Carol Concert

 Yesterday afternoon I was at St Mary's Church for a very enjoyable carol concert, given by the Hay Madrigals (or Hay Mads!) and the Come Back Quire.

The Come Back Quire is composed of the members of the Village Quire who didn't want to give up singing together when the Village Quire wound up operations, and I think they've recruited some new members, too.  Some singers were in both choirs.  Sadly, one of the tenors couldn't make it, and one lady had a footstool ready to rest her knee because she only had a knee operation a few days ago - the show must go on!

There was also an organist/pianist, who was treating the church organ like Reginald Dixon at Blackpool Tower Ballroom, with a lively rendition of Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer (complete with cuddly Rudolf toy).

The music was a mixture of 17th century madrigals, Welsh plygain carols, a folk song from the Copper family, and interesting settings of carols like Dancing Day and O Little Town of Bethlehem that I hadn't heard before.  There was also a reading of the carol singing scene from Cider With Rosie.

Oh, and for one song, called Sheep, the choir donned flat caps (for the shepherds) and head bands with sheep ears (for the sheep)!  Great fun!

Next Saturday I'm looking forward to the carol concert by the choir of Kings College, London, organised by Hay Music, which I think will be a slightly more serious affair.  That concert starts at 7pm, and tickets are still available from the Hay Music website or the Tourist Information office.