There are two sections on this page. The upper section, Choir and Concert Notices, contains links to copies of various documents and emails that have been sent or distributed to members. Below that is a section containing some Rehearsal Aids for specific concerts.

Choir and concert notices

To see copies of any of the items below, click on the icon to the right of the item you wish to see.

Date	Item	Link
07 Jun 2021	Recording of online rehearsal on Monday 7th June
24 May 2021	Recording of online rehearsal on Monday 24th May
21 May 2021	Abandoned rehearsal plans. Please write to your MP.
17 May 2021	Recording of online rehearsal on Monday 17th May
23 Mar 2021	Adjusted plans for the rest of the season
22 Mar 2021	Week 4 of Sonoro Faure Requiem Workshop - Monday 22nd March [There was a fault with the WCS session recording so this link displays the public session that was run on the Sunday.]
15 Mar 2021	Week 3 of Sonoro Faure Requiem Workshop - Monday 15th March
08 Mar 2021	Week 2 of Sonoro Faure Requiem Workshop - Monday 8th March
01 Mar 2021	Week 1 of Sonoro Faure Requiem Workshop - Monday 1st March
22 Feb 2021	Recording of the history of music and its notation on Monday 22nd February with Michael
15 Feb 2021	Recording of an exploration of Verdi's Requiem on Monday 15th February with Neil
08 Feb 2021	Recording of a special session on Monday 8th February with guest Will Todd
07 Feb 2021	WCS' participation on Sonoro's Fauré Requiem Workshop series
01 Feb 2021	Recording of online rehearsal on Monday 1st February with Sarah B
25 Jan 2021	Recording of online rehearsal on Monday 25th January with Michael
18 Jan 2021	Recording of online rehearsal on Monday 18th January with special guest speaker
11 Jan 2021	Recording of online rehearsal on Monday 11th January with Neil Video of vocal cords in action!
19 Dec 2020	Premiere on YouTube of our record of Michael Higgins' Christmas Fantasy
14 Dec 2020	Recording of mixed live/online rehearsal - Choir C - Monday 14th Dec Recording of mixed live/online rehearsal - Choir D - Monday 14th Dec
12 Dec 2020	Instructions for recording O Come all Ye (Virtual) Faithful
07 Dec 2020	Recording of mixed live/online rehearsal - Choir A - Monday 7th Dec Recording of mixed live/online rehearsal - Choir B - Monday 7th Dec [Cheryl sends her apologies for you hearing the train announcements during this!]
30 Nov 2020	Recording of the online rehearsal on Monday 30th November
23 Nov 2020	Recording of the online rehearsal on Monday 23rd November
23 Nov 2020	Rehearsal voice tracks for Michael's four arrangements
16 Nov 2020	Recording of the online rehearsal on Monday 16th November
09 Nov 2020	Recording of the online rehearsal on Monday 9th November
02 Nov 2020	Recording of mixed live/online rehearsal - Choir C - Monday 2nd Nov Recording of mixed live/online rehearsal - Choir D - Monday 2nd Nov
26 Oct 2020	Recording of mixed live/online rehearsal - Choir A - Monday 26th Oct Recording of mixed live/online rehearsal - Choir B - Monday 26th Oct
19 Oct 2020	Recording of the mixed live/online rehearsal - Monday 19th Oct (some audio issues)
12 Oct 2020	Recording of the mixed live/online rehearsal - Monday 12th Oct
12 Oct 2020	(1) Summary of the rules & conditions for attending live rehearsals at present (2) Tasks for the special assigned roles at each rehearsal session
10 Oct 2020	Newsletter on returning to (limited) in-person rehearsals
05 Oct 2020	Recording of the online rehearsal on Monday 5th October
28 Sep 2020	Recording of the online rehearsal on Monday 28th September
26 Sep 2020	Rehearsals in St Mark's church - Covid-secure arrangements
05 Sep 2020	Results and summary of the Choir Survey 2020
31 Aug 2020	Newsletter for new season 2020-21
22 Jun 2020	Summer Newsletter at the end of an interrupted season
06 Jun 2020	#VirtualWCS Bright Morning Stars goes live on YouTube
31 May 2020	Last 'rehearsal' of the season
27 Apr 2020	Mozart, Myths and the Mass
19 Apr 2020	Rest of season cancelled
21 Mar 2020	What's happening for the rest of this season
08 Mar 2020	Statement on COVID-19
10 Dec 2019	Concert notes for Christmas 2019
28 Oct 2019	Concert notes for Carmina Burana concert

