Holy Trinity Church Theale
February 2012
In Quires and places where they sing...
It seems ages since Christmas, doesn’t it? But before looking ahead to 2012 I must start this article by thanking the Choir for all their hard work during December 2011. We seemed to have more calls on our time than ever, but we did thoroughly enjoy all the outings and services.
It was fun to sing for Theale WI’s Christmas meeting on 12th December, and performing again with Andrew Bosley who very kindly accompanied us. The only problem was that we had to provide our own keyboard, allegedly portable but not easy to transport from car to hall in torrential rain. After a very enjoyable evening singing and sharing a delicious buffet, we emerged to find the rain had not abated one jot, and several of us got soaked again, returning it to the car and unloading it at home. Ah well!
The Candlelit Christmas Carol Service on 19th December was a moving occasion and it was great to have enough choristers for a creditable attempt at the Hallelujah Chorus from Messiah. We are very pleased to welcome two new members of the Choir, Tara and Shauna Spargo. Some of you may have heard Tara’s lovely clear voice in the solo first verse of Once in Royal David’s City at the beginning of this service.
Our carols before Midnight Communion went well, too – although we had agreed that in order to start the service in candlelight at 11.30, only the sanctuary would be well lit. I hadn’t thought through the implications of this when deciding that we would sing our final carol (Carol of the Bells) while returning to the back of the Church. The piece is supposed to fade away, but this effect was a little less organised than it should have been, as each of us walked into the darkness and found it impossible to see our music. As usual, my New Year’s Resolution for 2012 is to start planning Christmas music in June – and I must attend to such practical details! For the second consecutive year, illness threatened to deprive us of our tenor section for this service – but this time we had a little warning and James and Mark courageously –and very effectively – stepped into the breach, while Philip and Lindsay maintained the bass line. Thankfully this year the illness was not serious, Peter is back on his feet and Noel is home after seeing her family in the States so we will soon be blessed with TWO tenors!
So now it’s 2012. We’re back in the swing of Choir Practice and still need more members in every voice part so please come and join us, 7pm in the Church every Thursday evening. As usual we’ll be preparing anthems for communion and special services and we’re working towards singing some Fauré at Passiontide and a big anthem and introit at Easter. We’re especially looking forward to a major community event at Trinity (first weekend in June) when we hope to present another Theale Sings! with opportunities for everyone to come and have a go, and to enjoy varied music from local groups. Watch this space for more information.
Congratulations from everyone in the Choir to Catherine, Chris and Lawrence Burnham on the birth of little Jonathan Isidore.
Kate Morgan
07824337999
katedelnevo@hotmail.com
