Reunited and It Feels So Good

*no actual hugging occurred during the making of this reunion – there is still a pandemic going on after all. 

It really does feel so good. We’re back rehearsing together again, and we couldn’t be happier. Our wonderful members have come back to us ready and eager to sing, and for that we are so grateful. 

Our new term began on 23 September and we’ve had two great rehearsals getting stuck in to one of our favourite pieces, Fauré’s Requiem. We’ve sung this piece a number of times over our 75 year history, but we keep coming back to it because it’s beautiful. This is the very first classical choral work I ever learned as a 17-year-old, my school choir usually preferring to stick to pop tunes and jazz classics. It hooked me with its haunting melodies, and I haven’t had the pleasure of performing it in its entirety since. We have done a movement here and there over the last few years, most memorably the Agnus Dei (probably my favourite movement) at the memorial service of a former member of ours who requested us personally. That was a very moving day for all of us. 

We’ve eased back in over these last two rehearsals, taking long warm-ups to get back in the swing. Adam always does a wonderful job of making sure the warm up prepares us for the session ahead, and this week was no different as he drilled us on the rhythm of the tricky Offertoire section, clapping out the syncopations, and we had to get it right before we could do any singing! But we got a good sing in the end, and no mistake. I think we’re sounding very good already, if I do say so myself.

We’re at a new location this term, St Olave’s in Hart Street, a church with a very rich history. The first recorded church on this site was known as ‘St-Olave-towards-the-Tower’ in the 13th century.  Located opposite Pepys Street and a stone’s throw from Fenchurch Street Station, it was Samuel Pepys’s local church and he is buried there. He even had a personal entrance added to the church from his Royal Navy office so he could get to services without getting caught in the rain. Additionally, the church features in Charles Dickens’s The Uncommercial Traveller, renamed St Ghastly Grimm. Also recorded on the parish burial registers is fictional character Mother Goose – apparently interred in 1586. 

And of course the return of rehearsals has also meant we’ve been able to return to the pub. Or actually in our first week, we visited a wine bar. While we’re still getting the lay of the land around our new rehearsal venue, we haven’t established what our favourite spot is just yet, but we do love catching up over a pint or a tipple after a satisfying, challenging sing. 

So glad this community is thriving once more, and we are still welcoming new members too. We’ll be hosting a Come and Sing of the Fauré Requiem on 14 November – more details, including tickets, will be available soon so watch this space!