Wellington College Choral Day

Singing with 350 other children in a choral group is quite an experience, but 7 keen singers from the Elstree Year 6 rose to the challenge magnificently in the Chapel of Wellington College on Thursday, 22nd February. It must have been even more daunting for the conductor, Tom Appleton from the The-Come-&-Sing Company to be faced with such a multitude to control, but his enthusiasm and energy inspired the schoolchildren, and the Elstree boys in particular, to master some demanding pieces of music over the course of the day.

The singers started with an energetic warm-up, which was definitely necessary as it was a very cold day and the Chapel had cooled down as the doors were open and everyone assembled. The first session was spent tackling a most unusual piece, ‘Something Keeps Drinking Half Of The Swimming Pool’, which required the children to sing in an expressive way, concentrating on some difficult rhythms. There was then a break and a chance to run around on the lawns near the Chapel, before the second session in which the boys learnt a rather mystical song called ‘The Other World’ which required the assembled singers to split into 3 groups. Towards the end, Tom Appleton introduced the boys to a Negro spiritual, ‘Keep Your Lamps Trimmed and Burning’, and told the boys how such spirituals developed in the Deep South emerged and how they often contained subversive messages to inspire the slaves who sang them.

Next was lunch, which the boys ate in another theatre venue, the Old Gym; the Elstree boys then did a walk right round the whole of the main college buildings before warming up with another run-around near the Chapel.

The afternoon session was a long one with a lot of hard work done as it suddenly dawned on all the singers that the concert at the end of the day was fast approaching. Tom Appleton told the boys about George Butterworth, who was a composer killed tragically young in the trenches of the First World War; the Chapel was split into two groups across the aisle to sing ‘Is My Team Ploughing?’ from A Shropshire Lad in which a dead farm-worker asks a friend about how things are from beyond the grave. The singers also learnt another song, ‘Fast Car’, which required strong lung control for some very long and loud notes, and they had to get their tongues around some rapid lyrics in ‘Jazz-Man’ by Benjamin Britten.

Just as energy was flagging, everyone decamped to the Dining Room for sausages, chips and beans, followed by doughnuts. It took quite a while to get everyone through, but the Elstree boys were amongst the first to be fed and so they were in their seats ready for the final run-through before the concert at 4:45pm.

And what a concert it was. The chapel was packed and after an introduction and welcome from the Master of Wellington, Julian Thomas, the 350 schoolchildren sang through their programme, which also included an extra item that had all of the audience singing and moving as well in a round. Undoubtedly, the highlight was the poignant Butterworth song from A Shropshire Lad, which echoed evocatively around the huge chapel with its massive war memorial to the many Old Wellingtonians who had died in the wars of the 20th Century. However, the concert was an exuberant outburst of enthusiastic singing which was thoroughly enjoyed by the parents and friends who squeezed into every available space.

RNMD