Hart Male Voice Choir: Members Page

Members Page

DID YOU KNOW........

Antonín Tučapský (composer of 'And Beauty Came') studied in Brno (Czech Republic) before beginning his career as composer, teacher and conductor. From 1964–1972 he was conductor of the famous Moravian Teachers’ Male Voice Choir. He came to Great Britain in 1975, and was appointed Professor of Composition at Trinity College of Music. Here he had more time to develop his compositions, mostly choral or chorally based, having first performances in this country. Conversant with the various compositional theories and trends of the twentieth century, he remains essentially a tonal composer. He was awarded an Honorary Fellowship of Trinity College of Music(1985) and retired in 1996.
During his career he received various awards and prizes for his compositions and cultural activity. Masaryk University, Brno, his alma mater, bestowed on him Doctor Honoris Causa in 1996. From 1975 Antonin Tucapsky devoted much of his time to Composition rather than choral conducting. His compositions have been published in the Czech Republic, Germany, France, Canada, USA and mostly in England.(source Wikipedia)

DID YOU KNOW........

Siegfried Sassoon (1886 - 1967) - who wrote 'And Beauty Came Like the Setting Sun' from 'Everyone Sang'
With war on the horizon, a young Englishman whose life had heretofore been consumed with the protocol of fox-hunting, said goodbye to his idyllic life and rode off on his bicycle to join the Army. Siegfried Sassoon was perhaps the most innocent of the war poets. John Hildebidle has called Sassoon the "accidental hero." Born into a wealthy Jewish family in 1886, Sassoon lived the pastoral life of a young squire: fox-hunting, playing cricket, golfing and writing romantic verses. Being an innocent, Sassoon's reaction to the realities of the war were all the more bitter and violent -- both his reaction through his poetry and his reaction on the battlefield (where, after the death of fellow officer David Thomas and his brother Hamo at Gallipoli, Sassoon earned the nickname "Mad Jack" for his near-suicidal exploits against the German lines -- in the early manifestation of his grief, when he still believed that the Germans were entirely to blame). As Paul Fussell said: "now he unleashed a talent for irony and satire and contumely (scornful or insulting treatment) that had been sleeping all during his pastoral youth." Sassoon also showed his innocence by going public with his protest against the war (as he grew to see that insensitive political leadership was the greater enemy than the Germans). Luckily, his friend and fellow poet Robert Graves convinced the review board that Sassoon was suffering from shell-shock and he was sent instead to the military hospital at Craiglockhart where he met and influenced Wilfred Owen. Sassoon is a key figure in the study of the poetry of the Great War: he brought with him to the war the idyllic pastoral background; he began by writing war poetry reminiscent of Rupert Brooke; he mingled with such war poets as Robert Graves and Edmund Blunden; he spoke out publicly against the war (and yet returned to it); he influenced and mentored the then unknown Wilfred Owen; he spent thirty years reflecting on the war through his memoirs; and at last he found peace in his religious faith. Some critics found his later poetry lacking in comparison to his war poems. Sassoon, identifying with Herbert and Vaughan, recognized and understood this: "my development has been entirely consistent and in character" he answered, "almost all of them have ignored the fact that I am a religious poet."
(source: famouspoetsandpoems.com)

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"'Dem Bones" or "Dry Bones" or "'Dem Dry Bones" is a well-known traditional spiritual, often used to teach basic anatomy to children (although its description is far from anatomically correct). The melody was written by James Weldon Johnson. Two versions of this traditional song are widely used, the second an abridgement of the first. The lyrics are based on Ezekiel 37:1-14, where the prophet visits the Valley of Dry Bones and brings them to life by mentioning God's name. (source Wikipedia)

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Ludwig van Beethoven's Christus am Ölberge (in English, Christ on the Mount of Olives), Op. 85, was initially composed in Hetzendorf during a two-week period in 1801. With a libretto in German by the poet Franz Xaver Huber, it was first heard on April 5, 1803 and revised for another Lenten performance the following year.
Beethoven was quite critical of the oratorio, thinking it too dramatic in nature and the orchestra and chorus too under-rehearsed in its premiere performance. He, too, panned Huber's libretto saying, "I would rather set Homer, Klopstock, Schiller to music. If they offer difficulties to overcome, these immortal poets are worthy of it." Huber agreed, saying, "I know that the text is extremely bad," and Beethoven waited almost ten years to publish the piece (explaining the relatively late Opus number). It is interesting to note that Beethoven eventually did set Schiller to music in his monumental Ninth Symphony, almost twenty years later.
Although the piece, Beethoven's only oratorio, enjoyed immediate public success following its premiere, it has since drifted into obscurity and is now rarely performed, being commonly regarded as being below Beethoven's usual standards of excellence. However, the "Welten singen..." finale chorus has enjoyed some popularity on its own, usually being rendered as an "Hallelujah". (source Wikipedia)

