notices

22/4/2024:  Choir Social: The Royal Oak, Alloa: 26/4/2024 at 7:30 pm:

We are looking forward to our Choir Social on the night of Friday 36/4/2024, from 7:30.  There are still some spaces left so if you previously couldn't make it and have changed your mind, contact Sue to secure a place for an evening of good company, good food and entertainment.  Hope to see you there.

22/4/2024:  CTSI Awards Ceremony:  Devonvale Hall 6/6/2024 and Rehearsal on 3/6/2024:

We have accepted an invitation from Clackmannanshire Third Sector Initiative for a subset of the choir to perform at their awards ceremony in the Devonvale Hall, Tillicoultry on Thursday 6th June.  The event commences at 6:30 pm and should run till about 8:30.  We will be performing a set of numbers from our Spring programme for about 25 minutes, starting at 7 pm.

The rehearsal for the gig will be at the usual time and place (7 pm on Monday in the Tillicoultry Parish Church Hall) on 3/6/2024.  If attending, you will have held on to your music from the Spring Concert, so please bring your folder to the rehearsal. 

27/2/2024:  President's Trivia - Ethel Smyth:

I mentioned on Monday that we had previously performed Ethel Smyth's wonderful 1910 'March of the Women' (which became the anthem of the Suffragette movement), but failed to jog a few memories.  I've trawled through past programmes and discovered to my surprise that we performed it (in an arrangement for women's voices by Sandy Sinclair) in two consecutive Spring Concerts, 2017 and 2018, the latter being Sandy's farewell performance as our Conductor.  This is a link to it performed by the Glasgow University Chapel Choir:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnMjOAxktS0

I also said I recalled hearing the same stirring melody on Radio 3 in the Overture to Ethel's opera 'The Boatswain's Mate', but that I was unsure which was a recycling of the other.  Well, the opera dates from 1914, so that means that Ethel considered the Suffragette March to be too good a tune not to get a second outing in an opera.  I concur.  Here is a link to the Overture, complete with manuscript score and conductor's annotations:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXDlk63uGkQ

All the great composers recycled, including Bach (ah, Bach!), Handel, Vivaldi, Mozart, Beethoven ...

I hope we get to revive the 'March of the Women' some day.  It's a cracker!

Donal