Christmas

Hi everyone.

We are singing on December 25th, and we have two songs to record – these will supplement material recorded in 2020.

At this stage, it looks like we’ll be restricted to having just 10 singers on the platform. However, there is the possibility for all to sing in the recording. So, we hope you’ll enjoy learning and pre-recording your part by Sunday 5 December.

Note that the composer is playing the piano in the video below.


Ecce Novum

Rehearse and record to one of these tracks

Ecce Novum – piano accompaniment
Ecce Novum – soprano and piano
Ecce Novum – alto and piano
Ecce Novum – tenor and piano
Ecce Novum – bass and piano

Latin pronunciation guide

Ecce (E-tchay), novum (noh-voom) gaudium (gow-dee-oom),

Ecce, novum mirum (meer-oom)!

Virgo (Veer-go) parit (pah-reet) filium (fee-lee-oom),

Quae (Qwhy) non novit virum.

Se (Say) ut (oot as in foot) pirus (peer-oos) pirum (peer-oom),

Gleba (Glay-ba) fert (fairt) papyrum (pa-peer-oom),

Florens ililium (lee-lee-oom).

Ecce, quod (quad) natura (na-too-rah)

Mutat (Moo-taht) sua (soo-ah) iura (ee-oo-rah)!

Virgo parit pura (poo-rah)

Dei (Day) filium.


Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

Rehearse and record to one of these tracks

Hark! the Herald Angels Sing – organ with click
Hark! the Herald Angels Sing – soprano with click
Hark! the Herald Angels Sing – alto with click
Hark! the Herald Angels Sing – tenor with click
Hark! the Herald Angels Sing – bass with click


Send in you recordings by Sunday 5 December

Upload your completed audio or video file into this Dropbox folder (adding your name and email address), then that’s it. Graham will do the rest. Thanks for joining in!

NOTE: You can record as many times as you like until you are happy before sending in the track. Professional musicians will often do many ‘takes’ before they are happy with a performance. Remember too that your voice will be blended with the others – it is not a solo!


If you want a refresher – or this is your first recording

You’ll need 3 things

  • The score – available above
  • Something to play the accompaniment – a computer, tablet or smartphone
  • Something to record your voice – a smart phone is best

Have a look at the video below and you’ll see the three steps involved in creating a virtual choir from home.

Record yourself singing to the guide track (your preferred rehearsal track above)

Once you know your part well, record yourself into your smart phone while listening to the accompaniment through headphones from your playback device. You can record video or audio only – either is fine (instructions in video below).

Dr Guy Bunce has a good overview of what we are trying to achieve (and has a good sense of how much fun it can be) – this works whether you are recording audio only, or video and audio:


Send in your audio file

Upload your completed audio or video file into this Dropbox folder (adding your name and email address), then that’s it!