Maggie's three choirs in King John's Palace
Music in the City – Southampton, 3rd October 2015
‘King John’s Palace’
After several warm days, we were disappointed to have an overcast and chilly start that morning as we boarded the Red Jet at Cowes, but the sun eventually came out in time for our afternoon ‘slot’ in this amazing event.
All around the city were the sounds of musicians, young and old, displaying their talents in some of the most unusual places, many rarely opened to the public. There was music in vaults, shopping malls, squares and Galleries – you name it, there were the sounds of voices and instruments echoing there!
Our venue, King John’s Palace, turned out never to have been owned by King John, nor by any other Royal personage. Neither was it a ‘Palace’! Instead we had a lovely open space, once a merchant’s courtyard, surrounded by ancient stone walls that formed part of those protecting Southampton in Medieval times. We were to combine our singing with Maggie’s two other choirs, Blue Sky and The Chessell Chanters, a group for people with Parkinsons, their carers and partners.
As we entered through a small archway, we were greeted by the sounds of a band already in full flow. Like us, these were not youngsters, but they made a brilliant sound: between them they had notched up a fair many years, and some of us couldn’t resist ‘bopping’ along to old favourites from the 60s and 70s, and would have made a great backing group!
The band finished their set, and it was now time for our three choirs to get organized – not an easy task with so many people already seated in the audience, and with limited space around them. However, with a bit of shuffling about, eventually we sorted ourselves into the appropriate groups along one side of the ‘Palace’ and were eager to get the singing started.
All three choirs got things going by joining forces and singing the upbeat Pete Seager song, 'Tzena, Tzena, Tzena'.
It was Blue Sky who went 'solo' first, with a lovely Hawaiian song, E Malama and we were particularly impressed with their next piece, a rendition of ‘Perfect Day’.
Next were the Chessil Chanters who sang ‘My Soul’ so movingly, and 'Sing, Sing, Sing'.
Sounds Lively began with ‘Sto Mi E Milo’ a jolly song from Macedonia about owning a shop in the town of Drago – a rather unusual subject but we managed to get our voices round the words with a little help from some crib sheets!
Cowboy hats appeared for our next piece, 'Don't Fence Me In', a piece we particularly enjoy performing.
The session finished with all three choirs joining forces for a few of the many songs we had in common. Derek and Sandy hammed it up as the courting couple in the Nightingale song, which caused a lot of laughter in the ‘Palace’ and nearly brought the 'house' down.
Other songs included Amen, Alleluia and Oh When the Saints (Swing Low).
What an amazing experience to be singing in harmony with people we hadn’t previously set eyes on. All three choirs really did put their “heart and soul” into Sia Hamba! The session came to a close with 'Thina Simunye - We are Family', a song guaranteed to bring a tear to the eye.
Afterwards, the smiles were even wider than those rather nervous grins at the start of our ‘gig’ and many of us transferred to the café of the ‘Tudor House’, to which King John’s Palace is attached. We were in desperate need of a cup of tea and maybe even a morsel of cake!
Wandering around the lovely Tudor House garden afterwards, it was possible look down into the unique setting of our session. Many of us took a stroll along those ancient walls that reach towards the city centre, realising we had missed such an historic and attractive part of Southampton in our rush to get to the shops and then to catch the return ferry home!
Bring on Music in the City 2016!
Allie Sommerville