What did you sing in the school choir ?

Subject: RE: What did you sing in the school choir ?
From: Silver Slug
Date: 18 May 07 - 08:56 AM

Spanish Ladies, "We will rant and we'll roar, like true British sailors! Something by Britten, all in Latin, Benedictus, Qui Venit are the only words I remember, and I've probably miss-spelt them as well. We had a brilliant music teacher by the name of Riddell. His best composition highlighted various school 'characters,' ending with a verse which alluded to an affair between the sports master and sports mistress. They both turned a bright red and left the school hall rather hurriedly! Happy days!

Subject: RE: What did you sing in the school choir ?
From: SINSULL
Date: 18 May 07 - 09:04 AM

Christus Vincit
Do, A Deer
Old Woman (Do you want to marry me?)
In Old Judea
A variety of Christmas, Easter and other religious songs.
Long Live the Pope (Yes, Joe, we sang it loud and clear)
Bring Flowers of the Fairest
Salvet Mater
At The Cross (Her Station Keeping)
Lots of Broadway tunes but folk was discouraged - all those dead mothers and babies, I think.

Subject: RE: What did you sing in the school choir ?
From: GUEST,Mark Addison
Date: 18 May 07 - 12:49 PM

Burns' "My Love's an Arbutus" as an audition for the school choir. Was told I couldn't sing, and hence became a bass guitarist in later life! Now I write lyrics for people who can sing. (This is actually a beautiful song, but was so clinically presented it passed me by until later, enlightened life)

Also had to sing "Floreat Bostona", the school song. The school Latin teacher later said that even he was unable to fully translate it!

Music lessons were held in the sports pavilion, whereas the school "music room" was used for other purposes altogether.

Dear Old Boston Grammar! (Boston UK)

Subject: RE: What did you sing in the school choir ?
From: MMario
Date: 18 May 07 - 01:06 PM

I loved to sing - but when I went to try out for the school chorus - the first thing the teacher said was (while waving arms about in different directions)

Sopranos that way
Altos that way
Tenors over there
Baritones by that wall
and Basses over there.

If you don't know what you are, leave.

so I left.

But since my siblings had me convinced I couldn't(shouldn't) sing -- I didn't sing except in mass groups for a couple decades after that.

Subject: RE: What did you sing in the school choir ?
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 18 May 07 - 01:24 PM

So Mark A you had a 'Floreat Bostonia'...we had a 'Floreat Totnesia'.....as our school song.....is it just a grammar school thing or are others prone to latin singing also.

Subject: RE: What did you sing in the school choir ?
From: GUEST,Mark Addison
Date: 18 May 07 - 03:01 PM

"Floreat Fen Street" or whatever doesn't have the same ring about it does it?

(Don't reply that I sound elitist...I'm writing ironically here! This grammar school boy runs a window cleaning business and plays bass with Byards Leap)

I remember...

Floreat Bostona, Floreat Priores, Ne qui secunda sit laborandum

Chorus:
Laborandum, Laborandum..ad infinitum

Translations gladly received.

Subject: RE: What did you sing in the school choir ?
From: Moses
Date: 18 May 07 - 03:02 PM

'The Ash Grove' is the only non-hymn I can remember singing in our primary school choir, run by dear Mr Horsfield. He made sure not only that the members of his choir stood upright, didn't fidget and didn't pick their noses but that all his class members knew by the end of the first term with him how to spell 'difficulty' and 'necessary', two words he said were most often spelled wrongly.

He would almost invariably play 'The Dam Busters' theme or some other rousing tune after morning assembly. And we always had morning assembly at which we all sang two hymns.

What chance to the kids have to sing now? No music at the one or two assemblies they have each week.(Primary schools may be different but I work at a secondary school and hardly ever hear children's voices raised in song). Almost no one goes to church. The best most of them can hope for is a quick blast on the karaoke at a friend's birthday party. And the sad thing is they don't know what they're missing.

We really were lucky.

Subject: RE: What did you sing in the school choir ?
From: Betsy
Date: 18 May 07 - 03:51 PM

Panis Angelicus in the choir.