Rehearsal Aids

Virtual Choir - Rachmaninov

If you were unable to download the two files from the email about the virtual choir then they are available here as well:

Bogoroditse Dyevo Score Bogoroditse Dyevo Guide/Click Track

Rachmaninov : All-Night Vigil

We will be singing movements 1-11 & 15 in this concert in Southwark Cathedral in March 2020, although not in order. The programme has been devised by Richard Wilberforce and intertwines selected movements from Britten's Cello Suites 1 & 3 with those from the All-Night Vigil. The sequence of the programme can be found and downloaded here.

In the table below there are links to items on YouTube that will demonstrate how to pronouce the text in Church Slavonic. Good luck!

1 :	2 :	3 :	4 :
5 :	6 :	7 :	8 :
9 :	10 :	11 :	15 :

If you want to hear a good recording on YouTube of all the movements then Neil recommends this one :

If you want to buy a really good recording on CD for your collection then Neil recommends the one by the Latvian Radio Choir, which you can find here: . You can also obtain it through other online stores like Naxos Direct and Presto Classical. If you do use Amazon to buy a copy, then make sure you have registered with Amazon Smile (it costs you nothing) and select 'Wimbledon Choral Society' as your chosen charity. We might make a few pence out of it!

Carmina Burana

Please use this guide for Neil's preferred pronunciation of the text in Carmina Burana.

Clouds of Dreams (Summer 2019)

The following clips and aids may be useful when learning the items for the Clouds of Dreams concert. Click on the YouTube or MP3 icon to the left of the relevant item.

	Aaron Copland : Ching-A-Ring-Chaw
	Ola Gjeilo : Evening Prayer (performance with the composer : starts at 3:08)
	Ola Gjeilo : Ubi Caritas
	Michael Higgins : Appalachian Songs - Bright morning stars
	Michael Higgins : Appalachian Songs - Little wheel a-turnin'
	Michael Higgins : Appalachian Songs - He's gone away
	Moses Hogan : Hold On
	Libby Larsen : Beneath These Alien Stars
	Morten Lauridsen : Sure on this Shining Night
	Andrea Ramsey : Doors of Daring
	Jake Runestad : Let my love be heard
	Eric Whitacre : Sleep

Da Vinci Requiem

We are very grateful to Michael Higgins for having created these rehearsal aids for Cecilica McDowall's Da Vinci Requiem. Click on the required item that you wish to hear and use. Either it will open directly in your device's MP3 player or it may download first depending on your device's rules. Each file is about 4MB each so please be aware of this if you are downloading on a device with a limited tariff.

Movement / Voice	Sop 1	Sop 2	Alto 1	Alto 2	Ten 1	Ten 2	Bass 1	Bass 2
Introit & Kyrie
Lacrimosa
Sanctus & Benedictus
Agnus Dei
Lux Aeterna

Christmas Concert 2018

The following clips and aids may be useful when learning the items planned for the Christmas 2018 concert. Click on the icon to the left of the relevant item.

	Chris Hutchings : Adeste Fideles (individual parts)
	Chris Hutchings : Adeste Fideles (performance)
	Jan Sandström : Det är en ros utsprungen (performance)
	Michael Higgins (arr) : Tomorrow shall be my dancing day (performance)
	Nico Muhly : Bright Star Carol (performance)
	Peter Burton : Come and sing the Christmas story (MIDI)
	Sarah Quartel (arr) : Silent Night (performance)

Brazilian Songs of Nature

Roland Perrin, whose arrangements of these Brazilian Songs we are performing in the Duke Ellington concert, has kindly supplied MIDI and MP3 files of the items we are planning on doing. The MP3 versions are the more natural-sounding ones (albeit with an artificial chorus!) but the MIDI ones may be useful for the technically-minded ones amongst you. Clicking on the MIDI logo will take you to a folder hosted by DropBox that contains all of the MIDI files and from where you can download all of the files either individually or all in one go. Clicking on the MP3 logo will download the relevant file directly to your device.

