- Trills on a Tuesday
- Jan 14
- 4 min read
With so many newbies it seemed a good idea to have name badges so we can get to know each other. Please keep them with your music folders and bring them with you for the next weeks until we are all acquainted.
A gentle to reminder to everyone to not only bring your music (and name badge), but also a pencil or highlighter so you can mark your music scores with Eamonn’s instructions in a way that is meaningful to you.
Eamonn has set a challenge for everyone (especially a big one for the Basses and Tenors) to learn The Impossible Dream by heart. I have every confidence you can achieve this and you will benefit from looking up and following Eamonn’s directions with the bonus of your voices being heard as the sound will be coming out and not down into your folders!
The Impossible Dream is challenging as it has long phrases where you do NOT breathe between them.
Keep the oohs bright so they don’t sound sad!
‘This is my quest….’ Should be passionate; you are on a journey
Ensure the is a strong hard ‘c’ on ‘cause’
‘Still….’ has two notes in ‘Still strove with his last ounce of courage’
The next song, Crossing the Bar, is a total contrast and has a more choral sound. The aim an challenge is to sing this acapella, which we are more than capable of achieving.
Three things you may not have known about Alfred, Lord Tennyson the poet who wrote Crossing the Bar.
He recorded his own voice in the 19th century. When sound recording was brand new, Alfred, Lord Tennyson became one of the earliest poets to have his voice preserved. Thomas Edison recorded Tennyson reading “The Charge of the Light Brigade” on a phonograph—giving us a rare, haunting glimpse of how a Victorian poet actually sounded from eye-witness reports from newspapers during the Crimean War, considered the first media war. Tennyson wrote the poem to commemorate the bravery of the soldiers, with the goal of shaming the British public into offering financial assistance to the veterans who were suffering in old age.
He invented the phrase “airy-fairy.”
The term airy-fairy, now used to describe something unrealistic or impractical, originated in the opening line of Tennyson’s early poem “Lilian” (1830):
“Airy, fairy Lilian …”It’s a small example of how deeply his language has shaped everyday English.
He was so famous he had to hide from fans.
Tennyson was a true Victorian celebrity. Sightseers regularly travelled just to stare into his windows, forcing him to seek privacy in a secluded house in Sussex—though he kept his main home on the Isle of Wight. Fame, it turns out, was exhausting even before social media.
Crossing the Bar is an 1889 elegiac poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. The narrator uses an extended metaphor to compare death with crossing the "sandbar" between the river of life, with its outgoing "flood", and the ocean that lies beyond death, the "boundless deep", to which we return.
The background to the poem's composition is not entirely clear. One suggestion is that Tennyson composed it while crossing the Solent from Aldworth to Farringford on the Isle of Wight, after suffering a serious illness; alternatively, that he wrote it on a yacht anchored in Salcombe, where there is a moaning sandbar. "The words", he said, "came in a moment". Shortly before he died, Tennyson told his son Hallam to "put Crossing the Bar at the end of all editions of my poems".
The poem contains four stanzas that generally alternate between long and short lines. Tennyson employs a traditional ABAB rhyme scheme. Scholars have noted that the form of the poem follows the content: the wavelike quality of the long-then-short lines parallels the narrative thread of the poem.
The extended metaphor of "crossing the bar" represents travelling serenely and securely from life into death. The Pilot is a metaphor for God, whom the speaker hopes to meet face to face. Tennyson explained, "The Pilot has been on board all the while, but in the dark I have not seen him…[He is] that Divine and Unseen Who is always guiding us."
The Basses had to be very patient as they don’t join in until the second verse.
The timing is critical in this song and although the voice parts have different notes the rhythm is the same.
‘Sunset’, ‘call’, ‘I’ and ‘out’ are long notes.
‘Sound and foam’ with ‘Sound’ and ‘foam’ being long with a very short ‘and’ in between.
Be aware of how your voices blend in this piece so the balance of sound is good and not dominated by the Sops who are plentiful and can be loud!
Altos, you are the lynchpin to this song and your notes are very important for the harmony.
Enjoy the stateliness and sanctity of the music and don’t rush it.
Our number was small but our voices were mighty. In Flagrante Choir's first concert at Kew Gardensin 2016 with Ginny, Carol and Esher tucked away at the back.
We revisited, You’re the Voice which drives forward all the time. We will be doomed if this drags!
Even with the oohs make them swell and give them direction.
Basses are the lynchpin in this song, even though they are mainly singing on one note!
Make the Woah, woahs strong and loud
After’ …can we look at each other’ there is a very small gap before singing ‘down the barrel of a gun’
Eamonn is busy with the production of Mrs. President for the next two weeks, so we will have Richard, who has sung Bass with us on a few occasions, next week. The following week we welcome back the lovely Elliot, who is well known to many of us.
Bring all your music and your pencil and name badge!
Too much?
- Trills on a Tuesday
- Jan 8
- 3 min read
A new year with a big welcome back to Eamonn who will be our guiding light and inspiration in this our 10th anniversary year.
Welcome too, to lots of newbies who came along to give us a try and sign up for this exciting year.
As the new formation of lower voices in the middle was great success in the Winter concert, we are trialing this at rehearsals to see how it goes. It is bound to seem strange at first, but please preserve and see how it goes.
We started with an old song (to some of us), The Impossible Dream, which really showcases the lower voices.
The Impossible Dream is a popular song composed by Mitch Leigh, with lyrics written by Joe Darion. It was written for the 1965 Broadway musical Man of La Mancha and is also featured in the 1972 film of the same name starring Peter O'Toole.
The complete song is first sung by Don Quixote as he stands vigil over his armor, in response to Aldonza (Dulcinea)'s question about what he means by "following the quest". It is reprised partially three more times – the last by prisoners in a dungeon as Miguel de Cervantes and his manservant mount the drawbridge-like prison staircase to face trial by the Spanish Inquisition.
This song is all about a quest so keep the sense of excitement and journeying on the adventure even though the piano is chugging away underneath the voices.
Altos & Sop 2s, keep your ‘Oohs’ bright and smiley.
Basses remember you are not on the tune when it comes to ‘this is my quest’
No one, without exception, is allowed to breathe after ‘hopeless’ on pain of death! Take a big breath before singing, ‘No matter how hopeless, no matter how far’ and you will make Eamonn happy!
As you are singing the phrases, think of them in pairs, so don’t breathe after each phrase, but after each pair of phrases.
There is a rare occasion you are permitted to breathe which is just after, ‘That one man….’ So you can snatch a quick breath and really emphasise the word ‘scorned’
Watch out for Eamonn’s indulgence at the end. He will direct you when to sing and when to leave a gap, so it is important to watch him closely. And remember to put a short crisp ‘z’ sound on ‘Starz’
A new song for everyone was next. You’re the Voice is a song recorded by Australian singer John Farnham released in 1986. In the United States, the song is perhaps best known for a charting version issued in 1991 by the band Heart.
You're the Voice was composed by British songwriters Chris Thompson, Andy Qunta and Maggie Ryder in response to an anti-nuclear demonstration in London's Hyde Park in 1985. More than 100,000 people attended the rally, but Thompson overslept. As an act of penance he decided to express his remorse by composing a song that emphasised the importance of invoking personal agency when it comes to effecting political change.
Keith Reid confirmed in June 2008 that You're the Voice started life with Thompson, who had the musical idea and wanted to have a lyricist involved. It was another of his projects where the music essentially preceded the words, which are all Reid's.
At the beginning, there are the dreaded ‘Oohs’ (well for Sops anyway!). Make them swell with the sense of impending excitement and joy.
‘We have’ should be swung and make sure you sing the song with commitment that it is going to change the world.
Listen to the original song and get the feel of it and then listen to your individual parts on Dropbox. We will be revisiting this next week, along with the other songs we were asked to bring.
It is such a great feeling to be back
- Trills on a Tuesday
- Nov 22, 2025
- 2 min read
Next week is The Big One.
Just one more run through on Tuesday, followed by The Concert Day on Thursday.
Another reminder of how well we sing together.
We are now in concert formation with our new arrangement of the lower voices being in the middle to enable all the Altos to be in a block together. Although this may seem strange having different people and voices next to you, it worked very well, and we made an amazing sound as we worked our way through Act One and part of Act Two.
All the hard work of practising is paying off and now we need to concentrate on our performance.
Timing is critical and beginning confidently and finishing together at the ends of phrases and songs makes us sound professional.
The only way to achieve this is to watch Martha. Although her direction is different from Eamonn’s, you will have got used to her style from last night and will know what to look out for in the concert.
It is important we tell the story of the songs, so the words can be heard by our audience and we can take them on that journey with us.
We will be travelling along singing our songs, Side by Side.
Smile, keep it bright and sparkly; it is a Winter concert with some Christmas songs after all, so let the joy show in your face.
Let your faces be seen. Position your folder in front of you in way you can hold your head up and let your eyes look down occasionally but keeping them on Martha most of the time. This will ensure the timing is right and your voices will be heard clearly soaring out over the audience who will see you clearly having fun and your enthusiasm will be reflected in their response.
Coming together is a beginning: keeping together is progress; working together is success
And remember have FUN, perhaps a little too much
