Mozart Great Mass in C Minor

Let’s look back at how Choir of the Earth has reacted to COVID-19

March 2020 - “Comfort Ye My People” from Messiah by Handel

During the first lockdown, 3,600 of us came together to sing Messiah At Home on 31st May 2020. We took a stand against the fear and darkness that the virus had wrought on our world.  We created a new art form in the process, which remains with us all today.

September 2020 - “Be Not Afraid, Thy Help Is Here” from Elijah by Mendelssohn

In the Autumn of 2020, as cases rose once more, we came together again to sing Elijah, proving that singing could win the battle for humanity’s soul.  We were so proud of our achievement we performed it three times in one day!

January 2021 - “Lacrimosa” from Requiem by Mozart

As early 2021 dawned, the virus returned in huge numbers, and we learned and sang the Mozart Requiem and brought the light of music to our darkest hours.

TODAY - “Et Incarnatus Est” from Mass in C Minor by Mozart

As we enter 2022, we face yet further disruption.

We understand - yet we are frustrated and tired.

Tired of uncertainty, tired of restrictions and just tired of it all.

And at Christmas of all times!

So let us come together once again, as we did with Elijah and Messiah, to sing with Mozart again for better times ahead. We had planned to be learning other music in January 2022, but our world now more than ever needs the tender music of Mozart to soothe our worries and keep us positive.

As the new variant rages across the world, join Choir of the Earth again or for the first time, led by our inspirational musical director Ben England BEM as we learn and perform Mozart’s most beautiful, positive and exciting choral work - the Great Mass in C Minor, which he wrote for his new wife, Constanze, in 1782 when he was at his happiest.

This astonishing work has achieved cult status for its monumental music and for its sublime melodies - Pope Francis himself proclaimed that this work “lifts one to God”.  Written for Mozart’s wedding to his soprano wife, it is a piece born of true love and devotion.

Mozart For Everyone

This is a project for everyone, just like Messiah at Home - we hope you will join us and bring your families and friends along. If you currently sing in a face-to-face choir, please consider joining us and try our of way of learning and performing great music.

This is an example of a Choir of the Earth recording:

Here’s what our existing members have to say…

“Thank you for given me to the opportunity to sing a piece I would never have had the chance to do in other circumstances”

“I am an emotional wreck. Thank you so much for absolutely everything”

“Every piece is the most beautiful one I've ever heard”

“Are there even words to describe this?”

“I think we sound just as good if not better than some of the amazing choirs out there”

“We are so lucky to have all these fantastic courses which go beyond anything offered by a face to face choir, stretching us and supporting us to achieve so much”

“No local choir could hope to compete with the experience and knowledge of these course directors, and their tuition, along with the superb backing tracks, has certainly raised my game”

“I think we are achieving something new here. Now we are able to get both the precision of a chamber choir and the sound of a very big choir”

Choir of the Earth

Unlike other choirs, there is no limit to the number of people that can join, no limit to the rehearsals you can take part in and enjoy, no limit to the voice parts you can sing and record, and most importantly, no limit to the friendships and connections you can make with people around the world.  

How it Works

We shall learn the music in live online sessions at home with Ben England BEM over several weeks from January until March 2022. We use high-definition LIVE digital broadcasting in our sessions (not Zoom) so there is no interference or sound delay in the process.

We meet regularly in full choir and voice-part specific rehearsals and are given professionally-recorded backing tracks with our own voice part louder than the others which make it easier to learn our own part.

There is no need to be there on time - all our sessions are recorded for you to watch later and as many times as you wish. The online chat allows us to communicate with each other and with Ben England.

When we have learnt our part, we are invited to record our own voice onto our mobile phone. We do this by watching the conductor on the screen and listening to him/her on headphones. When prompted, we press record on our phone and sing. As we are wearing headphones, the only sound being recorded is our own voice.

We then send our recordings to Choir of the Earth who combines all voices in a recording studio. When everything has been mixed, we invite you back to an online Concert Performance where we play the finished pieces to everybody.

Teaching Materials

We shall provide you with everything you need to learn and record this amazing music:

Live teaching sessions

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Professionally sung backing tracks with your voice-part louder

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All the information required to record your own voice

ChoraLine

We shall provide you with our own rehearsal tracks with organ played by Richard Gowers and singing by Fieri Consort. These will not be ready until 20th January so we have partnered with our friends at ChoraLine who will provide their rehearse tracks for us at a 20% discount for COTE singers. A link to purchase these will be sent to you as soon as you join.

Orchestra? Soloists?

We shall be teaching this music at baroque pitch and we would love to invite back our own Baroque Orchestra and Soloists from Messiah to join this project as well. This extra cost can only be justified if we reach the required number of singers:

1,000 singers will allow us to record a baroque orchestra - we hope to have the same instrumentalists as we were fortunate enough to have for Messiah in May 2020, yet their involvement cannot be guaranteed.

2,000 singers will allow us to invite soloists to join us - we shall invite the soloists we were fortunate enough to have with us for Messiah, although their involvement cannot be guaranteed. They were: Carolyn Sampson (soprano), Jennifer Johnston (mezzo), Alexander Sprague (tenor) and Ashley Riches (bass).

We shall shortly add a box at the top of this page and you can see the size of the choir for this course.

Timings

Ben England BEM will teach us thus remarkable work in live streamed sessions as follows, all at 17:00 GMT:

WEEK 1

Monday 24th January 2022 - Welcome and Full Choir

Tuesday 25th January - Tenor

Wednesday 26th January - Bass

Thursday 27th January - Soprano

Friday 28th January - Alto

WEEK 2

Monday 31st January - Full Choir

Tuesday 1st February - Tenor

Wednesday 2nd February - Bass

Thursday 3rd February - Soprano

Friday 4th February - Alto

WEEK 3

Monday 7th February - Full Choir

Tuesday 8th February - Tenor

Wednesday 9th February - Bass

Thursday 10th February - Soprano

Friday 11th February - Alto

WEEK 4

Monday 14th February - Full Choir

Tuesday 15th February - Tenor

Wednesday 16th February - Bass

Thursday 17th February - Soprano

Friday 18th February - Alto

WEEK 5

Monday 21st February - Full Choir

Tuesday 22nd February - Tenor

Wednesday 23rd February - Bass

Thursday 24th February - Soprano

Friday 25th February - Alto

WEEK 6

Monday 28th February - Full Choir

Tuesday 1st March- Tenor

Wednesday 2nd March - Bass

Thursday 3rd March - Soprano

Friday 4th March - Alto

WEEK 7

Monday 7th March - Full Choir

Tuesday 8th March- Tenor

Wednesday 9th March - Bass

Thursday 10th March - Soprano

Friday 11th March - Alto

Sing Through - Saturday 12th March at 17:00 GMT

Recording closure - 12th April

Concert Performance - 14th May

Recording

At the end of the teaching, we shall invite those who wish to do so to record their own voice and full instructions will be given. We shall combine all voices in the studio and play this back to everyone in a Concert Performance.

Cost of Course

£50 - Cost of Course

£25 - Students and those on a budget

Score

An online digital score is included and will be sent to you by email once you have joined.

Join us