Making Music's Co-Chief Executive, Barbara Eifler, reports on her recent experience at the mass Welsh male voice choirs' concert at the Royal Albert Hall.
I'm not sure what I was expecting from such an event, but perhaps to come out being utterly charmed wasn't it.
To some, male voice choirs might have a reputation for being old-fashioned, or just plain old, and their repertoire – and uniforms – maybe don't immediately speak to us not familiar with the genre, or to a younger generation, to suggest a must-see concert.
Well, perhaps we should think again.
These guys were singing everything from memory, whatever their age, and clearly had worked hard at something they enjoy.
Yep, most of these folks are probably 60+. And what’s wrong with that – so are a lot of us these days, according to the census. These guys were singing everything from memory, whatever their age, and clearly had worked hard at something they enjoy.
Yep, these guys wear 'old-fashioned' suits and ties and blazers. I am not a fan of such formal wear myself, but I understand why they use it: to look professional, and smart, and feel like a team. Let’s not forget the origin of many such choirs back in the mists of time were as workforce groups, often miners or heavy industry. These guys wanted to look and feel different in their non-working life. Show another side.
Yep, they sing hymns and Welsh favourites and You'll Never Walk Alone and other stuff you've probably heard many times before (‘mum’, my daughter commented during the concert with surprise, ‘you know most of these songs!’).
But doesn't the same apply to classical music concerts (c'mon, how many Beethoven 9, Tchaikovsky 5, Bruckner 4 have you heard: confess!) – isn't half the attraction, and isn’t it fully expected, that this is music you already know?
What this concert did is move me. And I think that is the strength of leisure-time choirs and instrumental music groups.
Technically speaking, you may have heard some of these songs sung faster, or with more dynamic interest or articulation (though with 500+ singers in the Albert Hall I assume that is a challenge, whoever your singers). But that, I concluded, was only half the story.
What this concert did is move me. And I think that is the strength of leisure-time choirs and instrumental music groups. What you could see on stage here was the pride, the enjoyment, the commitment these guys have to their choirs, to their music – and to their country, in this instance, as these were all Welsh male voice choirs (albeit not all from Wales!).
These blokes were not just entertaining their audience in a warm and personable way, they were clearly proud of their tradition, of their nation, and enjoying themselves. As an audience member, you weren’t ‘just’ sung at, you felt embraced as a part of the family. And did I mention the audience also get to sing three songs? (They know how to win me over.)
We need to not just be in these concerts ourselves, we need to attend them, too, and feel part of that communal experience – something delivered to perfection by these 23 choirs.
So, utterly charmed I was.
