- Trills on a Tuesday
- 18 hours ago
- 3 min read
We were led by Tim Jasper, our guest Musical Director this week. Some of you may remember him as our pianist for our Winter 2024 concert. He will be our pianist for our Gala Summer Concert on 16 July 2026.
We recapped the beginning of Here Comes the Flood and then went on to complete the song.
It needs to be a relaxed feeling and not staccato and choppy. Aim for the heavy beat in the music.
The dynamics of this song need to be heard with the chorus being loud and dramatic up to ‘it’ll be those who gave…’ and then go very quiet ‘..to survive’.
Do not breathe in the phrase ‘Don’t be afraid to cry at what you see’
Join the last part of the word on to the next one
e.g. ‘what we used to be’ would sound like ‘what we you stooby’
The Rhythm of Life was next. This is a song from the 1966 Broadway musical Sweet Charity, written by composer Cy Coleman and lyricist Dorothy Fields.
In the musical, the song is performed by the character Big Daddy, the leader of an alternative "hippy" religious group/cult called the "Rhythm of Life Church." In the 1969 movie musical adaptation of Sweet Charity, directed by Bob Fosse (who also directed the original Broadway production), the song is performed by Sammy Davis Jr., who co-stars as Big Daddy in the film.
For those of us who have not sung it before, it seems to be very complicated at first. However, we all get to sing the different lines, but not at the same time. It can be useful to mark your music score with your vocal line, so you know what to sing and when.
It does make a glorious cacophony of sound and the audience loved it the last time we performed it.
Be patient, it will all fall into place and once it is sung at a faster speed, believe it or not, it is much easier to sing.
Some parts of this song need to be smooth as in the ‘Daddy go….’ Section while the ‘Oh, the rhythm of life is a wonderful beat….’ is more staccato. Best example of Staccato, Money, Money Money.
This is not a competition as to who sings the loudest! It is very tempting to sing your part as loud as possible to drown out the other parts around you, but everyone needs to sing at the same level to create that cacophony of sound and so all the words from every voice part can be heard by the audience.
At the end, ‘Flip your wings and fly to Daddy…’ is a different tempo to the rest of the song as it is swung and as the other voice parts join in, it crescendos to a very loud finale!
You’ll Never Walk Alone needs to be sung with sincerity and love. Think of it as a fragile crystal sphere as the singing starts. It should be delicate and peaceful.
Sops – no breath after ‘storm’ and make ‘golden sky ’ sound like ‘galden sky’.
Be very precise with ends of words with ‘d’, ‘t’ and ‘k’ etc.
At the end it should be very loud until you reach ‘one’ of ‘alone’ and then it is very quiet.
You’re the Voice still has a timing issue. ‘Oh, woah’ count 1&2 before coming in on ‘We’re all someone’s daughter…’
The ‘w’ on the ‘woah, whoa’ should be clearly sounded
Tim is with us again next week, so bring all the music with you and he will go over some of these songs and maybe start work on others. Be prepared!
Just a reminder we break up for Easter on 24 March and resume again on 14 April
- Trills on a Tuesday
- Feb 25
- 4 min read
Eamonn took us through Vincent and has agreed that the natural timing and rhythm is good.
Vincent van Gogh is often remembered as the archetypal “tortured artist,” but the reality is more nuanced. He did struggle with mental illness, loneliness, and financial hardship — including the famous 1888 ear incident — yet his brilliance was not simply born of suffering. His letters, especially to his brother Theo, show a disciplined, thoughtful painter who carefully studied color and light. In just over a decade, he produced about 2,100 artworks despite little recognition in his lifetime.
Don McLean’s song Vincent (“Starry, Starry Night”) captures this complexity. Rather than repeating the “mad genius” cliché, it portrays Van Gogh as a deeply sensitive artist whose vision others failed to understand. Lines like “they would not listen, they did not know how” echo his real isolation, reinforcing the modern view of Van Gogh as not just troubled, but profoundly perceptive.
“Starry, starry night” — the night is short, as is “hills” in “shadows on the hills.” Eamonn will show you the “shut up” sign with his hands so you know when to stop.Keep the ‘Ahs’ a wide sound
Sops – your ‘oohs’ should be a pleasure to hear like angels, and not as if you’re in pain!
Float above the high notes rather than try to reach up to them from below.
Don’t slow down too much at the end and finish ‘will’ on smile.
Next Eamonn asked us if we had listened to Here Comes the Flood and if we liked it. There were mixed opinions, but he said he asks us as if we’re a democracy, but it is really a Musical Dictatorship as he always has the last say!
Here Comes the Flood is a song by British rock musician Peter Gabriel from 1977
He wrote it soon after his departure from Genesis in 1975. He recalled that the song was written during a warm summer evening while on the hillside above his cottage. As an experiment, Gabriel made a habit of running down the hillside one hundred paces with his eyes closed. During one of those excursions, Gabriel recalled that he felt "an energy point on the hillside and after a burst of meditation stormed down the hill to write."
The song centred around a fictional character conceived by Gabriel known as Mozo, an individual loosely based on Moses and the alchemical treatise Aurora consurgens.
Gabriel’s interest in shortwave radio served as a catalyst for the creation of Here Comes the Flood. He observed that radio signals were stronger as daylight faded and believed that this correlated with an increase in psychic energy at night. During one of his dreams, Gabriel envisioned a scenario where the psychic barriers that safeguard one's thoughts would erode and thus manifest in a collective consciousness.
