In this broadcast from the Choral History of Britain BBC Wales series, Roderick Williams explores whether Britain has lost its singing culture and, if so, how it can be recovered. Have we lost our memories for the words and tunes that enabled us to sing together? Roderick Williams is worried that the future of Britain's great choral tradition might be under threat.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/b0979f3z?partner=uk.co.bbc&origin=share-mobile
Choirmaster Gareth Malone takes on his biggest challenge, coaching eight amateur singers to perform Bach’s St John Passion alongside a world-class orchestra and professional choir.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/m001xpv0/gareth-malones-easter-passion
Amid the rubble, in makeshift tents, children in Gaza are singing - and practising the violin, guitar and traditional instruments such as the ‘oud. Why - and how - do they go on singing? And what does music mean to them now? Tim Whewell finds out.
My earliest musical memories
I’ve always loved music from the very earliest age. I can remember singing myself to sleep, making my own songs up. My granddaughter does the same now! I danced at every opportunity and cried at sad-sounding music. Thanks to an enthusiastic music teacher at school, I learnt to play the piano and have some great memories of singing in school choirs and taking part in plays and musicals. I was put into competitions which I found terrifying, so since then I’ve always preferred to hide in a group!
My favourite music
I love any music that moves me in some way, whatever genre. I have thoroughly enjoyed singing in the Royston choir for nearly 10 years, discovering some amazing pieces to sing, as well as making some wonderful friends. Highlights include the Messiah (twice), Dido and Aeneas, and Verdi’s Requiem. I think the standard of productions we put on is very high, and I feel very privileged to be part of it: I am always in awe of the soloists, both from within the choir and outside.
A musical claim to fame
I was one of the first two female choristers in Gonville and Caius College Cambridge choir. As a result, I was singing in Florence on the day of my 21st birthday: that whole tour to Italy is a special memory.
A happy musical memory
Before I retired, I was involved in introducing music to pre-schoolers…highlights include seeing a little boy’s face light up in awe and wonder whilst listening to Nessun Dorma during snack time. Another time I invited my Scottish friend to play bagpipes outside the nursery, which was a bit much for one child who hid under the table!
Quick plug: I organise voluntary monthly music groups in old people’s homes where parents and grandparents bring young children along. If you would like to join us, please do let me know. It’s incredibly rewarding.
Since childhood, I never expected to be any good at singing. When I was in junior school – I think it must have been about 1970, when I would have been eight – one of the music teachers told me to stop singing because I was flat. I took her at her word, and that was it for over 20 years. As a teenager I learned the piano and then the flute, and I took my flute with me to Bristol University. I never quite made it into an orchestra, although I did play in church, and I looked enviously at friends in the various choral societies.
It took a journey across the Atlantic to change me. My second post-doc was at the National Cancer Institute in Frederick, Maryland, a small, friendly city about 50 miles from Washington DC. When I arrived in November 1990 I knew about half a dozen people in the whole country, and no one at all in Frederick. On my first Sunday, I went to a church that another of the young scientists had recommended to me. She introduced me to one of her friends, Denise Achey (now Berry), who was the church’s musical director and conducted its adults’ and children’s choirs. When Denise asked me to join the adult choir I accepted gratefully, but only because I thought it would be a good way to make friends. Denise, it turned out, was one of those rare people who could get music out of the most unlikely people. I sang in my first service on Christmas Eve, and that choir was a mainstay of my friendship group for the remainder of my time in Frederick. My first ‘big’ choral work was the Messiah parts 1 and 2 the following Easter.
I have sung in choirs for most of the time since my American adventure, although – perhaps looking back to that abashed eight-year-old – I still freeze at any thought of auditioning. I have been delighted to share my husband Aidan’s hobby (he sings second tenor with the Cambridge Phil, which does audition). And Royston has been an ideal non-audition choir for me: it feels a very long way from two-thirds of a Messiah to the St Matthew Passion.
In 2000, to my great delight, I spotted a three-week South American trip that included a visit to Machu Picchu, a boat ride down the Amazon, and a flight plus boat ride in the Galapagos Islands. I’d wanted to visit all three and booked immediately; it was the first trip I’d made solo, although it was with a company.
