Hymn to the Fallen
This is an opportunity for the whole choir to remember those who have fallen in any and all wars.
Different countries have a day of “Remembrance” at different times of the year.
Whilst Australia and New Zealand still remember their fallen at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, Anzac Day now has more focus and is a holiday annually on April 25th after The Gallipoli Campaign in 1915.
The USA has Veterans Day on 11th November every year, which celebrates the service of all US veterans, while the Memorial Day on 29th May 2023 is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who have died while serving in the armed forces.
In the UK, France and Belgium, Remembrance Day is 11th November.
In Canada, Remembrance Day (Jour du Souvenir) on 11th November is a statutory holiday in all three territories and in six of the ten provinces. Nova Scotia recognises the day separately under their provincial Remembrance Day Act, yet Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec do not treat the day as an official holiday in any capacity.
In this project, we shall all come together, regardless of nationality, to remember and to sing for all those who have fallen in wars. Not one specific war - any war and all wars.
Led by the charismatic Libby Crabtree based in Edinburgh, we shall learn HYMN TO THE FALLEN from the 1998 film “Saving Private Ryan”, directed by Stephen Spielberg and starring Tom Hanks.
Join us for
Hymn to the Fallen
Music
Hymn To The Fallen is the main theme from the Grammy Award® winning score composed by John Williams, instantly recognisable by its haunting military drum and trumpet opening. The version of this piece we will learn was arranged for choral voices only by Thomas Hewitt-Jones. Here it is performed by VOCES 8:
Course Director
We are delighted to welcome back Libby Crabtree to teach us this piece.
Libby has worked as a choral conductor since her student days in Cambridge, where she learned conducting technique and directed a number of small ensembles. She then went on to be a specialist professional singer of Baroque music, singing with the Sixteen, The Tallis Scholars and The King’s Consort, recording solos and performing worldwide. A year of performing on stage and taking the role of Assistant MD in London’s West End also gave her invaluable experience in musical theatre.
She is currently in demand as an experienced director of large scale choral performances and also examines for the ABRSM. She is an accredited music festival adjudicator and also teaches at St. Mary’s Music School in Edinburgh.
Please see more about Libby here www.libbycrabtree.org
How it Will Work
We shall learn the piece in live online streamed sessions during August 2022, record the piece in September (if we wish), mix the results in the recording studio in October and perform the piece in a live online event on
11th November 2022 at 11:02 UK time after 2 minutes silence
We shall repeat it on Anzac Day on 25th April 2023 and Memorial Day on 29th May 2023.
Schedule
Libby Crabtree will teach us this music in sectional online sessions as follows (all at UK Time):
Monday 8th August 2022
11:00 - Course Launch & Full Choir Rehearsal
Tuesday 9th August 2022
11:00 - Soprano Rehearsal
Wednesday 10th August 2022
11:00 - Alto Rehearsal
Thursday 11th August 2022
11:00 - Tenor Rehearsal
Friday 12th August 2022
11:00 - Bass Rehearsal
Saturday 13th August 2022
11:00 - Full Choir Rehearsal
Rehearsal Aids
We shall record separate voice parts for us to aid our learning. These will be professionally produced by Ben Parry and Libby herself. These tracks will feature your voice part louder than the others. Libby will use these tracks for her teaching.
Recording
If you wish, you will be asked to record your own voice at the end of the course and there will be ample time to do this. We shall explain how this is done. We shall then combine all the voices in the studio to create a large choir and we shall play this version back to everybody on 11th November 2022.
Course Fee - £25
We hope to attract a huge choir for this event, so we have kept the fee to a minimum. You will be aware that we incur costs in creating our courses and these can only be met from your contributions, so we need to charge £25 to join.
Score
As this music is in copyright, we must charge £3 for the score. You will be informed how this is done shortly after joining the course.
