Chandos Tour 2017

Here are some pictures of our walking tour around Leipzig. Our tour guide, Sylvia, told us of how the demonstrations which led to the bringing down of the Berlin Wall started in Leipzig. 70,000 people took to the streets and what resulted (in only one month - just shows you what 'people power can do') led to the reunification of the nation. The pictures are of the mural dedicated to those demonstations and the church and small square where it all began. And also a picture of our walking group. We're not off on a demo - note, no placards! - but to see this wonderful city.

Our music-free day today took us to the infamous Colditz Castle, home to hundreds of Second World War POW's from many nations. There were 300 attempts made to escape it's alleged impenetrable walls; 31 were successful, including one by 1970's politician Lieutenant Colonel Airey Middleton Sheffield Neave, who was later assassinated by the INLA. We learnt of life within it's walls during an excellent guided tour. The prison housed mainly Officers of the Allied Armies (and the naughty people who had escaped from other camps!)and, contrary to the usual view of POW camps, had 3 meals a day, were allowed privileges, parcels from home and were allowed to write to, and receive letters from,  loved ones. One very sombre part of the Castle's history is the murder of 84 people who were 'euthanased' by Hitler in 1938 by being starved to death there, before it became a Prisoner of War establishment. There was a Dutch clergyman interred there during the war who play...

Our first full day in Leipzig was busy and informative. One of the main features was seeing the monument statue dedicated to Johann Sebastian Bach. Apparently he was third in line for the job at St. Thomas's Church! Just shows - third time lucky! We learnt that the name Leipzig is thought to come from something to do with 'dirty water'! Not very glamorous! However, the name Solihull derives from 'soily hill' or 'soily hole' (as registered in the Doomsday Book) so the guide was happy that we weren't too disappointed with this rather unexotic name for her city!

We didn't have much time to explore the lovely old university town of Jena, because it was straight in to rehearsal as soon as we arrived. The Lutheran church is beautiful in it's stark simplicity, with a wonderful acoustic. We began the Hall elujah Chorus far too fast, in that echo it just sounded a mush of noise! However, slowing it down a bit worked wonders. After dinner came the concert. There were about 130 in the audience, with many younger people. Immediately there was an "issue". Stephen, our organist, was at the back of the church up in the organ loft; we were on the Sanctuary steps at the front. Between John and Stephen were a couple of large chandeliers. They were turned off during the rehearsal, but now they were on. John and Stephen couldn't now see each other, so the first few pieces got off to slightly tricky starts! However, they were eventually turned off and all was well. The audience were hugely appreciative, with much sustained app...

As it is now only  24 hours till the Choir departs for Leipzig,  my mind is transported back to the last time we were on Tour in Germany (Berlin). Our first concert was in a beautiful medieval town called Neuruppen. Upon our arrival, we were greeted like royalty by the local choir, who told us that they had arranged a boat trip around the lake with lunch served on board. This was an added bonus and we were soon boarded and enjoying a peaceful, leisurely sail around Neuruppen lake. The clock hit midday and a tannoy announcement brought the welcome news that lunch would be served. Some of us had discovered menus on board and most of the choir had already decided what they would be feasting on. "The lunch today is soup" Mr Tannoy announced. "You may have this soup with a sausage or without a sausage in it. All you need to say to the waiter is 'with' or 'without'." It was certainly an unusual way to order lunch and soup with a frankfurter in it...

After eighteen months of planning, we had our final rehearsal in the U.K. tonight  before we jet off to Leipzig on Thursday for our Concert Tour. You may think that our musical director would have dismissed us at the end with a few gems of musical wisdom to ruminate and cogitate upon,  passages to practice, and swathes of music to commit to memory to improve our performance. Not a bit of it! We left St Helens Church with these profound nuggets of  excellence ringing in our ears: Sopranos are permitted to sound young and innocent. The altos, on the other hand, are expected to sound mature and like they have been "round the block a bit"! And if  anything should go wrong (this never happens, of course!), just imagine you've trodden in a cow pat. But don't worry if you do this; just continue to enjoy the view! You can continue to follow our blog whilst we are abroad. See you in Leipzig!

A goodly audience enjoyed our concert Music for Leipzig last night at Shirley Methodist Church.  Our "big" pieces, Mendelssohn's Four Sacred Partsongs and From the Bavarian Highlands by Elgar, went down very well, and they were stunned by our opening Hallelujah Chorus - sung from memory! Our organist, Stephen Perrins gave a magnificent account of JS Bach's Fantasia in G , and one of our altos, Rosemary Asher, brought the house down with a selection of well-known "songs from the shows". Following Rosie's spot came a lovely contrast when John paired the Ave Verum Corpus by William Byrd with Ola Gjelo's Ubi Caritas - two pieces written 500 years apart but which go together so well.  The rest of the programme included rousing anthems by Ireland, Bairstow and Wood.  We finished by giving a whether-you-want-it-or-not encore in the shape of John Rutter's The Lord Bless You and Keep You , again sung from memory. All bodes well for our t...