The Land Of Lakes Choirboys In Strehla

Liebe Besucher… dieser Post ist ausschließlich auf Englisch verfügbar !

Dear visitors, please note that this is a guest post by Sherab !

It became true. The Land of Lakes Choirboys are in Germany ! On Saturday, 14th June 2008, they gave their first concert at the Lutheran church in Strehla, not far from Riesa in Saxony. And I was able to be there. Not only that: Together with two friends from Berlin, I was invited to be present at all pre-concert activities and the barbecue afterwards. And the next morning, it continued in the city of Dresden. But all in the right order now:

Before the concert
Short after 4.30 p.m. last Saturday, two friends from Berlin picked me up at he train station in Riesa, where I had arrived after a longer journey by train. By car we continued to Strehla, 8 kilometres away, and there to the local youth hostel. I had an appointment with Francis Stockwell, choir director of the Land of Lakes Choirboys. Before I found him, I already met a few of the choirboys. Some looked at me a little astonished and curiously, others beamed. The first adult I met was John D.Fitzgerald, executive Director of the administration of the choirschool. He recognized me immediately from three years before and introduced me and my friends to the boys – 33 happy, energetic boys aged 10 to 15. Then at last came Francis Stockwell. For a few moments we could chat, then things were starting: the boys put their choirclothing onto their shoulders, and we walked from the youth hostel to the church. It was a nice sight: the boys dressed in dark trousers/pants, red short-sleeved shirts,white sports shoes, fitting baseball caps. Shirts and caps with the choir emblem. At church it meant warming-up, one hour before the start of the concert.

Difficult, difficult… The local vicar „banned“ me to the gallery upstairs. „It is expecting too much of the people behind you, when they have your camera in front of their noses all the time.“ Their was no way to deal with him! And through the local organizers I had asked very friendly for permission in advance… later, members of the congregation told me, my videocamera would not have been a problem. „The vicar very often is a bit difficult, not only towards you…“

Warming-up…
… was interesting to observe. The boys did some breathing exercises and sang excerpts of their programme, slowly increasing… Already at this time, I took some videos and adjusted my camera in order to not encounter any problems later. Even the warming-up was a pure joy for me as a listener! Then it was done. The boys left the church to change into concert dress.

Difficult, difficult (part 2)… The choir director still needed the promised keyboard belonging to the church as a substitute for a piano. So my two friends from Berlin walked over to the vicarage to get it for him. The vicar’s first reaction, grumbling: “what have you got to do with the choir?“ Oooh…. They remained friendly and explained what they had got to do with the choir… despite the fact they had also been along to the last concert of the LOLCB, together with me, three years earlier…

The concert
Short after opening the doors, the church was more or less filled. It is a larger village church with quite good accoustics. There was an audience, well-mixed agewise, but I myself would have wished for a larger amount of younger people. The first part of the concert contained the following pieces of spiritual choirmusic:

Duo Seraphim Clamabant — by Tomás Luis de Victoria

O Sacrum Convivum — by N. Wilton (commissioned and dedicated to the Land of Lakes Choirboys)

Ave Maria — by Eleanor Daley

Little David , Play on Your Harp — Spiritual

Steal Away — Spiritual

Prayer of the Children — by Kurt Bestor (in memory of the 8000 boys and men slaughtered in Srebrenica)

What shall I say other than that the music went right under my skin. The first two songs I felt as very soothing, ceremonial, the texts completely in Latin. What really astonished me, and what did not change in the course of the concert, the boys sang by heart! My goodness, that must have been a hard time of learning! The Ave Maria by Eleanor Daley, you have to get used to the sound of it in the beginning. Very lively is the spiritual Little David, Play on Your Harp. In contrast the other spiritual Steal Away is very calm. Going terribly under your skin is the Prayer of the Children. In the sound pattern, even the crying and pleading of the children can be heard… Well-deserved, enthusiastic applause rewarded the young singers! Partly this music was quite demanding! And the following intermission came at the right time.

During intermission…
…three boys sold CDs und and posters with the autographs of all the boys. The others went out to get some fresh air. I myself changed video-cassettes. Filming from the gallery has got a disadvantage: you look at the choirboys from a strange angle from upstairs. Also the church did not provide very good light conditions at this distance. My video takes are relatively satisfying though. After about 20 minutes, the concert continued.

The concert, part 2
After spiritual music during the first part, the concert continued with worldly music. The following pieces were sung:

All Ye Who Music Love — by Baldassare Donato

Suo Gan — Lullaby from Wales

Waltzing Matilda — Folksong from Australia

All Day on the Prairie — by David Guion

Shenandoah — Traditional American folksong

Der Summer is aus — Folksong from Austria

Ein Jäger längs des Weihers ging — German folksong

An der schönen blauen Donau — by Johann Strauss

Beim Kronenwirt — German folksong

Niska Banja — Serbian gypsy dance

And as an encore: Kto boitsya temnoty (who is afraid of the dark?) — from Russia

It is a remarkable fact that all songs were sung in the original language. The first song was classical in appearance, then everthing became a bit „more modern“. Suo Gan is that extraordinarily beautiful song from Wales, well-known since the movie Empire of the Sun, at that time sung by James Rainbird and not by the young actor… In this concert, the solo was sung by Ian S., a very friendly and nice boy. From my viewpoint I could see how his eyes sought contact with the audience. That really made him popular! The applause was accordingly. