Happy New Year to everyone. It was wonderful to see so many singers together again, with some new faces too!
You will also note from our Treasured Treasurer’s email that we have a new official In Flagrante Choir bank account.
Please make sure you use this account only to make any payments with your name as a reference.
Elliot is our Musical Director for the next 8 weeks, and we were delighted to see him again, although he was not at his best as he was recovering from a bout of flu, and it was much appreciated that he came to spend the evening with us even though he was probably wishing he was curled up in bed.
As many of you know, Elliot is an actor, musician, and composer. Just before the dreaded Covid, he was on tour with a musical production called the Million Dollar Quartet where he played the part of Jerry Lee Lewis.
The Million Dollar Quartet is an impromptu jam session featuring Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny Cash on December 4, 1956, at Sun Record Studios in Memphis, Tennessee. This session was initially reported in the Memphis Press-Scimitar and later released in different formats, including The Complete Million Dollar Session and Elvis Presley: The Million Dollar Quartet. The gathering occurred by chance when Perkins recorded new material, and Elvis, a former Sun artist, dropped by. Johnny Cash joined later, and the session is noted for its gospel songs and the informal nature of the gathering. This event is significant in rock and roll history, highlighting the contributions of these artists to the music scene in the late 1950s.
Elliot chose two of the gospel songs and arranged them especially for us. He has challenged us with four and sometimes five voice parts and given us a wide range of voices.
Peace in the Valley is a 1939 song written by Thomas A Dorsey. Elvis Presley performed the song at the close of his third and final appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, which reached 54.6 million viewers. The song has become one of the ten best-known gospel standards of all time and has been performed and recorded by numerous artists.
Some words have two or maybe three notes. Don’t be tempted to try and rush things.
Basses keep it a gentle, mellow rumble.
‘Oh yes – keep the ‘s’ at the end short and clean and not sounding like a hiss!
There are some Oohs (yes, for the Sops as well!). Keep them bright so they don’t sound flat.
There is also an Alto split, so those in the front two rows are Alto 1s, and the second two rows are Alto 2s. Remember who you are for next week!
Down by the Riverside is an African American spiritual. Its roots date back to before the American Civil War. The song was first recorded by the Fisk University jubilee quartet in 1920 (published by Columbia in 1922), and there were at least 14 black gospel recordings before World War. Because of its pacifistic imagery, Down by the Riverside has also been used as an anti-war protest song, especially during the Vietnam War
Tenors & Basses, be ready for the ‘ain’t gonna study war no more’ coming quickly in bar 16/17
The Aahs for Tenors and Basses allow for a short breath but Sops and Altos do not breathe (sounds like having Eamonn back!) during your Aahs.
On the chorus, Sop 2s remember to go down on ‘study’.
The pronunciation of ‘study’ is tricky. The slightly longer part is on ‘stuuu’ with a short ‘dy’ so it is like ‘stuuuudy’ and not ‘studddddy’ Have a little practice at home.
On a final note: Another first – we made it into the local newspaper, The Richmond & Twickenham Times and the local Guardian thanks to REACT, the charity we supported from our most successful Winter Concert.
Look out in Dropbox for any new songs. Print them off and bring them with you next week.
See you all then!
Elvis is leaving the building
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