Our Jubilee Concert, February 28th 2009

I'm not sure where to post this, or if anybody cares at all...But I feel like I should at least give it a try.

Our choir (a Christian male choir) has celebrated its 80th anniversary with a Jubilee Concert on Saturday, 28 February 2009.
In case any of you are interested in what we sound like, here's your chance. If you click this link, you can have a listen to the songs we've sung during the Concert. Mind you, a church isn't exactly a concert hall...
Songs are also listed below, with translations when needed and some comments on our performance.

Enjoy (I hope), and feel free to leave your comments.



1.Heer van hierboven

Although it sounded good from where I was standing that evening, the recording paints a different picture. Definitely not top notch.

Verse 1:
Lord, how long have You been at my side,
walking with me, guiding me like an indecisive child?

Chorus 1:
Lord from above, should I fail to believe without seeing,
please let me hear Your footstep.

Bridge:
Until Your peace becomes reality within me,
be patient with me.
Keep walking with me until I find Your Heaven
like a child.

Verse 2:
Is it Your pace, is it Your Spirit that I recognize
every time I find myself alone with You in silence?

Chorus 2:
Different from usual, free without end,
peacefully calm - that's how I feel
when I know I'm Yours.

Bridge
Verse 1


2. Liefde

Not good. We've done this one numerous times, and numerous times better.
If you listen closely you can hear quite a few nasty glissandos that shouldn't be there.

Love, love, make me by Your love
Father, Father, one of Your children.
You are patient with all Your children;
guide us, Lord, into Your glorious realm.
(repeat last two lines)

Peace, peace, Lord, give us the peace,
Father, Father, of Your glorious realm.
You are the giver of all good;
guide us, Lord, into Your realm of peace.
(repeat last two lines)


3. Psalm 150 (by César Franck)

Sung with Dutch lyrics, but I didn't feel the need to translate, as this is a well known Psalm.
One of the better pieces of the concert. We had to rehearse it without the organ, which makes it extremely difficult.


4. Nader mijn God, tot U

Good, this one.

Nearer my God, to Thee, is what I pray
Be the road rocky, please stay at my side -
That's when my soul is at peace,
and assured of Your faithfullness I know I'll find eternal peace on Your shore.

When the ladder rises in front of me
that guides my soul to You, source of light -
Then, amidst my peril, I see Your angel host
that praises You, Blesser of all.

And if one day Your angel host beckons me
to go up into Your sunshine, rejuvenated and free -
Then I'll be cheering and shouting when I approach Your throne:
I'm Your son eternally, and eternally near to Thee.


5. Lord I'm coming home

A well known gospel song that has been recorded multiple times.
We've only sung the first two verses (I believe there are at least three).
Terrible pronunciation...


6. Hallelujah (from Händel's "Messiah")

Not bad, not bad at all...although it gets a bit sloppy towards the end. We missed a few entries there.


7. Daar is kracht

Nice one, with the trombones.

Verse 1:
Do you wish to be free of sin and guilt? There's power in the blood, there's power in the blood!
Realize your salvation has cost this much - There's power in the blood of the Lamb!

Chorus:
There's power, power, wondrous power in the blood of the Lamb;
there's power, power, wondrous power in the dear blood of the Lamb!

Verse 2:
The evil roams around, as you will have noticed. There's power in the blood, there's power in the blood!
Do you wish to be redeemed and stand in Love? There's power in the blood of the Lamb!

Chorus

Verse 3:
Come ye to Jesus, He died for our sins. There's power in the blood, there's power in the blood!
Listen to Him and accept Him today. There's power in the blood of the Lamb!

Chorus.


8. Amazing Grace

That's where the bagpipe came in....although a bit too soon.
We've only sung the first verse.
Not very good, this one.


9. Ik droomde eens

Better than ever, this song.

(a summary of the song's content)
I had a dream one day and I saw myself walking along the sea shore.
I wasn't alone, as the Lord was walking alongside of me.
I saw our footsteps in the sand: two pairs of them.
But then I took a closer look and noticed something odd:
I could see only one pair of footsteps during my times of trouble.
It made me sad to see I had been on my own, and I asked the Lord why...
Why did You leave me, when I needed You most?
He turned His loving face to me and said: Beloved child,
when times were rough - that's where I carried you.


10. Psalm 23 (by Klaas Jan Mulder)

Dutch lyrics set in an Anglican style.
Again, I didn't feel the need to translate as this is a well known Psalm too.
We've a tendency to go ritenuto with this one, and our conductor had to work really hard to keep us in pace. We didn't quite follow...