In an interview with Sounds magazine, he said that the lyrics pertained to the concept of a mental flood where the collective thoughts of other individuals would be made publicly available and accessible through telepathy. He posited that extroverted people would tolerate the situation but believed that those who wished to conceal their thoughts would be unable to adapt. He told The Bristol Recorder in 1981 that he viewed the lyrics as relating to a collective consciousness, which Gabriel felt would represent "a psychological breakthrough" and an "evolutionary leap".
This song seemed to be mainly unknown to In Flagrante, so we were all starting from the same point. The rhythms are important with a gentle lilt and mysterious music underneath.
Sing through the whole phrases with no breathing!
‘We cannot choose a side’ - ‘choose’ is long and place the ‘z’ sound on to the next word ‘choo…za side’
Make sure you put a clear ‘d’ sound on ‘Lord’, ‘flood’ and ‘blood’
‘Drink up’ has a short ‘up’
Eamonn was impressed at how quickly we learned this song. It seems that we have no preconceptions as we don’t know it unlike other songs that are well known to us and we have our own versions we want to sing, as in The House of the Rising Sun.
This is an American traditional folk song. It tells of a person's life gone wrong in the city of New Orleans. Many versions also urge a sibling or parents and children to avoid the same fate. The most successful commercial version, recorded in 1964 by the English rock band The Animals
An interview with Eric Burdon revealed that he first heard the song in a club in Newcastle, England, where it was sung by the Northumbrian folk singer Johnny Handle. The Animals were on tour with Chuck Berry and chose it because they wanted something distinctive to sing.
The Animals had begun featuring their arrangement of The House of the Rising Sun during a joint concert tour with Chuck Berry, using it as their closing number to differentiate themselves from acts that always closed with straight rockers.
It elicited a tremendous reaction from the audience, convincing initially reluctant producer Mickie Most that it had hit potential, and between tour stops the group went to a small recording studio to capture it.
‘There is a house’ has a short ‘house’ where you are allowed to take a very quick breath before singing ‘In New Orleans….’
‘Now the only thing a gambler needs…’ ‘on’ of ‘only’ is long
Pull back on ‘sin and misery’ using your chest voice.
Please get the suitcase right for Eamonn, ‘a suitcase and a trunk…’ ‘case’ is long as in ‘suit caaaase and a trunk’
Talking of suitcases.
In Evita, “Another Suitcase in Another Hall” is sung by Perón’s discarded mistress just after Eva moves into his life. The number offers a poignant contrast to Eva’s ambition, showing the human cost of the climb to power and giving the audience a moment of quiet, emotional realism amid the political drama.
Eamonn will be away for two weeks, but we have Tim Jasper who has played for us in a concert, so he knows us and how well we can sing, so let’s impress him!
- Trills on a Tuesday
- Feb 19
- 3 min read
The Range is the house band for Royal Mid Surrey Golf Club and they are having their very first gig on Friday 17 April at 19:30. The backing singers, The Rangettes, will be very familiar to you (Amy, Catherine W, Evgeniia, Karen & Pauline). Come along for a fun evening and support them and the Captains' charities. Can't promise Jim Carrey will be there.
Eamonn was back and he put us through our paces with the songs we had previously sung.
He did seem reasonably impressed as to where we are, but the main thing to come out of last night for all the songs is to be connected with the phrasing and for us to be connected to Eamonn to watch his direction on timing and finishing.
This basically means joining the consonants from the end of one word and joining it on to the beginning of the next word.
e.g. in Irish Blessing ‘….his hand’ would be changing the ‘s’ of ‘his’ to a ‘z’ sound and joining it onto hand so you would sing ‘…hi zhand’
…. and Vincent ‘… they would not listen they did not know how’ would be …’they did not listen they did no tknow how’
You can apply this connection through many of our songs. Once you get this concept it will just come naturally.
We are not "A Choir of Men"… but this term we’ve certainly started to sound suspiciously well-balanced. With the welcome arrival of several fine Basses and Tenors.
In fact, with all this new depth of tone, we could be getting dangerously close to a full-bodied rendition of Dance With My Father — though we’re not entirely sure Eamonn would approve of the choreography.
Hints and Tips
Irish Blessing – Sop 1s be ready for that high ‘again’ as it always seems to come as a surprise.
Make Your Own Kind of Music – melt into the last ‘oh’ at the end.
Altos relax into your ‘ooh, ooh, oohs’
Crossing the Bar – this was a little choppy keep those connections in the phrases as mentioned above.
Vincent – Tenors and Basses, try to learn the first verse off by heart. That way you can look up and watch Eamonn.
This song is all about mental health in the verses, so has a different feel to the chorus which is about the art and beauty.
Watch your breathing in this song, or rather lack of it!
Do not breathe between …’one as ooh’ (Tenors & Basses)
‘…. As beautiful as you’ (Sops)
Altos be bold when you get to sing the tune after harmonising. You are telling the story of suicide. Pronounce the ‘t’ in ‘often’ as it will help with the diction of the storytelling.
‘Now I think I know….’ Is a definite mood change
‘but I could have told you Vincent…’ should be tender and gentle
You’re the Voice – is relentless and requires stamina, energy and smiles!
Really sound out the ‘w’ on the ‘whoas’ you are even allowed to take a quick breath between the ‘whoa’ whoa’
‘How long can you look at each other (wait, wait, wait) down the barrel of a gun’
There should be a VERY LOUD ‘Whoa’ at the end, so keep up that energy until the end!
Here comes the Flood. Eamonn asked us to listen and here it is. We will be starting it next next week, so listen to the Peter Gabriel version in preparation!
another Peter Gabriel. A little more upbeat
