Thomas Coats
Memorial
Choral
Society
|
Thomas Coats
Memorial
Choral
Society
|
|
|
Our 2009 concert will be a
celebration of two important musical anniversaries:
the death of Joseph Haydn, and the birth of Felix Mendelssohn. Both composers wrote well known large-scale
choral works: the programme comprises
Haydn’s Harmoniemesse, and the choral finale of Mendelssohn’s second symphony,
the Lobgesang (‘Hymn of Praise’). Once
again, the choir will be accompanied by the Kelvin Ensemble, with
soloists from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama.
The Harmoniemesse
is so called for its
prominent wind parts, ‘Harmonie’ being the German for wind band. It is the last of Haydn’s six ‘late great’
Masses, composed for the name-day of his employer’s wife in 1802. The work features stunning choruses and
beautiful solos. Like Beethoven’s ninth,
Mendelssohn’s second symphony culminates in a long and jubilant choral
finale.
The work was written to
celebrate the invention of printing with moveable type, and so the text
is drawn from Gutenberg’s Bible, the first book to be published in this
way 400 years earlier. The finale has
dramatic recitatives, lyrical solos and duets, and exuberant choruses
in praise of God.
I’m really excited about the rehearsals
for this concert, and I’ve already begun to learn the music. In
case you can’t wait either, there’s a wide selection of available
recordings of both works. The vocal scores will be provided by
the Choral Society.
Rehearsal
Dates
Tuesdays:
Jan 6, (Open Evening) Jan 13, Jan 20, Jan 27, Feb 3, Feb 10, Feb 17,
Feb 24, Mar 3, Mar 10
Fridays: Feb 20, Feb 27, Mar 6, Mar
13
Sunday: Mar 15
Concert : Mar 15 @ 8pm
Recruitment
At the rehearsal on
Tuesday 13 January 2009 the choral society will be hosting an Open Evening. This is an opportunity for
people to “try us out” at no obligation. – whether they would like to
become a singing member, associate member or just attend a rehearsal.
We
are keen to recruit some new members as a number of our older members
have decided it is time to join the audience. Flyers
were available during the Choral Festival and we plan to have these
distributed to libraries, local churches etc. However the best way is
by personal contact and therefore a flyer is enclosed with this
newsletter for members and we would ask that you either pass this to a
friend or have it displayed somewhere. If
you need more flyers please contact George or Joanna.
Concert Management
We are
looking for people willing to help with the concert management of our concert in March. Non singers as well as
singers are needed. We are setting up a small committee to manage front
of house, stewards and tea/coffee on the night, plus pew moving before
the rehearsal and after the concert.
We will need
plenty of helpers for all of these roles - no singing experience is
necessary. We also need to arrange lighting and PA systems for
the night. If you can help in any of these ways (or know someone else
who would like to be involved), please contact us.
Concert Tickets
Roger reported a drop in ticket sales in
2008 and that the average number of tickets sold by each member is now
3.1. This is an important part of our income and is a
contributory factor to our deficit in 2008. The AGM agreed that
ticket prices would rise to £8 and that we would create a
category of tickets for students priced at £5. This would
be particularly aimed at encouraging the Kelvins to sell tickets and
bring a younger audience. It was also proposed that each member
should have 6 tickets to sell. We know it is not always easy to
sell tickets but we would ask all members to try to sell as many
tickets as possible.
Concert Dress
Joanna would like to start a discussion
about our concert dress. We have had the same concert dress of white
top and black bottom (to quote our musical director during the choral
festival!) since the choir was founded. Is it time for a change?
I would be interested in views on this and also suggestions for
alternatives – and I am not thinking of some “corporate” uniform!