Information for members

There are some good tips for choir members at Sam Evans' blog

Practise Tracks & Recordings for the Spring Concert

 
Mozart Vespers
 
Choral Line is a choral music specialist who sell rehearsal tracks to help singers practise at home.
 
You can order a CD from Choral Line for £13.99 or download the rehearsal tracks to your laptop/tablet for £9.99.  You will hear all the choral parts (without words) and the accompaniment.  Each voice part is played by a different instrument (Soprano: Flute; Alto: Oboe; Tenor: French Horn; Bass: Bassoon).  Your part is played more loudly than the other parts to enable you to follow it easily.
 
You can use the weblink below, or telephone 01285 644845 / 01326 567300, or email music@choraline.com
 
Weblink: https://www.choraline.com/store/choraline-rehearsal-cds-and-mp3-files/mozart-solemn-vespers-vesperae-solennes-de-confessore#prices
 
Cyber Bass is a free online resource to help singers practise at home.
 
If you follow the link below you will find a list of the movements, then you click on the voice part that you wish to hear.  You can increase or slow down the speed of the track if you want to.  You will hear all the choral parts (without words) and the accompaniment.  Your part is payed more loudly than the other parts to enable you to follow it easily.
 
http://www.cyberbass.com/Major_Works/Mozart_W_A/mozart_KV339_vespers.htm
 
Choir Parts is a free online resource that shows you the sheet music on the screen whilst playing your part.
 
Soprano: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8W2m7oU3Jw&list=PL9SD3GZ81VdhI1xWHh81anbcX0j2ih2d0
Alto: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJxmw5WQMo0&list=PL9SD3GZ81Vdi4icd8dvRq6G93SMMhEfwH
Tenor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Za9a0kCEP74&list=PL9SD3GZ81VdhO5PXJr8kYdpBOEOzuDKVj
Bass: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOpEL7LeKZk&list=PL9SD3GZ81Vdir7z7n6FCLMQucB10X9hT9
 
If you would like to hear the words as well as the vocal line, there is a recording of the vespers by The English Concert & Choir (conducted by Trevor Pinnock) available online at
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvON_NE5-bY
 
Rutter Feel the Spirit
 
Here is a link to use to practise individual parts There is a recording of the Cambridge Singers, conducted by John Rutter himself, available online:
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DY5ceWBEYCw&list=PLXpQCRhZw2lZS5P-6DmYVM9--tKqzIKgJ
 

Our last concert

Our Christmas Concert (2018) was a great success. We had an audience of about 180 people which really filled the Church.

Thank you to David for all his hard work and enthusiasm and for introducing us to some new music.

The collection raised a fantastic £712.64 for the Devizes and District Foodbank.

Thanks to Waitrose for the very generous donation of the wine for the event. As a result, we were able to donate a further £190 to the foodbank from choir funds.

Rehearsals start again on Monday, January 14th in preparation for our concert on 30th March.. We will be singing Mozart's Solemn Vespers and John Rutter's Feel the Spirit.

Gill will be our conductor for this term.

 

 

Concert details

1. There will be boxes at the back of the church in which to place all your borrowed music after the concert. Please do not take any home with you. If for any reason you do not return your music on or before the night of the concert, it is important that you get in touch with Beverley at beverley.lyle@gmail.com  to arrange its return. Late return of hired music incurs large fines for MCS.
2. Dress code: Men: Dinner suits, bow tie, white shirt, black shoes. Ladies: Long black skirt or trousers, black shirt/blouse (no jumpers) and MCS scarf. You can buy or borrow a scarf from Jane Scott.
3. HELP. We usually meet around 1.00pm in the church to set up.
4. There will be refreshments (red and white wine, soft drinks )in the interval.
5. There will be a retiring collection for a local charity.
6. You will be told where to sit for the concert and your name will be on the allotted seat.

Last concerts

Useful resources

Cyberbass 

www.cyberbass.com provides a really useful resource. For a large number of works you can listen (for free) to the choral parts played with your part emphasised.

Concert Music on the Naxos Music Library

If you a member of Wiltshire libraries then you have free access to the Naxos Music Library - an online resource of many, many thousand CDs! There are almost certainly recordings available of pieces in our next concert to listen to online.
 
Access is simple:  
Go to http://wiltshire.naxosmusiclibrary.com/page.library_cardno.asp
Enter your library card number without the spaces - 9 999999 001 becomes 9999999001
Once logged on you can search for whatever takes your fancy

Concert Music on Spotify

If you aren't a member of Wiltshire Library then you could try http://www.spotify.com/ which provides free streaming of all sorts of music - you have the odd short advert but probably less than on commercial radio.

Once you've signed up and installed the client you can access all sorts of content.

If you do install the client I'd suggest you look at your Windows firewall settings. Access these via 'Control Panel', 'Windows Firewall', then open the exceptions tab and unclick the selection next to Spotify. That will stop Spotify accepting incoming network connections.