We flew from London to Lima then on to Cusco, the ancient capital of the Incas, high in the Andes in Peru. As we were leaving the airport, we heard a group playing pan pipes, they were selling CDs of their music, so I bought one. I was very fond of the music – it’s very iconic and on hearing that music, I’m immediately transported back there. I also went white-water rafting - a new, noisy and fun-filled experience - along the Urubamba River which flows from south east of Cuzco, to way below the Inca Trail to the ‘hidden city’ of Machu Picchu, feeding eventually into the Amazon.
The second part of the trip involved travel from Iquitos in Peru to Letitia in Colombia - a paddle boat trip along the Amazon that was full of nature’s music. We docked at night, and the sound of the cicadas was unmissable, as were the amazing calls of exotic birds and wild animals all around us. On arriving at Letitia on the morning of our fourth day on the Amazon, we were greeted by a thunderstorm - the sound was deafening. There can’t be anything quite like a tropical thunderstorm!
The incoming plane which was to take us to Ecuador was unable to land, so it flew back to Iquitos. We had to stay a night in Letitia and experienced the sounds of city activities until dawn. We woke to a bright, clear morning and boarded the plane to Bogota, where we changed for onward travel to Quito in Ecuador. After further flights to Guayaquil, and on to San Cristobal Island, we entered the Galapagos Islands volcanic archipelago in to our own little boat with a guide.
The natural music was outstanding. Once clear of the island, we saw and heard enormous rays [skate-like fish] leaping up out of the sea, flipping over and falling back. There were all sorts of other musical noises - from the sounds of people buying and selling their wares, including fish and produce for our meals, to the tropical rain pelting down on the tin roofs.
We lived on board for the full six days. One day when snorkelling in a bay of one of the islands, I heard a squeaky noise and felt something tugging; it was a pelican taking an interest in the bright blue neoprene shoes I was wearing in the sea!
At the Royston Choral Society’s concert at the end of June there were 68 choir members on stage in front of an audience of 169 – a wonderful gathering to enjoy fine music, made locally. While the singers were performing as a team on stage, the success that night was also very much down to the combined effort of a large number of people working behind the scenes.
The concert planning and preparation had, of course, started months earlier. The choir committee agrees the concert programme, developed by our Musical Director in consultation with choir members, up to a year ahead. Budgets and the availability of soloists, musicians, and venue are all considerations – needing research and booking. The planning process also includes fundraising, since ticket sales and member subs rarely cover all concert costs. Music for singers and musicians also needs to be hired, received and returned by our music librarian. The printed programme needs to be written, edited, designed and printed.
Then there are the weekly rehearsals, led by our Musical Director and accompanist, with half time refreshments provided by volunteers. Beyond the rehearsals, choir members play an active role - part reps are a two-way link between the committee and their fellow singers. Choir members and their family and friends support and encourage each other with lifts, messages, and help with publicity and ticket sales.
On the day and night of the concert, when not rehearsing and performing, volunteers help put up and take down staging, and look after soloists and musicians. Others are ‘front of house’, serving interval refreshments and clearing up afterwards.
At Royston Choral Society we’re busy rehearsing for our next performance – Faure’s wonderful Requiem and pieces by Benjamin Britten and Hubert Parry - on Saturday 16th November at St John’s Church Royston. It’s a good time to appreciate just how many unsung heroes (more than 60 for the summer concert) will be involved in making it another night to remember.
You can book tickets for the November concert online now at https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/royston-choral-society, by phoning 01920 822723, and – if available – on the door.
So many people say how uplifting it can be to sing out loud with other people – no matter whether or not they’re any good! Combine that with a great song - You’ve Got A Friend by Carol King - to raise awareness about mental ill-health and suicide, and to raise money for The Samaritans, and this performance becomes extra special. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3r3grL5q6E
I think I have always been interested in music. I still have a school report from a Catholic pre-school, I believe I was four years old, on which the sisters noted my interest. After passing through school recorder groups, school choirs, and trying various instruments, my serious interest in music was aroused when I took up the classical guitar, initially to get out of games lessons. In my 1970s, grammar school games felt little less than organised bullying!
