Author: K O'Neill

which means I really need to plan the diary better.

In addition to tomorrow’s PDtP, on Wednesday we have our final Counterpint at the Canbury Arms before a summer break.

There are still places for sopranos and altos, and there’s a waiting list in place for tenors and basses.

If you’ve booked already, the scores are available via the usual page. Lots of good stuff to sing including a couple of epic double-choir motets from Victoria and Trombetti, and the 7-voice jewel that is Verdelot‘s Beata es virgo Maria.

It really will be an unmissable night of music-making so do sign up/add yourself to the waiting list.

Cheers

Kevin

and can be found in the usual place.

Before I talk about the music, I should point out that once again we are fully booked up, with 15 people on the waiting list. If you’ve booked but now think there’s even the slightest chance that you won’t be able to make it, please cancel your booking ASAP; see here for how to do it.

Right, with that out of the way, I can unveil the poster for the event, which in turn should give you an idea of how the set-list has been put together:

We couldn’t possibly fit in works associated with all current 28 member states of the EU (and to be fair, there are some that appear to have an extremely limited selection of Renaissance composers!) but I hope that the works that I have chosen will make for an interesting evening of music.

In addition to the masterworks by the well known composers, I’m certainly looking forward to trying out the Zielinski (Poland) Vox in Rama for its Gesualdo-like chromaticism, the Morago (Portugal) De profundis for its crunchy diminished chords, the Pedersøn (Denmark) Kyrie for its unexpected rhythmic passages and the Harant (Czech Republic) Sanctus simply for that fact that it’s eminently singable.*

I’ve also included a piece by Scottish composer Robert Johnson, just in case his nation ends up becoming the next member state. (Cheeky.)

One last point re: Monday – the lighting in the pub isn’t the best so do bring a small torch if you struggle to read in low light.

Looking forward to seeing you there.

Cheers

Kevin

PS Still some spaces at tonight’s Counterpint in the Cafe.

*(NB I suspect an error in the Harant score – the second alto part is written an octave too high and therefore would be better off sung by the tenors but will confirm Monday.)

Anyone who follows the PdtP Twitter account will have noted a certain frisson of anticipation over the past few days as I geared up for our very first non-London session, which took place in Sheffield last night.

After all, while it’s fair to say we’ve proved that there’s a healthy appetite for Renaissance motet pub-singing in London, I had no idea if any singers in Sheffield would also like the idea enough to turn up!

Right up to 6.55pm, it was looking like this:

and then suddenly, from 7pm it looked like this:

It shouldn’t have come as a surprise, of course. The city of Sheffield enjoys a multitude of fine singing institutions, may of which were represented by the 35 or so singers who came along, including the Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus, the Sheffield Oratorio Chorus, the Sheffield Bach Choir, the Escafeld Chorale and the Sheffield Socialist Choir.*

It was also lovely to see people coming from further away, including Wakefield and Manchester – I hope that it was worth the journey for you.

To say that I found it an overwhelmingly marvellous experience would be an understatement and I cannot sufficiently express my gratitude to all of you who welcomed me with such warmth and embraced my oddball singing project with such aplomb.

And what a tremendous noise you all made! The opening Bach chorales were spine-tingling in their mightiness, putting me in mind of those fine, full-bodied Karl Richter Bach recordings of yesteryear.

Similarly powerful were the Padilla Stabat mater and Victoria double-choir Ecce nunc benedicite (a PDtP Sheffield exclusive); thanks for your perseverance in not giving up on these tricky numbers, as the final run-throughs were pretty amazing.

However, you also showed remarkable sensitivity and beauty of tone in the Bennet Weep o mine eyes, the Arcadelt Il bianco e dolce cigno and the final stunner of the evening, Byrd‘s Ave verum.

Particular shout-outs to our ‘heldentenors’ who kept their end up despite being only two(!) in number, and to the obliging basses who helped them out in places.

Overall, I am minded to declare the evening a success and so I think I shall have to scratch my head to find a way of doing it again, not least because the ale up these parts is less than 3 quid a pint!

Once again, a huge thank you to all who came and who made it such a great night of singing – PdtP would be nothing without you!

Just a reminder for our London based singers that we have a couple of Counterpints coming up, plus the waiting list for Monday’s PDtP is still open (see home page for links), so I look forward to seeing many of you there.

Cheers

Kevin

*Note to any choral leaders: if you are going to make a joke comparing an ‘assertive’ alto section to the Parliamentary Labour Party, first check whether they are members of a socialist choir. (Altos, many thanks for putting me right with such good humour!)

Quite astonishingly, our PDtP Europe Special on July 11th sold out within a day of going live (well, almost – there’s one tenor spot still open at the time of writing.)

However, if you missed out then all is not lost. We still have plenty of spaces free at next Friday’s Counterpint in the Café session; Travelling Through have kindly agreed to extend admission to 7pm in case that makes a difference for any of you.

And I’m very pleased to announce that we are squeezing in one final London session of Counterpint before our summer break, on Wednesday July 13th.

We’ll be back at the Canbury Arms in Kingston and if all goes to plan, we’ll have some early music instrumentalists along for some crazy colla parte/antiphonal fun. (We were always a hip event but now we’re a HIP event! Sort of.)

And finally, a reminder that there are a few soprano and tenor spots available at PDtP Sheffield this Tuesday.

