St. Mary Magdalen, Sheet - Choir

St Mary's Choir

If you enjoy singing and attend Church, why not combine the two and join the Church Choir.
The usual answer is "I'd love to, but I haven't got time to go to all the practices and services, and I can't read music".
That's no problem, as neither does the current choir. They only attend the services they like and practice is limited to 1 (that's right: one) hour per week. And contrary to popular belief, you don't need to be able to read music to sing in a choir.

So what is really involved?

The Choir is there to help lead the congregation in song and worship at Parish Communion and Choral Evensong plus special services i.e. Christmas and Easter.
Our main services are: Parish Communion on the 2^nd, 4^th and 5^th Sundays and Choral evensong (evening) on the 1^st Sunday of the month. (But we only ask that you attend the services you want to.)
The choir meet every Thursday in the Church at 7:30 pm for an hour. A practice usually involves learning the hymns for the next service, music for during communion, and new music for future events.
However it is not all hard work, we usually have a good laugh.

Who do we want?

We really need more ladies to sing the tune so that we can lead the congregation better. Plus more men to help give greater balance to our sound i.e. everyone is invited who enjoys singing.

Can't come to every rehearsal?

Then we have just the thing for you. Once a month, usually the last Thursday, the choir will be boosted by the "occasional" members. We will prepare music for special occasions:- weddings, funerals, special services, Christmas Easter, etc. Come along for a good hearty sing!

Dates, following the summer break, will be confirmed

How can I find out more?

Contact Andy Lyon, our Director of Music, after a service or let the Parish Office know you are interested - alternatively you will find any member of the choir will be prepared to let you know more.

P.S. Joining the Choir also guarantees you excellent seats at major festivals e.g. Christmas and Easter... (and heated seats in winter...)

Hymn List June 2008

Clicking on the above link will provide these details in a new window.

Hymns for practice:

Please note that you will need to download Sibelius Scorch to view and play the music that you can access from this page. Scorch is a free plug-in for Internet Explorer and is perfectly safe for installation. It is available for download from the Sibelius website.
You should be able to print the music files from Scorch, you can also vary the speed at which it plays back!

Lord for Thy tender mercies...
- Soprano
- Tenor

From the Pompey Chimes "A-Z of the Church of England" (Which is tongue in cheek, honest!):

ANTHEM: Scriptural words set to sacred vocal music. Usually sang by the Choir, or recited by the congregation (not usually at the same time). Can be repeated indefinitely if the vicar can't think of what comes next in the service.

CHOIR: Group of people who are given the unsingable bits to sing so the congregation doesn’t have to. Easy to offend, especially when you give them un-singable bits to sing.

CHORUS: Like a hymn, but shorter, and therefore almost always sung twice.

TE DEUM: The Latin words that begin a hymn which is an integral part of some church services. Sadly, in some churches, it’s more like the English word suggested by the name.

More to follow...

last updated 30.05.2008

ANTHEM:	Scriptural words set to sacred vocal music. Usually sang by the Choir, or recited by the congregation (not usually at the same time). Can be repeated indefinitely if the vicar can't think of what comes next in the service.
CHOIR:	Group of people who are given the unsingable bits to sing so the congregation doesn’t have to. Easy to offend, especially when you give them un-singable bits to sing.
CHORUS:	Like a hymn, but shorter, and therefore almost always sung twice.
TE DEUM:	The Latin words that begin a hymn which is an integral part of some church services. Sadly, in some churches, it’s more like the English word suggested by the name.