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Lajos Bárdos (who composed Dana Dana) was born October 1st 1899 and died in 1986. He studied at the Budapest Academy of Music with Kodály and Siklós. He served as a teacher in a secondary school and at the academy as a professor of music. The aim of his compositional and conducting career was to develop Hungarian choral life, a goal he shared with Kodály. Toward this end he conducted many choral groups in Budapest while cultivating choral activity in rural areas. His compositions, as in the work of Bartók and Kodály, incorporate Hungarian folksong elements and are models of choral writing. (Source: Lynn Vought, All Music Guide)

DID YOU KNOW........
Rudolph, Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder, and Blitzen are the most commonly cited names of Santa's nine reindeer. Apart from Rudolph, the names of the reindeer come from a poem "The Night Before Christmas" (also known as “A Visit from St. Nicholas") which was written in 1822 by Clement C Moore, whose father was the bishop of New York. It is now the tradition in many American families to read the poem every Christmas Eve.
The reindeer known today as Donner and Blitzen were originally Dunder and Blixem (the Dutch words "Donder" and "Bliksem" stand for "thunder" and "lightning", as rendered in English orthography). Dunder was later reprinted as Donder, which developed into Donner (the German for "thunder"); while Blixem quickly became Blixen and then Blitzen (German for "lightning").
All of these reindeer names are recited in the first verse of the popular song Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer which started life as a poem created in 1939 by an American advertising executive called Robert May. He was requested to produce a poem that could be given away to children by the Santa Claus employed by Department Stores at Christmas! Working as an Advertising Executive Robert May had a natural flair with words and was able to compose the Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer poem which was specifically designed to appeal to children. This marketing ploy was a massive success and approximately 2.5 million Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer poems were given away in the first year of its publication! In 1949 the singer Gene Autry recorded a musical version of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer composed by Johnny Marks.

DID YOU KNOW........
"Chattanooga Choo Choo" was a big-band/swing song featured in the 1941 movie Sun Valley Serenade, which starred amongst others Sonja Henie, Glenn Miller and his Orchestra, The Modernaires, Milton Berle and Joan Davis. It was performed in the film as an extended production number, featuring vocals by Tex Beneke, Paula Kelly, and the Modernaires followed by a production number showcasing Dorothy Dandridge and an acrobatic dance sequence by The Nicholas Brothers. The 78-rpm commercial version of the song was recorded on May 7th, 1941 for RCA Victor's Bluebird label and became the first to be certified a gold disc on February 10, 1942, for sales of 1,200,000. (source Wikipedia)

DID YOU KNOW........
Down By The Salley Gardens (Irish: Gort na Saileán) is a traditional Irish song. Sometimes known as "An Traigh Mughdhorna", "The Maids of Mourne Shore" and "The Mourne Shore", it can be sung in both English or Irish. It is sometimes listed as a poem by William Butler Yeats, after the words were included in a book of his poems, The Wanderings of Oisin and Other Poems, published in 1889. However, the case is that Yeats published the poem as a tribute to oral tradition; it was based on a fragment of a song he recalled hearing an old Irish woman sing. Yeats noted that 'This is an attempt to reconstruct an old song from three lines imperfectly remembered by an old peasant woman in the village of Ballysodare, Sligo, who often sings them to herself.' The verse was subsequently set to music by Herbert Hughes to the air The Maids of the Mourne Shore in 1909. "Salley" is most likely from the Irish saileách, meaning willow, i.e., a tree of the genus Salix. (source Wikipedia)

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Lamorna (Cornish: Nansmornow) is a small fishing village on the Penwith peninsula in Cornwall. Lamorna has been immortalised in the song 'Way Down to Lamorna', about a wayward husband receiving his comeuppance from his wife. There seems to be some evidence that a similar song exists titled Pomona which originates from Manchester in the north of England. It is not clear which is the earliest version.
"they rode all night" comes from the habit of couples hiring a cab with curtained windows so that the two could "be alone" for several hours if necessary. Women (possibly married) would disguise themselves with a veil so that they would not be recognised by their acquaintances while they picked up a young gentleman for the evening.