In the classroom Sally Gardens is the earliest I can remember, "Oh Soldier Soldier won't you marry me ....." ,and another - "With her one eye in the pot and the other up the chimney with a bow wow wow ....",(loved that one).
Then,when the radio was used to do music lessons ( supposedly ) many many of Britains school kids were hooked up to the same BBC radio lesson)we were forced to sing a rubbish song called Marianina, which went, "Marianina , Marianina, come, oh come and turn us into foam". Jeez, what a bit of brainwashing at an early age can do !!!! - remembering shite like that.

Subject: RE: What did you sing in the school choir ?
From: GUEST,Phillipa Tilsed
Date: 01 Aug 26 - 02:42 PM

Does anyone remember the full lyrics of

He was a Chinese Mandarin
Golden bells on his palanquin.
Eyes as soft as the moon in spring
Hair with the sweep of a swallow's wing
??????????????????
???????? and tiny feet.

Subject: RE: What did you sing in the school choir ?
From: The Og
Date: 01 Aug 26 - 04:12 PM

I remember singing The Little Drummer Boy ...1954 or 55. Must have been cutting edge back then.

Subject: RE: What did you sing in the school choir ?
From: Joe Offer
Date: 01 Aug 26 - 04:54 PM

We sang Gregorian Chant. We got out of class for funerals, which was fun.
Sister John Bosco said Ronnie Benedict and I were really sharp. I was 40 before I figured out that wasn't a compliment.
-Joe-

Subject: RE: What did you sing in the school choir ?
From: The Og
Date: 02 Aug 26 - 10:21 AM

I remember one of our favorites was Rock of Ages. First verse was a Soprano solo, second just the Alto section (everyone else humming), third = bases (ditto humming), fourth everyone. GREAT arrangement... and the Altos stole the show. We tenors didn't't mind 'cause our part alone was BORING!

Subject: RE: What did you sing in the school choir ?
From: GUEST
Date: 02 Aug 26 - 02:42 PM

“There was an old woman all skin and bones”! All I can remember right now but I loved singing that minor-key melody in harmony.

Subject: RE: What did you sing in the school choir ?
From: GUEST,Ewan McVicar
Date: 02 Aug 26 - 02:45 PM

Various Fish Jubilee Singers spirituals, and something beginning
'In days of old a knight, a gallant gallant knight'.
I remember the tune, but nothing more of the lyric.

Subject: RE: What did you sing in the school choir ?
From: Helen
Date: 02 Aug 26 - 09:35 PM

In primary school and also high school we often used the Sing Care Away, Book 1 published by Novello.

I bought copies of books 1, 2 and 3 after I left school. There are some beautiful songs in it from countries of the UK and Ireland, and other countries plus some classical and modern songs, and rounds.

Some of my favourites are David of the White Rock, The Harp That Once Through Tara's Halls, Ye Banks and Braes, The Ash Grove, Slaves To The World, and Under This Stone.

We used other books in different years including another fave of mine, The Three Ravens.

Our high school music teacher was brilliant and inspiring. I always loved hearing the Senior Choir's performances at the school assemblies. I wanted to join the group but I already knew I was below par with my singing ability. I was in the Junior Choir and we had lots of fun, and also one year each of the language teachers volunteered for some of us to sing at an assembly in a language we were being taught. My sister and I were in the Latin class together and we were in the group which sang the "Gaudeamus igitur" song. Funnily enough a group of women from my school year - and our former Latin teacher - were at a big anniversary celebration for the school about 20 years ago and one of the songs sung by some current students was to that tune so our little group in the audience were trying to remember the Latin words and sing it simultaneously.

One of my absolute best musical memories in high school was when our music teacher taught every music class to sing the round Alleluia - which is just that word repeated throughout the whole song. Then in an assembly the whole school of around 1000 girls sang the song, including the harmonising rounds. OMG! That was amazing to hear.

As an adult I joined a Welsh choir. When I auditioned I was supposed to sing the melody line but I automatically sang the alto harmony. I managed to land a spot in the choir. I invited my Welsh Grandma to come to a performance. She loved it.

