We’ve had heavy rain all day but the border outside the kitchen is still bright and colourful. The Winter Flowering Pansies just go on and on! Perhaps that tells you something about our temperatures this Spring and Summer.
Taken through a rainy window
I listened to BBC Radio 4’s Poetry Please this afternoon and heard a young poet talking. She is Cecilia Knapp and she is the The Young People’s Laureate for London. Her choices were very pleasing and I particularly like one by another poet new to me, Caroline Bird. I loved this one, Checkout, that she chose and will seek out more by this poet and those by Cecilia Knapp. What a lovely gentle sense of humour and expression of love is shown in this one. .
Another poem Cecilia Knapp chose was Crossing the Bar by Tennyson. We sing a beautiful version of this with The Ingleheart Singers. Here is just one verse.
In 2013 some of our choir walked from Lands End to St Just, inspired by the March of the Women, 100 years before, who walked from Land’s End to London demanding Votes for Women. Tonight, in the atrium of the Eco Park we sang March of the Women, conducted by our leader, Claire, using a toothbrush.
Ethel Smyth’s rousing March of the Women was composed in 1910 to words by Cicely Hamilton, with a tune adapted from a traditional Italian melody. Emmeline Pankhurst (1858–1928) introduced it as the official anthem of the Women’s Social and Political Union and it became associated with the suffrage movement more generally. Info from the British Library
In 1911 it was sung on Pall Mall in celebration of the release from prison of a number of activists. The following year, the conductor Thomas Beecham (1879–1961) apparently heard it sung in Holloway Prison, where Smyth and Pankhurst were imprisoned and it is said that Ethel Smyth conducted the imprisoned women singing at their windows, using her toothbrush as a baton. Some of you know that my Great Granny was a Suffragette imprisoned and force fed in Holloway. I like to think she may have known and sung this song.
Two of our lovely choir members with whom I sing in the tenor section. I have permission to use their photos in my blog post.
There was a rueful smile when I saw this cartoon.
Covid rules in England say choirs can only sing outdoors in groups of no more than 30, all socially distanced. Have you seen/heard any football matches recently? 🙂
Several of my friends are in a wonderful singing group called Femmes de La Mer and, as the name suggests, they sing songs of the sea, shanties and others. They did a concert in the wonderful setting of The Minack Theatre last night and here is one of my favourite pieces. I’ll be seeing them next week at another outdoor venue. Do click on the link, you’ll love it I’m sure, though I’m not sure if it will work if you aren’t on Facebook. Please let me know as I will try another way to share.
The G7 is in Cornwall over the weekend as I mentioned yesterday – seven world leaders flying into Cornwall to talk about climate change……
The choristers of Truro Cathedral have recorded a song written for the occasion by Sir Tim Rice. It will be played in the Tregenna Castle Hotel in St Ives where the delegates will be staying and we really hope they will stop and listen. Here it is for you.
If you would like to read more about this wonderful project involving children from all over the world, here is info from this page.
“G7 themed concert featuring Sing2G7’s ‘Gee Seven’ by Sir Tim Rice, Truro Cathedral June 12th
Sing2G7 is an extraordinary volunteer-led programme which began in Truro and has blossomed to engage over 25,000 young voices in 27 countries to ‘sing to G7’. The aim is to empower primary school children – to make young voices audible to world leaders on issues they care about such as Climate Change, Poverty and Vaccine Equality and to make the Summit relevant to their young lives.
At the centre of the programme is ‘Gee Seven’, a song written specially for the project by Sir Tim Rice and Peter Hobbs which hundreds of primary schools have been learning, recording and posting online. The song ends with the strong message, ‘Gee Seven – Let nation speak to nation, Gee Seven – Don’t let the others down, Gee – Seven – Don’t forget the not so fortunate, Gee Seven – Or we’ll run you out of town’.
Turning these words into action themselves, Truro Cathedral Choristers are donating the royalties from their ‘Gee Seven’ single to Unicef’s ‘Give the World A Shot’ Vaccinaid appeal via Crowdfunder. You can watch the emotional song video that has inspired the phenomenal global take-up here. Hundreds of schools across the UK (as well as across the world) have joined the initiative and been using its 15-module Education Pack to discover more about G72021 and the agenda areas.
