Author: K O'Neill

Which is both clearly a great idea for a family fun game show (remember, you read about it here first) and the reason this review of PDtP 17 is so late – I had to hightail it to Florida the day after the session to look at some of the local wildlife:

Now that I’m back in Blighty, I’ve been reflecting on just how great our Italian Special was.

Standouts were the crunchy goodness of Anerio’s Christus factus est, contrasted with the lovely smoothness of Croce’s O sacrum convivium and of course the expressive richness of Palestrina’s Super flumina Babylonis.

We didn’t do a bad job on the Gesualdo, either, keeping it together despite the tricky bits.

Apologies for the coughing and spluttering (my eyes and nose appeared to be doing their own version of the rivers of Babylon) but I can honestly say that an evening spent singing with you all was an absolute tonic. Well, that and 10 days in the Sunshine State.

Once again, it was great to see so many long-term friends:

as well as meet some new ones:

including Kristine and Laura, two singers from Belfast who just happened to be staying at the Horse and Stables that night and decided to forgo several better options in order to join us; looking forward to setting up PDtP Belfast soon, guys!

And finally on PDTP 17, our antics even attracted the attention of this early music lover – hope to see you at a session soon, Paul.

Looking ahead, quite incredibly, all spaces for PDtP 18 on March 7th are now pretty much taken (there is one alto spot left as I type this).

There are already quite a few people on the waiting list so if you think you may not be able to make it then please give someone else a chance to join in by cancelling your booking via the Log in link in your confirmation email.

For those of you who are disappointed on missing out, I am frantically looking into getting a Counterpint session or 2 in for the end of March; more details to follow but if you’re keen for me to set something up, let me know via the comment box below.

Cheers

Kevin

A quick heads-up to let you know that a couple of spaces have just come up at tonight’s PDtP Italian Special; if you’d like to take one of them drop me a line via the comments box below and I’ll book you in (first come first served etc).

Cheers

Kevin

Grab it from the usual place.

Set-list includes a good dollop of Palestrina, a sprinkling of Marenzio & even a sprig of Monteverdi among other tasty ingredients, all of which should make for an opulent feast of singing.

Only a few alto/tenor spots left but waitlist is open…

Cheers

Kevin

The wait is over – here at long last are the posters for the February & March PDtPs:

You’re right; some things really are just too beautiful for words.

Cheers

Kevin

…as many of you are extremely keen to find out the details of the next Counterpint session.

(In case you needed reminding, Counterpint is Polyphony Down the Pub’s slightly flightier and less reliable sibling, in that it’s always in a different pub and on a different night of the week each time.)

I have a couple of pubs in the pipeline but it would be utterly great if any of you could also suggest some London venues in which you think a Counterpint session might work.

The ideal pub:

• has a private room that can accommodate around 40 – 50 people (seated)
• is less than 10 minutes’ walk from a tube station
• has a good selection of beers and wines. And gins, for the sopranos.
• is willing to have you lot rock up to belt out Palestrina and Byrd.

If your neighbourhood boozer meets these criteria then drop me the details via the comments below and we’ll see if we can set something up.

Cheers

Kevin

PS If you are stuck for something to do on Saturday night, why not go and hear the excellent Crouch End Festival Chorus perform Bach’s B Minor Mass at the Barbican?

PPS If you’re still twiddling your thumbs on Sunday, the also excellent St Bride’s Choir are singing Victoria in the morning and Byrd, Gibbons and Weelkes in the evening.

…as it now takes me a couple of days to recover from a PDtP session.

And what a great session it was! Despite my best efforts to put you off (deliberate errors, of course), you all sang lustily and with a commitment rarely seen in a group of people largely singing together for the first time.

Speaking of which, it was lovely to see so many new faces there – many thanks for coming and hope to see you at future sessions. Thanks too of course to all you for whom it wasn’t your first time – we must be something right for you all to come back!

Highlights for me were the Bach chorales – we definitely had some crackers in the line-up – plus the Crecquillon and the Mantua. The Hassler ended up being more challenging than I’d envisaged but by goodness it felt like an achievement to make it through to the end!

By the way, apologies to any Peñalosa fans – I was probably a bit harsh about him so I will make it up to you by including something slightly more interesting by him at a future session.

As always, special thanks to the 15 or so who stayed back for the post-10pm session; the Mantua sounded even more stunning with reduced forces.

