All Saints’ Parish Centre, Hoole, Chester
A Polychoral “Tour of Europe”
VOICES & INSTRUMENTS
Tutor: Alison Kinder
Location: All Saints Church Centre, Hoole
Reviewer: Helen Jackson
This was my first workshop with NWEMF so I was unsure what to expect. First of all, a committee member’s kindness in collecting and returning two of us from/to Chester station was a welcome introduction. The regular supply of tea, coffee, biscuits was also good. And so to the point of the day – the music.
Alison Kinder’s outstanding expertise was accompanied by a fun but fantastically clear approach, isolating some areas for extra focus, but also letting us sing/play through some other sections to get a sense of the music. The superb organisation of chairs to music parts to separate (and different) choirs for each piece was wonderful. She even managed to pull it all back together for the Gabrieli Omnes Gentes despite choir members’ messing it up!
At first I was nonplussed by where to sit and which line to decide to sing (my voice is fairly flexible) but I soon appreciated the freedom to choose different lines for different works. I started by singing the chorus 1 alto line in Hassler’s Jubilate Deo. What excellent practice that I had to count bars and couldn’t see the rest of the score! It made me realise how lazy we singers can be. From a lovely collection of music it’s difficult, perhaps not possible, to decide on a favourite, although I think marginally ahead for me were the Peter Philips, Ecce Vicit Leo, and Omnes Gentes by Gabrieli with its lively second tenor line.
Perhaps the best recommendation is that, writing this, I’m wishing I could spend today working on these pieces to hear more of the interplay of all the parts (instrumental and vocal) than, I confess, I did on Saturday when I concentrated on my line, albeit not being totally deaf to other parts. I’m looking forward to coming to more workshops.
Helen Jackson
First published in November 2016 Newsletter