Granite taken from Lamorna Cove has been used world wide for construction, most famously the Thames Embankment. (source Wikipedia)

DID YOU KNOW........
Thomas Tallis (circa 1505–23 November 1585) was an English composer. Tallis flourished as a church musician during the often stormy 16th century in England. He occupies a primary place in anthologies of English church music, and is considered among the best of its earliest composers.
Little is known about his early life, but there seems to be agreement that he was born around 1505, toward the close of the reign of Henry VII. His first known appointment to a musical position was as organist of Dover Priory, a Benedictine priory at Dover (now Dover College) in 1532. His career took him to London, then (probably in the autumn of 1538) to the Augustinian abbey of Holy Cross at Waltham, until the abbey was dissolved in 1540, then Canterbury Cathedral, and finally to court as Gentleman of the Chapel Royal in 1543, composing and performing for Henry VIII (until the king's death in 1547), Edward VI (1547-1553), Queen Mary (1553-1558), and Queen Elizabeth I (1558 until the composer's death in 1585). He remained in the service of the Sovereign for the rest of his life as organist and composer, avoiding the religious controversies that raged around him.
Tallis married around 1552; his wife, Joan, outlived him by four years. They apparently had no children. Late in his life he lived in Greenwich, likely close to the royal palace: a local tradition holds that he lived on Stockwell Street.(source Wikipedia)

DID YOU KNOW........
"Men of Harlech" is a song and military march describing events at the battle for Harlech Castle in 1408, which pitted the forces of Owain Glyndŵr against the future Henry V of England.
"Men of Harlech" is sometimes mistaken for the national anthem of Wales. This is incorrect; the Welsh anthem is "Hen Wlad fy Nhadau" ("Land of my Fathers"). Still, the song occupies an important place in Welsh national culture. It is often the regimental march of regiments historically associated with Wales. The Royal Regiment of Wales, now the Royal Welsh (UK), the Royal Canadian Hussars (Montreal) and the Governor General's Horse Guards, Canadian Forces are three examples.
The music was first published in 1784 as March of the Men of Harlech in Musical and Poetical Relicks of the Welsh Bards. It first appeared with lyrics in Gems of Welsh Melody, edited by the Welsh poet, John Owen ("Owain Alaw"), published in London, England and Wrexham, Wales in 1860. The Welsh lyrics are by the bard John Jones (Talhaiarn), and the English lyrics by W.H. Baker. Since then, many different versions of the English lyrics have appeared.(source Wikipedia)

DID YOU KNOW........

"Along the shore from Lazy Head, hard a-beam Half Island, Tonight we let the anchor go, down at Fogarty's Cove" -- from Fogarty's Cove, by Stan Rogers
The place that inspired the Stan Rogers song consists of two parcels of provincial Crown (public) land running along the rugged southern shore of Chedabucto Bay, Nova Scotia.
Fogarty's Cove is a spectacular wilderness: steep cliffs, fine sand beaches, and smooth granite stones line the unspoiled coast. Thick spruce and hardwood forests, bogs, and three small lakes tucked behind the bay offer refuge for moose, bear, owls, bald eagles, osprey, and many plants, including the rare arithusa orchid. The wild atmosphere of the Fogarty's Cove Coastal Wilderness Area has lured outdoor travellers for generations.(source: the official website of the Nova Scotia Public Lands Coalition.)

DID YOU KNOW........
Red River Valley is a folk song often sung by the Sons of the Pioneers - an American cowboy singing group founded in 1933 by Leonard Slye (better known by his later screen name Roy Rogers). It is still widely believed to be a Texas re-working of a popular American song of 1896, "In the Bright Mohawk Valley"; however, research has found that it was known in at least five Canadian provinces before then. This finding led to speculation that it was composed at the time of the Wolseley expedition (1870), to the northern Red River Valley in Manitoba, and depicts the sorrow of a local girl or woman as her soldier lover prepares to return to Ontario. (source Wikipedia)