I was asked in September by the local village newsletter, The Bridge, to write something about The Bridge Singers for their October/November 2024 edition. I decided to write about the world première of A Takeaway Sunrise, which was coming up on September 30th. I’ll paste here what I wrote and add in some extra comments and clips to illustrate it.

September 2024: News from The Bridge Singers

Evolution Of A World Premiere
We’re currently gearing up for a concert on September 30^th at the Rennington Music Festival. As it’s such a short lead-in after our summer break in August, we’re mostly singing music from our north-east music concert in May, with a few others from various performances this year at fundraising concerts, funerals and weddings. However, we’ll also be performing a world premiere of a new piece by our musical director Cheryl. It’s called “A Takeaway Sunrise” and the lyrics are by the poet Ian McMillan, who wrote them especially for us. Here’s Cheryl’s story of the evolution of this song:

November 2023
Following on from the cheering feedback from both choir and audience members in 2021 and 2022 to the seven short  “Silent Early Stroll Songs” composed using some of Ian McMillan’s Early Stroll tweets during the lockdowns, and designed to help the choir keep singing in the rather challenging choral circumstances at the time, I thought it would be a wonderful thrill for me and the choir to have a new, longer song to compose, then learn and perform, for our north-east themed concerts this summer. I wrote to Ian on the off chance, to ask whether he would be prepared to write lyrics for us, and perhaps come and be part of our concert. His replies were yes to the former and unfortunately no to the latter.

(You can read and hear more about Silent Early Stroll Songs here!)

January 2024
After our very busy Christmas schedule and then a fundraiser for St. Michael’s Church at the end of January, it was clear that we couldn’t start learning our north-east repertoire until February, so Ian agreed to write lyrics during January, for me to compose the music in February, and for the choir to start mastering it in March, giving us nearly three months to learn the new song. The lyrics he sent are in seven stanzas and his accompanying note said: “it’s based on early morning walks in Beadnell when I’ve been on holiday there and I also wanted to play with the phrase ‘it goes to show’.”

February 2024
I set to with the music, trying to evoke the complete magic of an early morning colourful sunrise at the beach as the apricots and crimsons give way to the enchanted illuminating of every detail set out before you. Following a request, I sent Ian an update on how I was approaching the composing. (There’s a bit of musical jargon in there, but you get the idea!)

“My approach has been (if I call the “verses” 1-7)….

• 1 + 2, and 4 + 5 have very similar music, slow in tempo with a free-sounding beat, layers of 7^th chords and melodic gestures are built up around a central horizon of middle C – like you take in the scene when you actually go to the sea to see the sun rising, or like you notice as you look at a photo you may have taken of said sunrise. They take their time to evolve – lots of space and drone-like accompaniments.
• 3 and 7 are the same as each other, like a chorus, and are exuberant, joyful, full of vibrant rhythms, a lively tempo. They still centre around that horizon of middle C, linking in to the other verses, but are quite the contrast in mood. I’m thinking of the absolute delight of those “brightest that there’s ever been” sunrises.
• 6 is what I’m currently tinkering with. It moves away from the middle C anchor, but has the more reflective qualities of 1,2,4,5. There are bursts of exuberance in there too, reminding of the music for 3 and 7. It’s a bit plainchant-y, I guess. I’ve taken on board your earlier comments that the “goes to show” lines are important, so am aiming to give them something prominent in some way…
• The ending will be a snap-shot or reminder of teensy elements of the 1,2,4,5 music in an extended cadence…for the listeners to takeaway with them….like a photo, I guess.

March-April 2024
I made a mock-up recording to help the choir become acquainted with the song, then we started learning it. However, it became clear during these two months that we would run out of time to revise or learn everything I had planned, so with extreme distress on my part, I postponed the learning of A Takeaway Sunrise, so we could devote our energies to perfecting the rest. I find as time goes on that composing music becomes more and more central to what I’m about, so to pour all my effort and inspiration into something, then have to stop before that task is complete is somewhat upsetting. Anyway, looking on the bright side, as I like to, we had June and July to start afresh and the prospect of the concert at the end of September, so we go at it again with renewed vigour!

June – September 2024
To place your music in front of people, knowing that it is perhaps tricky to learn, with fifty or so faces looking back at you showing their struggles in the learning, their incomprehension as to how it all fits together, and what the overall effect will be, is quite the hurdle to overcome, I can tell you. Being always enthusiastic and continuing to encourage their trust and belief that it really will be alright and will sound just as evocative and awe-inspiring as you imagined, can be an exhausting task! Anyway, as I write this, in early September, with three rehearsals to go, it’s starting to flourish. There are a few overheard comments along the “Ah – now I get it!” and “Ooh, that bit’s beautiful” lines.

The Bridge Singers have been through this before, of course. Right from the start of this choir, nine years ago we’ve tackled tricky music, initially with despair that it will never be ready, and usually with the result that it is indeed ready and we actually rather like it…and that we also like the thrill of being able to pull it off. Most days I’m confident that this will be the case this time too. To have a poet of the renown of Ian McMillan write something for us is a thrill and an honour, and also a huge responsibility for me and the choir to do him as well as ourselves justice.

Well, that’s what Cheryl the composer has to say! We do hope you can join us in Rennington at the end of the month, or later on in December for new repertoire in our winter concerts. For more information, check our website: The Bridge Singers | Choir | Felton | Thebridgesingers

September 2024
During these last few weeks before the performance, I’ve made some more mini-videos to help the choir with the learning. I’ve dotted them through this blog and will continue to add new ones below.

28th September
There’s a little bit of A Takeaway Sunrise in the second of the mini video adverts for Monday’s concert:

1st October 2024
It was the world premiere last night in Rennington – it went pretty well. Chris Jones read the poem at the start, then we sang with great dedication and lots of accuracy and feeling. Here’s the very end with a suitably photogenic sunrise, and a few snaps of the concert from me and Ann Lings.

The poem and Chris reading it at the concert.

The World Premiere performance, 30th September 2024, All Saints Church, Rennington, Northumberland by The Bridge Singers.

Some early feedback:

• This is very very beautiful. I closed my eyes momentarily in rehearsal and actually saw what you were talking about.
• Well done for last night as well, especially takeaway sunrise – all the hard work definitely paid off! X
• It was a good idea to have Chris read the poem first, and there really is no-one better. I think that even though we’ve been learning it for a few months now, it’s only in the last couple of rehearsals that I’ve started to “get” it and how it all fits together. Chris reading the poem helped me with that too – you should have got him to read it out at the start of rehearsals!!!
• I think the evening was our best performance yet and ATS really came together – quite emotional. Well done not just for the hard work with us but for a brilliant composition. One or two choir members were talking about wanting to keep ATS in our repertoire – and I agree. It has to be more than a one concert show and in order to perfect the blending, dynamics and even getting all the right notes in the right places we need to keep practicing it…. It is a takeaway sunrise and that’s something we all need in our hearts in the dark days of winter – so let’s take it away.
• My friends were very enthusiastic about the whole concert and particularly enjoyed A Takeaway Sunrise.
• I am so glad I came. I absolutely loved it, but especially Takeaway…loved the sound of it, so different from what we expect musically.
• We did enjoy it. The choir were on good form last night. I did love your Ian McMillan piece. 

There have been a few choir members want to continue with the song, so I shall probably bring it out again in 2025, after our Christmas and winter-themed term.