Let us all rejoice and sing! Presenting the second of our festive double bill, I Saw Three Ships. Below, Peter Bacon (Tenor) investigates the story behind the song. While many of the songs in our repertoire come from half way across the world, this one might originate a little closer to home. The popular carol has traditional English origins which go back to the 17th century and possibly to Derbyshire. The more literal-minded will be perplexed by the idea of ships sailing into the land-locked Bethlehem. The three ships may be those which were said to transport the relics of the Biblical magi t ..read more

We present our latest virtual choir performance, Coventry Carol. Below, Peter Bacon (Tenor) investigates the story behind the song. The Coventry Carol can be traced back to the 16th century but it was probably sung even earlier than that as part of a medieval mystery play called The Pageant of the Shearman and Tailors, performed in Coventry by the sheep shearers and tailors of the town. The author of the words and the composer of the melody are unknown but the story it tells is of Herod’s command and the slaughter of the innocents as recounted in the Gospel of Matthew. Although the song is now ..read more

Peter Bacon (tenor) investigates our repertoire. This month: Be Like Him (Kwabona Kala) While last month’s Story Of A Song – Steal Away – was quite easy to research, Kwabona Kala, as we know it, or Be Like Him, as it is more frequently called, is a little trickier. It’s easy to find the lyrics, and there are countless online versions, but the song’s background or origins? That’s much harder. The most famous and, it seems, the original version of Be Like Him is by the American gospel star Kirk Franklin. It appeared on his 2000 album, Kirk Franklin Presents 1NC – that’s an abbreviation for One ..read more

Peter Bacon (Tenor) investigates our repertoire. This month: Steal Away. A classic American Negro Spiritual, Steal Away was composed by Wallace Willis, a slave, sometime before 1862. Alexander Reid, a minister, heard Willis singing it, transcribed the words and melody, and sent the music to the Jubilee Singers of Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee. The Fisk Jubilee Singers were formed in 1871 at a school for freed slaves in order to help save the school from being closed. The choir toured America in order to raise money, and even came to Europe where they perform ..read more

Emily Bacon (Alto & LGC Secretary) Our choir uniform hasn’t always been so distinctive. In the very early days of Lichfield Gospel Choir, we were all happy with a uniform of black. But how to decorate it?  Perhaps people could choose splashes of any bright colour they liked? This was felt to be messy. Perhaps a splash of purple would be better? Pleasant, but not particularly exciting. There were constant dissatisfied mutterings.   Then, back in 2014, Helen Scheven came up with an inspiring solution that combined one of the strong themes in our music with support for an ethic ..read more

Chris Brotherston (tenor) I travel solo, usually.  However I have discovered a company that travels in small groups to some of the countries that merit a native guide to fully appreciate them.   So January this year saw me travelling to Africa,  Uganda to be precise.   The trip was to be a mixture of work and pleasure.  "The Real Uganda" is a company that starts up projects throughout Ugandan villages using some of our travel dollars and some of our labour.  During our first week it was planned to involve us quite thoroughly in 5 of these projects.   I w ..read more

Warren Bardsley (bass) I’ve been thrilled and impressed by the way Themba and the committee have enabled the choir not only to continue during  lockdown, but to break new ground. From a personal point of view, I didn’t think it was possible (for me, that is) to take part in the virtual performances of ‘Hold On’ and ‘Moving On up’, but with a little patient help from my friends (Kate especially) I was persuaded to have a go.  And it worked!  What a remarkable result. The whole  more than the sum of the parts, a  parable of what a choir essentially is. Which brings me t ..read more