My first guitar teacher, John Canning, to whom I owe so much, was completely dedicated to bringing out the best in his pupils. Along with the finest tuition, he often used to introduce his pupils (even beginners) to advanced works way before we were technically able saying “if a thing is worth doing, it’s worth doing badly.” Through the study of great works I gained an appreciation of the classical guitar repertoire and came to love its delicacy and intimacy of tone; for me there is no instrument like it. John became an Alexander Technique teacher and his teaching was strongly influenced by his knowledge of this technique.
Following these lessons I studied at the Guildhall School of Music with Gerald Lee and ended up working as a classical guitar teacher. To enhance my teaching I did some additional study of the Kodaly method and even now this still influences my approach to music tuition. The thing that most people remember about the Kodaly method is the seven hand signs which denote the notes of the scale but there is much more to it than that. I remember singing in a choir on a Kodaly summer school when the very strict Hungarian conductor was following a score, singing one part and signing two other parts simultaneously, one with each hand, I was struck by her musicianship!
Guitar music is beautiful, complex, intricate - the sound is small and pieces are rarely very long. That is the contrast that makes me enjoy singing with Royston Choral Society, I welcome the opportunity of learning large works, often written to the glory of God, and I enjoy being part of such a big sound, especially when we have an orchestra with us.
My favourite guitar pieces
I’ve been asked to recommend my favourite pieces of music and although I like a wide range of classical music I thought that I would mention the pieces of guitar music that have had the greatest impact on me, I have listened to these pieces since my school days.
First, Recuerdos De La Alhambra by Francisco Tarrega played by Andres Segovia. Tarrega taught Emilio Pujol who taught others who taught John Canning who taught me so I feel a connection with his works. This piece uses a technique called tremolo which is as near as the guitar can get to a sustained sound https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdaPoUNk5R8
Next, Bach’s Fugue in A minor. Bach arranges well for the guitar, as it does for many instruments, and I feel that the guitar can show aspects of Bach that other instruments can’t, although purists often disagree. This link is to the piece played by Julian Bream https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mZvdGAGlOo
One of my favourite guitar composers is Heitor Villa Lobos who combines classical form with Brazilian tonality. Here is Maria Callas singing Bachianas Brasileirs ( Bach in a Brazilian style!) No. 5 which was written with a guitar accompaniment; so well written it could be played as a solo piece of music. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4wh5ScYcIw
Finally, in Spain there is a well-known poem by Jimenez called Platero Y Yo (Platero and I) about the author and his donkey who he confides in while he works. The Spanish composer Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco wrote a beautiful suite of pieces to be played in conjunction with a reading of this poem. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMpPUR2gWgA
1. What is your earliest memory of music in your life?
Listening to Noel Harrison singing The Windmills of Your Mind on the radio in the late 1960s. This introduced me to the music of Michel Legrand (although I did not realise that at the tender age of five). I still adore his music - listen to I Will Wait For You from the film The Umbrellas of Cherbourg - that's another banger. Noel Harrison (son of Rex Harrison) was not the best of singers.
2. What was your first 'public performance' of music/ drama/ or both?
Probably performing as one of the brothers in Joseph and his Technicolour Dreamcoat when I was at school.
3. Who is your favourite composer/ songwriter, and why?
That’s a difficult question. It really depends on how I’m feeling. Songwriter - Regina Spektor, a Russian/American singer, is an accomplished writer of lyrics and that woman can bang out a good tune. She also takes risks with her voice which adds sparkle to her songs. Try her songs New Year, Eet and Samson for a good introduction.
Composer - as an organist, I’m a big fan of Herbert Howells. Lockdown introduced me to the music of the Icelandic composer Olafur Arnalds - he wrote the theme music to Broadchurch. It’s a little minimalist for some (my wife in particular who hates it) but for me, it is really beautiful.
4. What composition/ piece/ song would you recommend to a friend to brighten up their day?
One Day Like This by Elbow. I love the counterpoint in the song, the string arrangement and think this would make a good wedding song.
Also, as a learner of the Italian language (although this is not a pre-requisite), Volare by Domenico Modugno is pure sunshine. I’ve experimented on various sad adults - singing the Italian lyrics to a recording of the song - and have had a 100% success rate.
5. Do you have a musical 'claim to fame'?
I achieved 139 marks out of 150 to gain a distinction in passing my Grade 8 organ. And this was after registering the organ wrong for my first piece and having to start again.