Ring the bells of London town
I've volunteered to sing in a new piece of choral music that's on this Friday at St Mary le Bow. I accepted as a help-out-a-friendly-composer thing, but since then it's morphed into a BBC broadcast to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Big Ben's first chime, attended by people like Ken Livingstone. The first rehearsal was tonight, and it was more fun than I'd anticipated.

Note that the press release mentions "a 60-strong choir of keen amateurs and novice singers, who live or work within earshot of the bells." When a group like that has a high-profile concert like this, it's common for professionals to be brought in to bolster each section. So far, two of us are Americans. I anticipate complaints from the Daily Mail.

Choir concerts are normally pretty straightforward: You turn up, say hi to the people you know, have one rehearsal and then perform. The dress code tends to be black tie for men, and either long black or black and white for women. (If you have Goth leanings, choral work is a cast-iron excuse to buy long black dresses and claim them on taxes as a business expense.)

This one was different.

For a start, the conductor is a member of the cast of Naked Boys Singing. For another, we were told that the dress code for this one is "Fabulous." "Evening dress," I thought, but then they went on to say "something bohemian... unusual... that expresses you." I hid my evil grin behind my score. Be careful what you wish for, NakedBoyConducting.

The piece itself is a quite beautiful rhapsody on the Oranges and Lemons rhyme. Interwoven with that theme is a tenor solo singing "All ye that in the condemned hold do lie/ Prepare you, for tomorrow you shall die." The bell-rhymes are in triple time, the exhortation in 4; and the two themes collide, clash and finally unite with "The last man's dead." The composer makes beautiful use of melody and harmony, but imaginatively enough to avoid cliché.

Ok, so:

Singers: They're still looking for people. No cash, but lots of glory. Rehearsal Friday at 3; performance 6.45. I can forward you the email with the score attached.

All others: The performance is at 6.45 this Friday in St Mary le Bow, and I have one (1) ticket to give away. First commenter to ask for it gets it.

Meanwhile, I'm hazily pleased with my rehearsal-after-the-night-before skills. Cheers to fracture242 and Smaff for a truly phantasmagorick evening out.