HCS Newsletter Number 91 (September 2006) :

Workshop and evening concert at the United Reformed Church, Cowbridge, Hertford.
Parking; Hartham Common car park.

Singers will be taught to harmonise, by ear, traditional Gospel songs which will be sung at the evening concert.

Training by LD Frazier and Scott Stroman with the help of Eclectic Voices. LD Frazier has toured the world and inspired hundreds of singers through workshops and concerts. Scott Stroman is a conductor, composer, singer and educator in the UK and Europe. He is Head of Jazz at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

Eclectic Voices is a London choir, which challenges musical boundaries and performs a wide-ranging repertoire of classical, contemporary and gospel music, spirituals and jazz. The workshop is open to everyone and promises to be an enjoyable and fulfilling day.

Workshop for all singers (no musical training required!) 11am - 1pm and 2.15pm – 5pm
£10 or £8 (young people)
Concert 7pm United Reformed Church
Tickets £8 or £6 (young people)
Tickets and enquiries tel Harold & Jane Chaplin
01992 304606

Peter was a true friend and inspiration to a great many people. People travelled from South Africa, New York and Scotland to attend his memorial service. Peter was born in Islington in 1930, named Peter John Brankaer, the surname reflecting his father’s Belgian descent. I understand that Peter always went by the name of Branker, but he didn’t actually change his name formally until May 1962. As a youth, Peter won a place at Minchenden Grammar School. He was introduced to choral music as a choirboy at St Michael’s, Wood Green. After the war, he did his National Service in the Royal Navy at the Chatham Port Division. Peter was a writer in the Navy, the branch for the brighter candidates at the time! Having completed his National Service, and after a short time working for Shell, Peter decided to become a teacher and went to the College of St Mark and St John in Chelsea to do his teaching degree. A quote from a friend at that time will ring bells with many.

“Peter was a much respected student at Marjons, he took his studies more seriously than many of us, but was a valued friend and cheerful companion with strong convictions that were appreciated by the discerning. Life was never dull in his company as he had such an alert mind, an infectious laugh and a strong sense of humour.”

After graduating, Peter went back to St Michael’s to teach at the Primary School. Peter became the organist at Christ Church, Southgate where, during his long tenure, he not only organised the music at the Church and various external events, but also inspired and encouraged many choristers to take up and enjoy choral m I am indebted to Peter’s Godson, David Stroud, for allowing me to précis his eulogy at the Memorial Service. I came to know Peter only four years ago after joining HCS. We became good friends, not only sitting together on Tuesday evenings, but with Peter helping me out on the organ stool on several occasions. I still miss the warmth of his greeting and the pleasure of his conversation. It was a great pleasure and privilege to be invited to read a lesson at Peter’s Memorial Service on June 24th at Christ Church Southgate. This was a splendid occasion incorporating much of the music Peter loved. It began with the choir singing ‘O Thou the Central Orb’ by Charles Wood and included the hymns ‘How shall I sing that majesty’ to the tune ‘Coe Fen’, ‘The duteous day now closeth’ and ‘Thine be the Glory’. Part of Psalm 139 was sung and the anthem was ‘Like as a Hart’ by Herbert Howells from Psalm 42. Our MD, Derek, played the Widor Toccata and Rachel Stroud (David’s niece) played ‘The Lark Ascending’ by Ralph Vaughan Williams. The Service concluded with Stanford’s setting in B flat of the ‘Nunc Dimittis’ leading into the interment of Peter’s ashes in the Garden of Remembrance. A truly memorable occasion wusic as he did. The other significant part of Peter’s working life was his time teaching at Goffs School, where he was Head of Music. Again he was inspirational – there are very few schools where every child plays a musical instrument, as was the norm under Peter’s rule. Peter often kept order, in the classroom, by wandering around adding names to his “list”, and woe betide anyone who was added to the “list”. The truth is that the list was in fact Peter’s shopping list, and as many of us know, Peter was a very keen and talented chef. Towards the end of his time at Goff’s, Peter was enjoying teaching less, and decided to take early retirement, a decision that I don’t think he ever regretted. This last phase in his life was certainly not a time when he slowed down. For a start Peter became a devoted dog-lover, and derived immense pleasure from his two dogs, Sandy and then Cocoa. Peter served as a conservative local councillor for a few years, and also undertook a vast amount of travelling, in between caring for his father. He travelled on the Trans Siberian railway, all over Europe, and most recently went on an extensive cruise around Africa and the Far East. Peter was an active member of many clubs and societies, in particular the Organ Club, Hertford Choral Soc. and other local choirs. He very much enjoyed going into London to see a play, spend time at his club and have dinner with friends. It is said that “In the end, the true measure of a man is not the wealth he leaves behind, but the richness of the memories he gave to others”. In that respect, Peter left a great legacy and will be sorely missed. He will be remembered for his loyalty, his great sense of humour, and his ability to turn a fairly mundane story into something hysterical by the pure force of his personality and an infectious story-telling ability.

hich I am sure Peter would (and possibly did) enjoy!