On June 9th, thousands of young singers from around the world will tune into a Sing2G7 International Mega Zoom beaming out from Truro Cathedral, to sing Gee Seven together, led by the choristers. Participants include children from USA, Canada, South Africa as well as many other countries.
The G7 concert on June 12th by Truro Cathedral Choir will feature the ‘Gee Seven’ song and also accessible music from all of the G7 countries in their own language, with favourites such as Danny Boy (Ireland) and Shenandoah (US) together with musical gems by Brahms, Fauré, Eleanor Daley and Caroline Shaw as well as local folksong arrangements such as Sakura (Japan).
To buy tickets for Truro Cathedral’s G7 concert, please visit the Cathedral’s website or to live stream the concert, please go to the youtube channel. Tickets for U18’s are free so if your children have been singing Gee Seven in school or zooming with the choristers, please do book and bring them along to hear the song in person. “
It’s St Piran’s Day today and this evening I will be joining a Singalong Zoom of Cornish songs. That will be fun but the very best thing is that family around the world will be joining me – from Hawaii, from Munich, from Atlanta and from London. What a treat!
Flag of St Piran
Another very busy day but just look what we are achieving!
I dug up a pretty little pice of pottery while working today.
A friend sent me this and I love it! I so miss singing it with my choir. I miss my choir. I’m missing the sun too!
Storm Christoph has begun to batter us and is forecast to be around for the next couple of days. It has, therefore, been an inside day finishing off the marmalade this morning and this afternoon, reading by the fire. I’ve just finished “Where the Crawdads Sing” by Delia Owens, a beautifully written novel celebrating nature, first love and incorporating a mystery that keeps the reader guessing to the last page. If you haven’t read it yet, you have a treat in store.
We were briefly in Truro this morning to find a particular book for the lovely Mr S (with success) and when finished called in at a well spaced and airy cafe for toast and coffee!
My choirs have been unable to sing together this Christmas but a very tech savvy member of our gang has put together a video of us singing in previous years with some stills. Here it is.
Our first Christmas present was delivered today, a gorgeous bunch of autumnal coloured flowers already in their glass so no chasing around trying to find one. I love the bright red berries in the water too.
Our squirrel came to investigate his feeder for the first time this morning (photo taken through the window on a very long zoom). We have since propped it open a little to help him as he didn’t manage to get any peanuts this morning.
I found some delightful Angel earrings today for our choir zoom parties next week.
It was such an unexpected joy to come across the Redruth Wassailers singing The Redruth Wassail in the market this morning. Here is a snippet for you.
Our Sweet Peas in one pot are glorious. The other pot is finished. 🙁
Sweet Peas
Serendipity again as the bright orange Montbretia/ Crocosmia has popped up with the purple Tom Thumb Pittosporum hedge.
Montbretia against the dark Tom Thumb Pittosporum
A couple of months ago , I was asked to take part in a Birthday video for an ex pupil of mine. The idea was to screw up some paper with a Happy Birthday message on it. Have it thrown to you from the left, unscrew it, show the message to the camera and throw it off to the right. It made for a very special and individual birthday present.
It occurred to me that it would be a lovely thing to do for our dear choir leader, Claire, with whom we have been unable to sing in person for 5 months because of the Covid situation. Fortunately we have in one of our choirs a brilliantly talented individual who agreed to put together the 60+ videos valiantly made by our community of choir members! Thanks so much, Kenn! What a success it has been! Here it is for your delectation. The setting is the Penryn River, our view from the rehearsal room and the music is sung by the choirs.
The bees are busy, we are glad to see. This one was moving around all the Lavender pots.
Bee on white lavender
Our eldest was due to come from Exeter for a couple of hours this afternoon to fix my Beetle. In exchange I made her a couple of fabric masks. I had not anticipated how hard it would be to see her but not be allowed to hug.
Elastic is running short
My spirits were lifted by a wonderful zoom session this evening, Greenham Women singing songs of the time, all led by my lovely choir leader, Claire. In between singing the songs, people shared their stories of being at the various gates, all given colours and each with a very distinct personality. A couple of the participants had been there with their Mums as very young children. One Mum and daughter were there together from their different parts of the UK; participants came from allover the country and were really inspiring. It was a brilliant session.