11. La Vergine Degli Angeli (from Verdi's "La Forza Del Destino")

Italian lyrics, that I find hard to translate.
This is certainly not the best piece of the concert, with sloppy pronunciation and ditto entries.


12. Hoor je de trompetten

Oh boy...There's about three men spoiling the trombone intro. Our conductor cannot be pleased with that.


Can you hear the trumpets making a joyful sound?
Those are heralds gathered around Jesus throne.
Where His light has shone, darkness has disappeared.
Where would mankind be without that Star that has lead us for ages?
Can you hear the trumpets making a joyful sound?
Let us testify of our love for Him, Who was born for us in Bethlehem.

Can you hear the trumpets, sounding for His name?
He gathered millions in love.
His followers are safe, night will yield for day.
God gave us His only Son who died on the cross, He died for us and lead us home.
Can you hear the trumpets? Death is defeated!
We will live thanks to Christ our Lord. He gave His life, let us thank the Lord.

Can you hear the trumpets?
What do the trumpets say,
those sounding trumpets?
That Christ is King!


13. King All-Glorious

One of the best pieces of the evening, if I say so myself.

Way cool. Sounds very nice.



Cat

Way cool. Sounds very nice.



Cat


Thank you. Now at least I know my hard work hasn't been in vain. :)

Fine stuff, Henk...didn't know you sang!  :)

Here's to another glorious 80 years, but I'm afraid if you're gonna have bagpipes with 'Amazing Grace', it's best left to the experts (some military band, if memory serves!)

I shudder at the memory of our schools' ritual 'slaughter' of 'Morning Has Broken' (and boy, did we break it! No wonder Cat Stevens converted!)

Wow better than most choirs in the states. :)

Wow Henk....I had no idea!  The choir sounds reasonably tight....it takes me back to when I was a boy alto in the Brisbane St Stephens Cathedral Choir (mum made me join....but I secretly enjoyed it). Your recordings made me remember the Men in the choir ....who we always saw as OUR backup (but it was probably 50/50. ;) ....that is until our voices broke and we either became one of them ..or left the choir (as was my case). The beauty about being in a choir is that you don't have to be a star. You just need to be able to hit the right notes...and collectively the sound is great (and fun to be a part of).

So...what are you...a Tenor ,Baritone or Bass? Are these all sung in Dutch or are some in German? Are there boys and men? I ask this because I only started really noticing the higher soprano voices later on.... :o

1.Heer van hierboven - I liked the unison which then blossomed into the 3 part (or was it 4 part?). The sounds blended so well that it was hard to tell. I guess...if it's THAT hard to tell ....it MUST be 4 part??
2. Liefde - a very pretty little melody with all parts firing. (read later that you weren't happy with it)
3. Psalm 150 - much more dour and theatrical. I liked some of those minor notes - almost a dischord!
4. Nearer My God To Thee - always been one of my favourites to sing (ever since the older Titanic movie).  You made it sound great too...
5. Lord I'm Coming Home - Haven't heard this one before. Nice to have the soprano part to break it up a bit. Was it a woman or a boy?
6. Hallelujah - a classic ...and you all 'haendeled' it well..
7. Daar is kracht - Was that tuba in there with maybe French Horns? (read later it was trombone)
8. Amazing Grace - hmmmm...not too certain about those pipes. They don't sound good on the recording....did they sound okay live?
9.Il droomde eens - I really liked the piano effect in this one.... a change of pace ..and beautifully sung (Never heard that one either).
10. Psalm 23 - this one wouldn't play for me....no sound at all.
11. La Vergine Degli Angeli - Very traditional sounding. The soprano is back! You sure it's just not Barry Gibb? Someone coughing in the background lol...
12. Hoor je de trompetten - I thought it was an instrumental for a while. Nice piece....
13. King All-Glorious - This one sounded really good!

All in all ...damn fine performance!!  Sure, it needs work here and there but it's really difficult to get a large group singing all parts perfectly! I guess the name of the game with chorale singing is practice, practice, practice. You should be proud of your work Henk... ;)...

Thanks for sharing... :)

Wonderful job, Henk!  Thanks for sharing.

Fine stuff, Henk...didn't know you sang!  :)


It's gonna be 12 years pretty soon since I joined the choir, but of course I enjoyed singing even before that.