Subject: RE: What did you sing in the school choir ?
From: BobL
Date: 03 Aug 26 - 03:26 AM

Usual kiddie stuff in primary school, usual classical stuff later on, church choir after the choirmaster heard me harmonising to "Free Beer For All The Workers". LSO Chorus later on when at Uni.

The school choir performed an arrangement of sea songs, with orchestra and soloists, in a concert. Stuck in my memory is the line:
    "And a drum, a drum for bravery, when he lay dead."
Does this ring bells for anyone?

Subject: RE: What did you sing in the school choir ?
From: Helen
Date: 03 Aug 26 - 04:15 AM

This is the closest version of the Alleluia round that I can find. The version the whole school sang in the high school assembly had even note lengths throughout without the interesting rhythm in the second phrase so it was a lot simpler than this one.

This is a beautiful performance:

Alleluia Round by William Boyce

Subject: RE: What did you sing in the school choir ?
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 03 Aug 26 - 05:12 AM

I missed this thread back in 2007: interesting to see a couple of others who were brought up in Suffolk as I was.
In primary school, we sang from a book, something like “Community Songs for Schools” which included songs from England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland - many of them I now know to be folk songs.
Moving to High School, we had a most amazingly enthusiastic music teacher, “Daisy” (Audrey) Hill, who ran junior and senior choirs, junior and senior orchestras, music weekends collaborating with three other secondary schools to produce a massive choir and orchestra, as well as an annual fully staged opera along with a local boys’ school. (We were all girls, so that was a very popular item!) Those included “The Magic Flute” and “Der Freischutz”.
In those days it would all be “classical” stuff, so plenty of Handel, Mozart, Bach, Haydn, etc, but being in Suffolk, we also did a fair bit of Benjamin Britten, including taking part in “The Ceremony of Carols” at Aldeburgh Festival, and a full production of “Noye’s Fludde” in a local church.
Many very happy memories, and many of us owe a lot to such a visionary teacher.

Subject: RE: What did you sing in the school choir ?
From: Black belt caterpillar wrestler
Date: 03 Aug 26 - 07:29 AM

I most clearly remember singing bass in various carol services from the green, blue and orange "Carols for choirs" books.
My father was the choir master for St Decumen's church in Watchet and he would rope me in for special occasions when he required extra support. I was not religeous myself, but I liked the challenge of learning a new piece at short notice.
We did the Messiah and Elijah amongst others.
I learnt to read the dots for singing but it never tranfered to reading them for playing.
The Wilcox carol arrangements were fascinating is one reason why I like going to the Shaffield carols to this day.

Robin

Subject: RE: What did you sing in the school choir ?
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 06 Aug 26 - 05:37 AM

@Ewan McVicar: you weren’t possibly thinking of this one, were you? We used to sing it in school. Words by Jan Struther, tune “Stowey”, harmonised by Ralph Vaughan Williams. More about it on Wikipedia.
WHEN A KNIGHT WON HIS SPURS
When a knight won his spurs, in the stories of old,
He was gentle and brave, he was gallant and bold
With a shield on his arm and a lance in his hand,
For God and for valour he rode through the land.

No charger have I, and no sword by my side,
Yet still to adventure and battle I ride,
Though back into storyland giants have fled,
And the knights are no more and the dragons are dead.

Let faith be my shield and let joy be my steed
'Gainst the dragons of anger, the ogres of greed;
And let me set free with the sword of my youth,
From the castle of darkness, the power of the truth.

Subject: RE: What did you sing in the school choir ?
From: meself
Date: 06 Aug 26 - 11:23 AM

When I was in elementary school, our music teacher was a hot-headed Irishman who was a brilliant choir-master. Let's see: Westering Home, The Happy Wanderer, All on an April Evening - those are the ones I specifically remember, and then all the usual and a few unusual Christmas carols, of course. And each year he'd have us do a truncated version of some Broadway musical (I was Bert in Mary Poppins, and was assured that my Cockney accent was almost as good as Dick Van Dyke's!). I switched churches to be in his church's boys' choir, which was about as good as they get.

We didn't have a choir in high school, but we put on full-blown Broadway musicals ... which were what got me through that stage of life .....