple but melodic, and even I, who grew up with Christmases in the tropics and the damp festivities of London, listen to the songs and dream of sitting by a roaring fire with egg nog, a decorated Chistmas tree and snow drifts outside.

The album is really two in one. The first thirteen or so songs consist of Christmas carols written by Rutter to traditional or medieval lyrics. The second half consists of his arrangements of well known Christmas carols. Both work really well, and I especially love the second half's slight irreverance of taking Joy To The World and reinterpreting it as a pseudo-Handellian orgy of trumpets. However, if I had to choose I would go with the first half as the one which I am most in love with.

This Christmas, in what I envisage as a one-time only occurence, the Pink Singers will be performing three songs from it: Angels' Carol, Star Carol and Candlelight Carol. All are exquisite, and have Rutter's trademark interplay between the loftier tones of the sopranos and altos, and the earthier tones of the tenors and basses. My favourite of the three, however, has got to be Candlelight Carol with it's beautiful lyrics and it's spine tingling crescendos and decrescendos.

If it were up to me, I would have also loved to have performed Nativity Carol, Christmas Lullaby and the sublime Dormi Jesu. The latter is particularly difficult to perform as it calls for several moments when the music drops away and the choir sings a capella. Keeping the pitch with the changes in pitch and volume is an extremely difficult skill.

Epiphany

Every season there comes a time when things finally come together, when the choir moves from simply learning the notes to actually starting to polish the performance, and this certainly was the case this Sunday just gone. I've been away for a couple of weeks, and the change really was noticeable. Most of the Pinkies now know the music and the majority of the lyrics, which means that we are listening to each other more, blending better, and even, as in the interchange between the basses and the altos in our version of West Side Story's America, having a little fun!

What is even better is that this season, the change has happened with five weeks to go before our summer concert. Normally, things only start to fall in place with a few weeks left to spare, and with an even smaller repertoire. The fact that we are now start polishing the performance with so much time to spare, and with nearly twenty songs to learn, is a real testament to the dedication of our choir members, and an indicator of how much tighter as a choir we are. I think people are really feeling it - I know I am!

Another thing I noticed, which I am incredibly proud of, is how we learned the music to Ave Maria within a fortnight. We are singing Schubert's version of Ave Maria, kindly and expertly rearranged for the Pink Singers by Michael Derrick. If you haven't sung it before, you won't have realised how difficult the rhythm is in this piece, particularly since there are multiple accent beats and irregular bar lengths. In any case, with the rehearsal tracks and Mladen bashing us through both verses, we are, dare I say it, actually beginning to sound reverential.

In the nick of time too! We are backing Gari Glaysher at IndigO2 at the dome in a couple of weeks, so really do need to sound our best. Gary came along on Sunday to rehearse with us, and this time we actually got to hear him sing with us. And sing he did - what a voice! I've been in a choir for many years now, and I know my own voice is okay, and has a certain timbre which I am fairly happy with. In fact, I know my voice is more suited to musical theatre, but there are also times when I wish I had the ability to sing one of the really big operatic tenor arias. Unfortunately, such a voice is a rare find indeed, and is a convergence of good coaching and incessant practice, but most importantly, raw and natural talent. This is something Gari has in spades!

We heard him sing Ave Maria with us, as well as a bit of Nessun Dorma, and the "One Voice In A Million" moniker of his concert is entirely apt. It was beautiful, expressive and well-controlled, and evoked quite the feeling of jealousy from almost the entire tenor section! Without overstating it, I think the Pinkies are very priveleged to be sharing the stage with Mr. Glaysher, and you would be a fool to miss this performance - get your tickets now!

Summer Repertoire Part 1

Here's a quick list of the pieces currently on our repertoire for the summer season! There's bound to be something you like. And the really good news is that there is more to come - we are supposed to be learning a total of 22 pieces for summer.

America


Begin the Beguine


Come What May

Edelweiss


Forever Motown
Dancing In The Street


I Can't Help Myself


Back In My Arms Again


Reach Out, I'll Be There


I Heard It Through The Grapevine - This performance by Marvin Gaye has to be heard to be believed!

What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted


Ain't No Mountain High Enough


If We Hold On Together


Italian Salad Err... can't really vouch for this one, either in quality of the recording or the choir!


Love Song For A Vampire


Bruckner Motets: Graduale (Locus Iste)

Karl Jenkins Requiem: Introit, Dies Irae, Lacrimosa and In Paradisum

Somewhere

Son Of A Preacher Man

There Is Nothin' Like A Dame


Your Song