13 singers turned out on a cold January day to start the new SDFS singing year. Alan confirmed that following the visit of a representative from the 2025 Chichester Fringe, the SDFS had been invited to perform in this event on 1st June 2025. It had been decided that as this was a Chichester based event, and a limited number of places owing to venue size that singers would be drawn from regular attendees at the Chichester SDFS practices. An early request for Chichester singers had produced 17 volunteers which was about the right number required. The singers would be included in the advertising material for the Chichester Fringe and so the evening started with an attempt to obtain a suitable photograph!
Alan had worked out a possible draft programme which would drive some of the practices between now and June at Chichester. Two rousing chorus songs – "Ale Glorious Ale" and "One for the Rook" with Alan suggesting possible harmony lines for those that found it difficult to reach particularly high notes. Continuing with "On Sussex Hills" Alan reminded all that there were some good harmonies to this and they could be found on the SDFS website. Although it’s due to be included in the programme, a "Country Life" practice was firmly declined! Alan stated that harmonies were definitely required in "The Rambling Comber" which was tried next – again these could be found on the SDFS website. The group had two attempts at "Searching for Lambs", taking extra care to stay in key with Julia providing the singing tip that holding in one’s tummy could well assist in this! The ladies present then tried "Ladies Go Dancing at Whitsun", the men coming in with the usual humming after the first verse. It was decided that this arrangement should continue with the ladies taking the main tune as it was a “ladies” song.
After a well earned break, with much enthusiasm for Gordon’s Burn’s Night Poem and Dave G’s excellent rendition of the address to the Hagis in keeping with the theme, the second half of the evening opened with "Summer is a Coming in Again". It was agreed that it was best to leave off the chorus at the end and finish on the last verse. "Hal and Tow" was tried next with the idea that the group start singing it with the chorus and that clapping or a drum would help keep a good rhythm. Continuing the Spring theme, "When Spring Comes In" and "The Magpie" followed with a suggestion that several ladies joined in the harmony when it was next sung.
In response to several other song suggestions, Alan explained that those tried this evening were just a handful of the final programme and others would be introduced in the practices leading up to the Fringe event.
The whole group finished the evening with a joyful “Happy Birthday” to Chris, who was due a birthday at the weekend.
Anne S
No comments:
Post a Comment