SongCycle Psalmathon

Well we did it!
6 months of rehearsals and it was all over in 13 hours of singing.

On Saturday 10th September, Ride and Stride day, we sang all 150 psalms in St Thomas' Church, Brentwood, including the Glorias to Anglican chant taking us 15 hrs and 50 minutes including our schedules breaks.

Starting at 7.30am and singing only to the good Lord and ourselves we embarked on this mammoth task. It has been done before by choirs alternating singers and organists, but as far as we know, never by a group of four fellows and unaccompanied.

We all cycled to church that morning too (well we had to cycle to one church at least) and were joined through the day by many people calling in to hear us: members of the congregation; fellow choir members; friends; family and complete strangers and we hope they enjoyed their stay. We finished at 11.20pm with Stanford’s arrangement of Psalm 150 to a rousing applause from the remaining congregation and helpers.

Can you believe it, with something like 165 years of singing psalms between us, there were still some that we had never sung before we started rehearsing them. Some went very well, most were sung to a very acceptable standard, but some, the few that were somewhat unfamiliar, were at times a little shaky but we sang them all. Chants were by some well-known composers, some not so well known and most transposed down a tone or two from the Parish Psalter. Even some chants composed by our very own members. It was great stuff and dare I say it: enjoyable if not exhausting!