Song	MIDI	MP3
Double Rainbow
My Country
Outono
Passarim
Waters of March

Te Deum - Text

In October 1891, Dvorak was appointed Director of the National Conservatory in New York, his duties to commence the following autumn. His new employer commissioned him to write a cantata to mark the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus' discovery of America, the text for which would be supplied in due course. The promised text never arrived so, not wanting to let down this new employer before he took up his post, Dvorak turned to the great Latin hymn of praise Te Deum Laudamus and used the text from this instead. During rehearsals, Neil has often referred to the English meaning of parts of the text to highlight the music score. Tenor Richard Simon has kindly taken the whole text and laid it out in its full translation so that you can see the entire context. Click here or on the image to the left for this.

Monteverdi Vespers

As you will have seen from the first rehearsal, the vocal parts written in the Vespers don't match our typical vocal parts or ranges all the time so it is necessary to rejig them in a few places. Neil has issued two sets of vocal allocations - one that designates which SATB vocal part sings which vocal line in the music and the other that distinguishes between the solo & chorus sections. Both items are available here. Click on the two images on the left to download the two documents (one per image) and please make sure you have transferred all the instructions to your copy. In addition to this, there are a few places in No2 (Dixit Dominus) that involves chanting on a single note. Click here or on the image to the right to download the details for these as well.

Several members have asked about recommended recordings of the work. Neil's selection is as shown below - any one of these will do as they are all equally as good. Click on the one you wish to select and you will be taken directly to the Amazon page for this item should you wish to purchase it directly from Amazon.


Monteverdi Choir John Eliot Gardiner	The Sixteen Harry Christophers	The Gabrieli Consort Paul McCreesh

Christmas 2016 - Adeste Fideles

The following sound files may be useful when learning Chris Hutchings' Adeste Fideles, which we will be singing in the Christmas Concert. Chris has created these sound files for us. For each part there are two versions - the first has just that particular voice part playing, the other has it with the other voices playing quietly in the background. Just click on the relevant image to download the associated sound file. Each one is about 3.5MB in size so may take a few seconds to download. You may need to click on the downloaded file for it to play.

Voice Part	Alone	With
Soprano 1
Soprano 2
Alto 1
Alto 2
Tenor
Bass 1
Bass 2
All Parts

French Gothic

The following clips on YouTube may may useful when learning the items planned for the French Gothic concert. Click on the adjacent YouTube icon to open a new window with the clip.

	Durufle : Notre Pere	Listen to the words only:
	Vierne : Messe Solennelle
	Martin : Notre Pere
	Poulenc : Exultate Deo
	Durufle : Requiem

Ikons

The following clips on YouTube may be useful when learning the items planned for the Ikons concert. Click on the adjacent YouTube icon to open a new window with the clip.

	Rachmaninov : All-Night Vigil ("Vespers") - 1*
	Rachmaninov : All-Night Vigil ("Vespers") - 2
	Rachmaninov : All-Night Vigil ("Vespers") - 3
	Rachmaninov : All-Night Vigil ("Vespers") - 4**
	Rachmaninov : All-Night Vigil ("Vespers") - 5
	Rachmaninov : All-Night Vigil ("Vespers") - 6
	Arvo Pärt : Bogoroditse Devo
	Gorecki : Totus Tuus
	John Tavener : Svyati
	Wood : Hail, Gladdening Light

* Ignore first 45 seconds of the track. You'll hear why!

** Ignore first 10 seconds.

A New Dawn

The following clips on YouTube, Soundcloud and Dropbox may be useful when learning the items planned for the New Dawn concert. Click on the adjacent YouTube or Soundcloud icon to open a new window with the clip. Clicking on the Dropbox icon will open a shared folder containing an audio file for each part (S1, S2, A1, A2, T1, T2, B1, B2) - please click on the one relevant to you to download the audio file to your computer. These have been created especially for you by Michael Higgins, for which many thanks.

	James MacMillan : A New Song
	Arvo Pärt : The Beatitudes
	Eric Whitacre : Lux Aurumque
	Ola Gjeilo : Northern Lights
	Morten Lauridsen : Sure on this Shining Night
	John Tavener : Svyati
	Will Todd : The Lord is my Shepherd
	Howard Goodall : Love Divine
	James MacCarthy : A Quoi Bon Dire
	Roxanna Panufnik : Declare the Wonders