I’d also like to thank the people who told me that this was the first time they’d sung in years – in fact, 40 years for one gentleman! – as it’s extremely gratifying to know that our little evening can act as a way back in to singing.

As a reminder, the next PDtP is Feb.8th and is our Italian special (a third of spaces have already gone) but don’t forget that March 7th is our double-choir spectacular, so book now to avoid disappointment.

Thanks again and see you next time!

Cheers

Kevin

While there’s still time to sign up for this Monday’s PDtP session*, anyone looking further ahead may be pleased to know that PDtP XVII has been confirmed for February 8th and PDtP XVIII is March 7th.

Sign up here for February’s PDtP, which will explore the music of the Italian masters.

March’s PDtP on the other hand will focus on double-choir repertoire.

News on future Counterpint sessions will follow so keep an eye out for updates.

Cheers

Kevin

*Altos, technically there are no spots left for you at Monday’s event but the waiting list is open and I’d be surprised if we weren’t able to squeeze in one or two more of you somehow…

As if the excitement of last night’s Counterpint session wasn’t enough, the sheet music for next Monday’s Polyphony Down the Pub is now ready to grab via the usual page.

As usual, there’ll be some cracking Bach chorales to warm us up, to be followed by several rather excellent offerings from Guerrero, Richafort and Gallus among others, plus a look again at a couple of previous favourites from Crecquillon and Lassus.

There’s still time to sign up in advance – looking forward to seeing many of you there!

Cheers

Kevin

I am very happy to report that last night’s Counterpint session was a stonking success, with some damn fine singing interspersed with some damn fine drinking.

We welcomed many first-timers, though it was great to see a healthy number of PDtP/Counterpint regulars too.

https://twitter.com/CreaFarrar/status/687358159732797440

Many thanks to our gracious hosts at the Punch for their hospitality and willingness to tolerate 45 people banging out Renaissance choonz in their back room; I hope they’ll have us back for another session in the near future.

Highlights were the Gallus Ecce quomodo moritur justus and the Victoria Ave Maria a 4, both of which seemed to go down very well with everyone.

Another real treat was the post-10pm session, where a handful of us went through the best bits again, this time with the volume dial turned down from 11.

That said, the camaraderie of the main session was really something to experience (though to be fair, PDtP/Counterpint participants very much tend to lean towards the affable), so thanks again to all who took part.

Hope to announce the next Counterpint very soon, but if you’re worried about withdrawal symptoms in the meantime, there’s always next Monday’s Polyphony Down the Pub session to feed your habit.

Cheers

Kevin

It’s that time when suddenly everyone’s blogging/tweeting/facebooking their highlights of the past year.

PDtP is of course very happy to jump on this irritating bandwagon, given that we’ve been annoying you throughout the year anyway.

January

We kicked off the year with PDtP 5: Back with a Vengeance. It was a bit of a nerve-wracking session in some ways as I had no idea if there would be any ongoing interest in the project after the initial buzz had died down.

Happily, you proved my fears to be unfounded as we had a great show of numbers, so much so that we were able to include our very first double choir motet, Gallus’ Duo Seraphim, as well as Lobo’s extraordinary Ave Regina coelorum, his tribute to Guerrero’s equally wondrous Ave Virgo sanctissima, which we had previously sung in a 2014 session.

By the way, the poster for the January & February sessions introduced our now legendary logo of the van Eycks’ angels having a cheeky couple of pints while accompanying the glorious scene of the Lam Gods.

February

Our second session of the year was PDtP 6: Because You Can’t Keep a Good Singing & Drinking Event Down (catchy, eh?). We pulled off the tricky task of getting a bunch of half-cut blokes to sing the plainchant of Taverner’s Dum transisset Sabbatum I in perfect unison, and we dived into the 7 part lusciousness of Vinders’ O Mors inevitablis. All of the above high-fallutin’ness was nicely counterbalanced by the absurd (and very un-PC) Contrapunto bestiale a la mente by Banchieri.

March

PDtP 7: This Time It’s on a Wednesday brought a slight change to our tried and tested format (can you guess what it was?). As such, we welcomed many new faces who hadn’t previously been able to attend a Monday session owing to other singing commitments; this in turn planted a seed that would eventually flower in November.

