The Village Singers choir was created to premiere the shows which started this series.

It all began with a church choir whose enthusiastic members wanted to help produce shows about great composers, containing beautiful music (religious and secular) in the lovely 800 year old local church. The shows proved very popular, and drew full houses. The Singers also donated any monies earned to local and national charities.

The choir adopted a name which became well known in the region and grew to about sixty members.  The local village school choir was invited to perform with them in their Millennium Year show. This was a tremendous success.

Each show included music associated with the  composer being illustrated, together with humorous news bulletins about the happenings of the period. A narrator told the story of the composer and linked the items in the show.

The shows were so successful they attracted  (and still attract) requests for performances in schools, churches and halls throughout Musicshires. We have lost count of the  thousands of pounds donated to charities.

Footnote:
The background music here is 'The Oxcart' by the Russian composer Modest (Petrovich) Mussorgsky, from his composition 'Pictures at an Exhibition'. There are ten wonderful 'pictures' plus a magnificent Promenade in this suite: (The Gnome, The Old Castle, Tuileries, Bydlo [Polish Farm Cart - our piece], Unhatched Chickens, Samuel Goldberg and Shmuyle, Market Place at Limoges, Catacombs, Baba-yaga [The Hut on Fowls' Legs], and The Great Gate of Kiev). This work for piano inspired many composers to orchestrate it. I think I most admire the Ravel version. Borrow a CD or tape from your library - you're in for a 36 minute treat! Modest's composition was completed at about the time G&S produced their operetta Ruddigore - another piece about pictures!

Try your hand at composing a piece of music, writing a poem, or creating a picture to go with the above (or the following) scenes . . .

Here are some photos of The Village Singers