So there you have it – boozing and singing opportunities aplenty!

Cheers

Kevin

A quick note to say that our Europe Special on July 11th is almost fully booked now, with just one alto and one tenor spot left; thanks to you all for signing up so swiftly.

We already have 7 people on the waiting list so please cancel asap if you have changed your mind and won’t now be able to make it.

Polyphony Down the Pub Sheffield (July 5th) is also looking good on numbers, though if we get just a few more sopranos then we will be able to include a double-choir motet. I’m sure that anyone who was at our London double-choir session in March would agree that it’s a pretty special experience to be immersed in 8 part harmony so let’s all do one final push to persuade the sopranos of South Yorkshire to get on board!

Cheers

Kevin

PS Don’t forget also too that Counterpint in the Cafe (July 8th) booking goes live tomorrow at 9am.

Still reeling from just how good last night’s session was. So many phenomenal moments, but those that linger in the mind were the heart-meltingly beautiful Verdelot Beata es Virgo (particularly the post-10pm run-throughs) and the mighty, mighty sound of 60 singers giving a spine-tingling rendition of Gallus‘ Duo Seraphim.

Even trickier numbers such as the Victoria Lauda Sion went from not-so-good to actually-pretty-bloody-awesome after only 2 or 3 attempts.

And what a great atmosphere throughout the night – there was a real buzz about the room as we busked through these masterpieces.

Thanks to all who came, whether old hands or new faces, from nearby or indeed not so nearby…

Our final PDtP session of the season is pencilled in for July 11th but this is still TBC; an update will follow in the next few days.

However, what I can confirm is some very exciting news: following the tremendous success of our April PDtP session in Travelling Through, we now have a monthly Counterpint residency in the venue. (Yes, they really want us back!)

We’ll be revisiting the very best of previous PDtP sessions, in a smaller, more intimate setting (though still with booze).

The first of these Counterpint in the Café sessions is 6pm next Tuesday, June 21st. Spaces are extremely limited and booking goes live at 10 am tomorrow (Wednesday June 15th).

(Please note the early arrival time and booking conditions on the Eventbrite page.)

That’s it for the moment – thanks again for your support.

Cheers

Kevin

PS Don’t forget to tell everyone you know in Sheffield that they simply must not miss out on our session up there on July 5th.

You guessed it – after many, many months of talking about it, we are finally taking our bonkers pub-based choral extravaganza on tour to different parts of the UK, sharing far and wide the PDtP love (or misery, whichever way you prefer to look at it).

Plans include visits to Oxford and Milton Keynes among others but first up is Sheffield on Tuesday July 5th at the Fat Cat pub.

Details on this session are available on this page so please tell (warn?) your singing friends in Sheffield or thereabouts and make sure they don’t miss out!

Cheers

Kevin

While you’re waiting for our next PDtP, here are a few other events that may be of interest.

On Friday June 10th, our friends in the Orlando Chamber Choir are performing a concert of music by composers who had run-ins with the authorities at some point in their lives.

It’s a great programme of music by a wide range of composers, from Gesualdo to Tippett. Of particular note for PDtP fans is Lugebat David Absalon by Gombert*, a contrafactum (same music, different text) of his Tulerunt dominum meum, which proved to be such a hit at our double choir special. (We’ll be including Lugebat in a future PDtP session as it has a fabulous second part that Tulerunt lacks.) Details for the concert are here. 

On Sunday June 19th, the marvellous City Bach Collective are performing Cantata BWV 177 as part of their one voice per part Bach Vespers series. The cantata forms the central part of a Lutheran vespers service, which includes music by JSB’s predecessors and contemporaries as well.

I’ve said it many times before and I will keep saying it for a long time to come: these (free) performances constitute music making of the highest order and anyone who loves Bach should not miss them. Details here.

Looking further ahead, on Friday/Saturday September 2nd/3rd, a very special come and sing event is taking place. Requiem to Cancer will see singers get together in St Paul’s Church, Covent Garden to rehearse and perform 3 settings of the Requiem Mass, by Mozart, Duruflé & Chilcott, over a period of 24 hours.

As you may have guessed from the title, the proceeds will go to Cancer Research UK. It’s a wonderful event being organised by some of our PDtP/Counterpint singers so please so sign up or donate as you can; details here.

Now, at PDtP, we’re also very happy to highlight upcoming events by other wonderful groups, even when they clash with our own sessions! After all, we’re all about spreading the singing love.

If you’re not coming to PDtP on June 13th** then you might like to consider a workshop of Portuguese polyphony, given by the fantastic Siglo de Oro.

I’m a huge admirer of these young singers and you couldn’t be in safer hands. The rep includes PDtP favourite the 6 part Kyrie from Cardoso‘s Requiem, among other gems; details here.

Similarly, though we haven’t confirmed September’s PDtP date yet (I barely know what I’m doing next week), it may well end up being Monday the 12th, which means it would clash with a choral workshop of Great Fire of London-themed choral music with the Renaissance Singers; details here.

That’s it – hope you manage to get to some of the events above and looking forward to seeing some of you at PDtP.

Cheers

Kevin

*You really don’t want to know why Gombert was locked up.

**PDtP June 13th update as at 1pm, May 30th: all tenor/bass spots taken (waiting list in place); 4 soprano and 3 alto spots left.