Robert Sibson

It was early June, and the countryside was looking wonderful as I drove to Knighton, Powys, to take part in a 'Singing Break' organised by the Royal School of Church Music.

It felt rather like that first day at school as a group of thirty six of us gathered in the parish hall, were given coffee, name badges and a set of music (not necessarily in that order) and were welcomed. Several of us were first-timers, others had been before, and I admit to being extremely nervous as I found a vacant seat and looked around. I had no idea what standard was expected. Have you ever tried to work out, just by looking at someone, what their singing might be like? It's an interesting but (in my experience) often highly inaccurate exercise!

The first warm-up was all very familiar and reassuring; there was even a me-mé-ma-mor-moo or two! Then our leader for the weekend, Geoff Weaver, took over and we started on the music. This included a wide variety of styles which began with Tallis and took us via Mozart, Taizé and African chants, Britten and Chilcott to Psalms and anthems arranged as recently as 2005. After the rehearsal we set off on our first walk, to a tiny, whitewashed church at Pilleth with a stunning view, where we sang a short service followed by a picnic lunch. The walks appeared, in theory, quite short - three miles or so, but I'd over looked the fact that parts of them were verging on the perpendicular!

Another walk, over the hills to Discoed, another tiny church (with a 2000 year old yew tree) and another service to sing, prefaced by a welcome cuppa and cakes provided by a group of local folk who then became the congregation. Then the last lap, by bus, to Old Radnor, for another rehearsal, supper in the pub (with more fantastic views) and then we sang 'Night Prayer' in Old Radnor Church as darkness fell.

Quite a day. Saturday followed a similar pattern, possibly with less walking and more singing, but only two services; mid-day in Knighton Methodist Church and an evening Pentecost Celebration in Llandrindod Wells. Our leader took us to a hill which he said we were to 'run up' - not quite true but he set a cracking pace and we followed….in our own time (he would probably suggest that that also described our singing, but he was very patient). Sunday saw us rehearsing at 9.30am (!) for the final Eucharist Service in Knighton Parish Church, followed by lunch and the drive home. As to the musical standard I was so worried about – I needn't have been - like most choirs we were a mixed bunch, but I was grateful for my HCS training. It was all most enjoyable - and as it's an annual event, I now have to decide whether to repeat the experience next year. It's very tempting……

Trish Goldsmith

This local choir, formed last year, gathers singers together for a few weeks of rehearsals in preparation for a singing tour. The first tour was to Wildeshausen, Hertford's twin town in Germany, last October and was considered by the thirty singers who took part to be successful and very enjoyable.

The current plan is to arrange a tour somewhere in Europe every two years, with the possibility of a 'UK weekend' during the intervening years. Local people have been asking when they can hear ‘Hertford Voices'; so a short informal supper concert is planned in St Andrew's Church, Hertford on Saturday 7 October at 7.30pm, conducted by Derek Harrison. Tickets for this will be available from choir members early in September. Do come and *join us - basses and tenors will be especially welcome! Rehearsals will be from 4pm - 6pm in the Methodist Church Hall, Ware Road on Saturdays 2, 9, 16 Sept and Sunday 24 Sept. On Saturday 30 Sept the rehearsal will be in St Andrew's Church (time tbc). Next year the Wildeshausen Kantorei plan to visit Hertford from 17 - 20 May to sing with Hertford Voices.

There will be a concert in All Saints Church on Saturday 19 May, and possible involvement in a morning service in one of the Hertford churches on Sunday 20 May.

Please put these dates in your diary if you wish to take part - we will need hosts as well as singers! We then hope to sing in Hertford's other twin town, Evron, in the Mayenne region of France, during the autumn of 2007. You will need to let us know if you plan to join us for either the Oct or May events so that enough music can be obtained.

Workshop and evening concert at the United Reformed Church, Cowbridge, Hertford.
Parking; Hartham Common car park.

Singers will be taught to harmonise, by ear, traditional Gospel songs which will be sung at the evening concert.

Training by LD Frazier and Scott Stroman with the help of Eclectic Voices. LD Frazier has toured the world and inspired hundreds of singers through workshops and concerts. Scott Stroman is a conductor, composer, singer and educator in the UK and Europe. He is Head of Jazz at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

Eclectic Voices is a London choir, which challenges musical boundaries and performs a wide-ranging repertoire of classical, contemporary and gospel music, spirituals and jazz. The workshop is open to everyone and promises to be an enjoyable and fulfilling day.