Here's to another glorious 80 years, but I'm afraid if you're gonna have bagpipes with 'Amazing Grace', it's best left to the experts (some military band, if memory serves!)


I totally agree with you. We should've let that piece untouched.


I shudder at the memory of our schools' ritual 'slaughter' of 'Morning Has Broken' (and boy, did we break it! No wonder Cat Stevens converted!)


No chance of a recording, I assume...? ::)

Wow better than most choirs in the states. :)


Our local newspaper's critic will probably disagree... Then again, he left during the break and STILL managed to write a full review... ::)

Wow Henk....I had no idea!  The choir sounds reasonably tight....it takes me back to when I was a boy alto in the Brisbane St Stephens Cathedral Choir (mum made me join....but I secretly enjoyed it). Your recordings made me remember the Men in the choir ....who we always saw as OUR backup (but it was probably 50/50. ;) ....that is until our voices broke and we either became one of them ..or left the choir (as was my case). The beauty about being in a choir is that you don't have to be a star. You just need to be able to hit the right notes...and collectively the sound is great (and fun to be a part of).


Oh, I'm definitely not a star... I've the ability to pick up a melody reasonably fast, after hearing it sung/played once or twice, which is very helpful. I can't really read notes, though, and I know my voice isn't quite suitable for singing solo - so I'm perfectly happy being in a choir.


So...what are you...a Tenor ,Baritone or Bass?


I'm a baritone.


Are these all sung in Dutch or are some in German?


All songs are either in Dutch or in English (apart from "La Vergine Degli Angeli", which is in Italian).
We've sung some works in German in the past, though - mostly classical, and one or two Christmas songs.


Are there boys and men? I ask this because I only started really noticing the higher soprano voices later on.... :o


There are only men, no boys. In fact, I'm the youngest member of the choir. The soprano you hear is a female singer.



1.Heer van hierboven - I liked the unison which then blossomed into the 3 part (or was it 4 part?). The sounds blended so well that it was hard to tell. I guess...if it's THAT hard to tell ....it MUST be 4 part??


It's four part, yes. There's two tenor parts, a basso part and a baritone part, but it's not always easy to tell all parts apart. This goes for all pieces, by the way.


2. Liefde - a very pretty little melody with all parts firing. (read later that you weren't happy with it)
3. Psalm 150 - much more dour and theatrical. I liked some of those minor notes - almost a dischord!
4. Nearer My God To Thee - always been one of my favourites to sing (ever since the older Titanic movie).  You made it sound great too...
5. Lord I'm Coming Home - Haven't heard this one before. Nice to have the soprano part to break it up a bit. Was it a woman or a boy?
6. Hallelujah - a classic ...and you all 'haendeled' it well..
7. Daar is kracht - Was that tuba in there with maybe French Horns? (read later it was trombone)


If I remember correctly, one of the trombonists switched to tuba for this piece. Or maybe it was with another piece... :-\\


8. Amazing Grace - hmmmm...not too certain about those pipes. They don't sound good on the recording....did they sound okay live?


Well, like I said...it wasn't our best piece (to put it mildly). I hope we never try this again.
The bagpipe sounded slightly off key in the church as well, if that's what you mean. ;)


9.Il droomde eens - I really liked the piano effect in this one.... a change of pace ..and beautifully sung (Never heard that one either).


And you'll probably never hear it again, too. Unless you ever decide to visit the Netherlands...


10. Psalm 23 - this one wouldn't play for me....no sound at all.


Hmmm...It plays for me. :-\\


11. La Vergine Degli Angeli - Very traditional sounding. The soprano is back! You sure it's just not Barry Gibb? Someone coughing in the background lol...


Oh the coughing... >:( You can't stop people from coughing, can you?


12. Hoor je de trompetten - I thought it was an instrumental for a while. Nice piece....
13. King All-Glorious - This one sounded really good!


I was rather pleased with those two myself.


All in all ...damn fine performance!!  Sure, it needs work here and there but it's really difficult to get a large group singing all parts perfectly! I guess the name of the game with chorale singing is practice, practice, practice. You should be proud of your work Henk... ;)...

Thanks for sharing... :)


Thanks for taking the time to listen and write a full review. :)

Wonderful job, Henk!  Thanks for sharing.


Thanks for listening. :)

I had to sing along with Hallelujah Chorus because when I was in choir in high school, we did that one. Yeah, I was singing the second alto part what I remembered of it.  :-\\



Cat