Open House and Rehearsal Time

Yesterday (Saturday 21 September) we found ourselves expectedly singing to visitors on the route of the 55 Broadway Open House Tours and worked on Betty Botter, Con Amores, Chitty  chitty bang bang, and learned Jesu Joy from scratch. We had a bit of a discussion about this wonderful piece of Bach with its 1-2-3, 1-2-3 beat (which the basses get to sing most of the time) and here is an instrumental version of an extract from Bach's original Cantata 147, in German to help you get a feel for how it goes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZKGD2IIhjk.

Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring (or simply "Joy") is the most common English title of a piece of music derived from a chorale setting of the cantata Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147 ("Heart and Mouth and Deed and Life"), composed by Johann Sebastian Bach in 1723. The same music on different stanzas of a chorale closes both parts of the cantata.

A transcription by the English pianist Myra Hess (1890–1965) was published in 1926 for piano solo and in 1934 for piano duet. It is often performed slowly and reverently at wedding ceremonies, as well as during Christian festive seasons like Christmas and Easter. (Source - Wikipedia.)

We welcomed one new prospective member and our former chairman, Nina, and made a good sound with 4S 2A 2T ands 1B. On Tuesday 24 September, again at 55 Broadway, we plan to concentrate on Chitty, Con Amores, and Va Pensiero.

​And below is some social media publicity about our forthcoming event at Southwark Cathedral.