GUILDFORD

I have lived and worked in Guildford since 1980. One of the most prosperous towns in the country, Guildford is everything which South Shields is not, no doubt as much by accident of fortune, history and location as by design or omission. If you want to live in a town which is close to London (35 minutes by train) but which is not too big and has an identity of its own and the amenities which go with it and is not just a suburb or dormitory town, Guildford fits the bill perfectly (Guildford Borough Council: please send my cheque for this little commercial; you know where I live).

My employers, formerly MAFF until recently transmogrified into DEFRA, came to Guildford just after the war. Many of the staff had originated in Colwyn Bay in north Wales where the Ministry of Food had previously been located and they brought with them their love of music in the shape of an office male voice choir. Many years later, a mixed choir of about 20 singers from the MAFF offices was formed, the Uplands Choral Society, and I was prevailed upon to become director of this group in 1981 and, with a short break, held this position until 1989 when the group folded. During my tenure, I wrote a Christmas carol for the choir to sing:

Carol: There is a Flower Springing The words, by Ursula Vaughan Williams, are a translation of the 15th century German carol "Es ist ein' Ros' entsprungen" famously set by the German composer, Michael PRAETORIUS. Unlike his setting, this version tries to be heartfelt rather than upbeat (some may think it a bit of a dirge: judge for yourself). As the words are under copyright protection, I cannot reproduce them here but they can be found in the Oxford Book of Carols No. 76 on page 166 therein. This is supposed to be a 'rocking' carol (initially, at any rate), the infant Jesus in the arms of his mother Mary. The audio clip here omits the vocals which, if present, would take the following form:

v1: the first half sung by the men in unison ('flower' is sung 'flow'r); the second half by the higher voices also in unison;

v2: (played here on the organ at a touch too quick a pace) is SATB unaccompanied;

v3: starts as a canon (at the 2nd): first basses and altos in octaves (played here on the trumpet) followed by tenors and sopranos also in octaves (played here on the horn); the second half of the verse has the same part distribution but the doubled voices sing in thirds.

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Last updated: 08/12/01 02:31:22