(The attendance of this particular singer would also lead to a fantastic moment for us in December:)

Musical highlights were Crecquillon’s Vidit Jacob Scalam and 2 madrigals by Maddalena Casulana, whose inclusion had been inspired by the recent discussions surrounding female composers around International Women’s Day; we hope to have more of her chromatic marvels in future sessions.

March also introduced the Polyphony Down the Pub website, which was nice.

Oh, and the poster once again showed what could be achieved with Microsoft Word and very little graphic design ability.

 April

The cheekily named PDtP 8: You Won’t Find Knacks Finer brought us the first of our themed nights, being a celebration of the English Renaissance.

As well as the famous Dowland song alluded to in the title, we sang his lovely Say Love if Ever Thou Didst Find, Morley’s It Was a Lover & His Lass plus what was possibly the very first setting of Full Fathom Five for Shakespeare’s own production of The Tempest by his contemporary Robert Johnson.

https://twitter.com/lahdiva01/status/587683774147776512

May

PDtP 9: We’ll Stop Counting When We Get to Triple Figures (we probably won’t, though) was made up of some of the most interesting bits and bobs that we had sung in the previous 8 sessions. Highlights were the Haßler Dixit Maria (a perennial favourite: #dothehassler) and the Victoria Ave Maria a 4.

https://twitter.com/SW9Lucy/status/597896729732722688

June

PDtP 10’s in the Mood for Love was a celebration of all things amorous, from the lofty longings of madrigals and chansons such as Pipelare’s hypnotic Vray dieu d’amours down to the filthy baseness of Lassus’ Matona mia cara. Somewhere in between these, we enjoyed a selection of sacred motets based on the beguiling verses of the Song of Songs, including L’Héritier‘s Nigra sum.

The poster was put together by a graphic designer friend using an actual graphic design programme; no one complained.

July

PDtP 11: Summer Sizzler saw the return of the inept Word-based poster (hurrah!). A favourite on the night was Mouton’s Ave Maria, with its canon in inversion hidden in the texture.

This was our last session before a well-earned summer break.

September 

As its name suggested, PDtP 12: PDtP Redux stormed back onto the early music in a pub scene in triumph.

The poster embraced photo-realism for the first time, while the session itself introduced Fevin’s Sancta Trinitas, an absolute belter, and O Sacrum Convivium, an early motet by Uncle Gabrieli (Andrea).

October 

We enjoyed a very special session with PDtP’s First Birthday Bash. Not only was it a review of the best bits of the previous 12 months, we also enjoyed the largest attendance that we had seen since our first session. Highlights were Bennet’s Weep O Mine Eyes & another bash-through of Gallus’ epic Duo Seraphim.

Perhaps not reaching quite the same heights of musical excellence was this questionable attempt at Happy Birthday a la Bach, though kudos to the singers who gamely held their noses and sang it through!

As part of the birthday celebrations and following on from the success of the session, we announced Counterpint, a spin-off night intended to appeal to all those unable to make PDtP on Monday, which would launch in:

November

As well as the inaugural Counterpint (which was a great success not least because of our excellent hosts The Canbury Arms in Kingston), we enjoyed the fruits of El Siglo de Oro in PDtP 14: We’re Off to Sunny Spain! (And Portugal! And Mexico!). 

Miraculously, we did more than a bit of justice to Victoria’s Alma Redemptoris a 8, a masterpiece that embraces both marvellous grandeur and gorgeous delicacy. The Stabat Mater by Spanish-Mexican master Padilla also proved to be a winner.

December

We finished off the year somewhat spectacularly. First up, we had The PDtP Christmas Special: Have Yourself a Merry Little Polyphony Down the Pub Christmas (again, just trips off the tongue), another 70-hander in which we enjoyed masterworks by Praetorius (Michael & Hieronymus) and an almost correct rendition of Bach’s Vom Himmel Hoch. 

Secondly, we nabbed a singing spot in Trafalgar Square, during which we entertained a crowd of tourists and locals with our Christmas motets and traditional carols, raising a wodge of cash for charity.

Finally, thanks to the programme’s presenter coming along way back in March, we were profiled on the Christmas edition of BBC Radio 3’s The Choir, which was of course a great privilege.

So there we have it – a year’s worth of singing, drinking, merry-making and conviviality.

I hope you’ve enjoyed it as much as I have and I hope even more that we’ll be seeing you at PDtP and Counterpint in 2016.

In the meantime, thanks again to you all and Happy New Year!

Cheers

Kevin