Polyphony Down the Pub

Hello!

I am only now getting the chance to follow up on last Monday’s PDtP, not because it was so epic that words failed me (though it was and they did) but because I had to hot-foot it to Belgium to attend a performance of NTGent’s stage adaptation of Pasolini’s Accattone, complete with accompanying excerpts from Bach cantatas performed by Collegium Vocale Gent and Philippe Herreweghe.

The pictures below will give you some idea of the oddness of the staging – in a dock warehouse, no less – but the bleeding chunks of Bach (incl. PDtP favourite BWV 56 final chorale) were exquisitely performed.

While in Ghent, it was obligatory to behold the stunning work of art located within St Bavo’s Cathedral, the van Eyck brothers’ Het Lam Gods aka The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb; one of the panels in particular will be familiar to you all:

And it was of course equally de rigeur to sample the other local masterpieces, of which there were many.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

However, all of this is a distraction from last week’s real highlight, which was of course Monday’s session of Polyphony Down the Pub. It was just wonderful to have so many voices join us on the night (c.50 in all) and I felt we had a really great balance between the parts.

Highlights for me were of course the Fevin Sancta Trinitas – it really is a joy-slap of a motet – and rounding off the main section with the final chorale from BWV 78.

Four Arms, Two Necks, One Wreathing (which sounds like a description of a particularly saucy game of Twister but is in fact a lovely Weelkes 3 part madrigal) was another surprise delight; I am not sure the tempo that you guys insisted upon was absolutely the right one (come on, what’s wrong with slow fa-la-las once in a while?) but it was nice to experiment with democracy. Just that one time.

I hope too that those of you who stayed on post-10pm enjoyed the recaps (the second run-through of the Guerrero Ave Maria seemed to go down well) and that whatever time you left, it was with a song in your heart and a nicely wobbly spring in your step.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our next session on Monday October 26th is going to be a particularly special one, as we will be celebrating our 1st Birthday! We’ll be revisiting the very best works from our first 12 sessions (including a real live double choir motet – OMG!) and so I really hope that many of you will join us – sign up here with no further delay! And tell all your friends too! And any strangers while you are at it!

All the best

Kevin

 

… so we should be in for a full-throated session.

Don’t forget to grab your sheet music from here and have it printed out/saved to tablet ready for Monday’s session.

If you wanted to look at any of it in advance, then I’d recommend the Fevin, not because it’s my new favourite motet and therefore I’d love it if it sounded utterly amazing (although that would be a bonus), but because it’s a bit of a roller-skate piece: just when you think you’ve got your balance, the wheels go out from under you and you can end up on your backside.

That’s it – have a great weekend and see you Monday.

Cheers

Kevin

Download it from here, print if out or save it to tablet and bring it along on the night.

We have a good spread of works this month, mainly sacred, but with a couple of madrigals chucked in too.

I think it’s fair to say that many of them have been prepared without a scholarly attention to detail but hey, if you want a high level of editorial quality then go join the Cardinall’s Musick.

As always, you are very welcome to leave a comment below to let us know which ones you are looking forward to or indeed which ones are filling you with dread.

See you on Monday.

Cheers

Kevin

…till Polyphony Down the Pub crashes back into our lives on September 14th, like a constantly inebriated but ultimately entertaining friend.

A quick reminder that while it’s a drop-in session, you are still most welcome to nail your colours to the mast of HMS PDtP in advance, just in case it turns out we have enough men to sing Robert Carver’s O Bone Jesu. (You never know…)

Sign up here and don’t forget to invite your singing friends.

Cheers

Kevin

While it’s a little bit depressing to be thinking already about the end of summer, I am nonetheless pleased to announce the PDtP dates for Autumn 2015.

We kick off the new season on September 14th, specifically scheduled to ease the pain of the end of the Proms season.

On October 26th we celebrate our first anniversary with what will undoubtedly be a spectacular evening of musical (though probably not actual) fireworks.

Then on November 23rd we revisit the Spanish Golden Age with an exploration of the music of the Spanish and Portuguese masters.

December 14th is currently pencilled in as the date for our Christmas Special but please note that we won’t be able to confirm this until nearer the time.

As always, in addition to the masterworks of the 16th century, in each session we’ll be sticking in some 4 part marvels from the collection of Bach chorales, so don’t delay – sign up to each session now!

Cheers

Kevin

I was very sad to learn yesterday that the future of the excellent Bach Vespers at St Mary-at-Hill is in doubt, following the news that Martin Knizia, the series’ director, is returning to Germany.

Knizia’s final Vespers, directing his Sweelinck Ensemble and some excellent singers, takes place this evening at 18:30; details here. 

Those of you who follow the PDtP Twitter feed will know that I have recommended these Vespers performances over the past few months so I urge you to ignore (nay, defy!) the rain and get yourself over to St Mary-at-Hill for your last chance to hear one of these very fine performances of the music of JSB.

Thanks

Kevin

What a big, big finish to the season!

Many thanks to all who came, whether you dropped in for a quick motet or stayed to the bitter end – or perhaps I should say the end of the bitter, as we drank through a couple of casks of ale, apparently!

By my reckoning, we welcomed around 50 singers in all, which is by far the most popular session we’ve had in a long time. Whatever the number, you made a big sound, so much so that at times we drowned out the stereo downstairs.

Thanks too to our wonderful guest conductors, Laura, Kathryn and Lucy, bravely standing up in front of a bunch of alcohol-fuelled singers and keeping you all in line.

We also made Twitter history (probably) by providing the world with the first live tweeting on the progress of a 16th Century motet – we truly are innovating in all sorts of incredibly useful ways.

We were fortunate to have 4 or 5 ‘audience members’ last night, all of whom were effusive in their praise for the sound you made, which is very nice to hear.

Oh, and by the way, if any of you are in choirs short on basses, send your recruiting officers around to PDtP as we have them in plentiful supply!

Highlights for me were of course BWV 437 (very well done for getting through it!), the Mouton Ave Maria and de la Rue’s Incessament; drop a comment below to let me know which numbers you particularly enjoyed.

We are taking a short break for the summer, during which we will research some more wonderful music for later in the year. Dates for September and October will be published towards the end of August so please keep an eye out for updates. (Don’t forget that we are also on Twitter: @pubpolyphony)

Looking further ahead, future themes will include the return of our Christmas Special, as well as sessions focussing on the Italian and Iberian Masters; we will also need something big for our 1^st Birthday Extravaganza in October so please do drop us a line with your suggestions, including links to free sheet music whenever possible.

We’ll also be working with our non-London/SE friends to try to set up PDtP sessions elsewhere in the UK and internationally; I don’t know about you, but I am very excited by the prospect of a PDtP network!

Finally, if you enjoy PDtP, please do shout about us to all your singing friends as we want to welcome as many people as we can to these sessions!

Many thanks again to you all and look forward to seeing you after the break.

Kevin

PS I’ll no doubt still be annoying you all with the odd post during the break and I’m always happy to hear your thoughts in return…

Looking forward to tonight’s session – numbers are looking good, with some new faces making an appearance, so I’m sure we’ll be seeing out the season with a bang and defying the current weather with some radiant singing.

Just a wee reminder that you need to grab the sheet music from here (there are 16 docs in all) and print them out or save them to tablet.

Also, basses and baritones, don’t forget that I’ll be asking some of you to sing tenor tonight – I know you are up to the task!

See you at 7!

Kevin