Workshop for all singers (no musical training required!) 11am - 1pm and 2.15pm – 5pm
£10 or £8 (young people)
Concert 7pm United Reformed Church
Tickets £8 or £6 (young people)
Tickets and enquiries tel Harold & Jane Chaplin
01992 304606

In any chorus, there are four voice parts; soprano, alto, tenor, bass. Other voice parts are known as baritone, countertenor and mezzo soprano but these are usually people who are soloists or belong to some hotshot, classical a cappella group and applies especially to countertenors, or else they are trying to make excuses for not really fitting into any regular voice parts. They will be ignored for now. Each voice part sings in a different range and each one has a different personality. You may wonder why singing different notes makes people act differently. This is indeed a mysterious phenomenon but it is a fact.

Sopranos are the ones who sing the highest. They have longer hair, fancier jewellery, swishier skirts, always wear make-up and are usually female. They are insulted if they are not allowed at least one top A in any piece. When they have a high note, they hold it for at least half again as long as the composer and/or conductor requires – and then complain that their throats hurt and that the composer and conductor are sadists. (This is probably true). Sops have varied attitudes towards other sections of the chorus, though they consider all to be their inferiors. Altos are to sops as second violins are to first violins – nice to harmonise with but not strictly necessary. All sops think that the altos could drop out and the piece would sound essentially the same. They don’t understand why anyone would want to sing in such a boring voice range in the first place. Tenors, on the other hand, can be quite exciting to have around. Besides the flirtation possibilities, sops like to sing duets with tenors because they are working very hard to sing in a low-to-medium soprano range, while the sops are showing off somewhere up in the stratosphere. Sops don’t like basses; they sing too loud and are difficult to tune in that low range. However, most sops are married to basses; they are more reliable than tenors and have proper jobs.

Altos are the salt of the earth – in their opinion at least. They are unassuming people who would wear jeans to concerts if they were allowed to. Altos can’t complain about having to sing too high or too low (because they don’t) and they know that the other sections think their parts are pitifully easy. Altos know otherwise. While the sops are screeching away on a top A, the altos sing elaborate passages full of accidentals and tricky rhythms but nobody notices because the sops are singing too loud (and so are the basses). Altos have an innate distrust of tenors because the tenors sing in the same range and think they sound better. Altos like the basses and enjoy singing duets with them; the basses just sound like a rumble anyway and it’s the only time the altos can be heard. (to be continued)

author unknown

I. Stedford: Have you any good ideas for a present for my good friends, Don and Elsie, who are celebrating their Ruby Wedding next month? They said ‘no presents’ as they have enough tut already - but it is a special occasion.

Di: For our 40th anniversary, Ron and I were given two pots of homemade strawberry jam (special vintage) labelled ‘His’ and ‘Hers’. Or what about a red rose for the garden?

Iris:mmm

Di: What about a goat?

Iris: Now you’re just being silly.

Di: No - serious suggestion. There is an *organisation whereby you can improve the lot of poor people in other parts of the world by providing them with basic needs, like a water kit, cooking pots, a latrine, a shelter, a bike, a donkey or an alpaca. You receive a certificate which you can give as a ‘present’ to a friend.

Iris: An elephant would be nice.

Di: Now who’s being silly? GOT IT. I have just the thing; a season ticket for all the HCS concerts. Just collect a form from Morna.

Iris: Why didn’t I think of that?

Di: You don’t get a season ticket as such but you could make a mock- up of a season ticket with a promise to hand over the actual concert tickets as they appear. You could even tie them up with red ribbon.

Iris: Perfect

*www.practicalpresents.org

Not one new Limerick was submitted despite a plea (and promise of prizes) in April’s newsletter but I did get a suggestion from a choir member that a Limerick competition would be a good idea…. I rest my case. Here’s another one;

There is a conductor called Harrison
With whom there is just no comparison
He bears with us all
When we sing flat, or drawl
And produces a musical marathon

Mary Gregg 1989

A nostalgic evening of photographs and memories with the ubiquitous Peter Ruffles, town councillor, district councillor, county councillor, retired teacher, ex Mayor of Hertford.

Thurs 7 Sept 7pm
Sele School, Hertford
Tickets £5 (includes light refreshments and complimentary glass of wine) in aid of the Hertford Museum Development Appeal
Tickets from Hertford Museum tel 01992 582686.

hertfordmuseum@btconnect.com

Part of a letter from Maisie Ditton

I am glad to learn that Derek was pleased with The Kingdom……There is no doubt that his reputation has spread among many reputable soloists; it is just a question of the choir keeping up with him, not forgetting the help we get from Peter – surely the best pianist in the world.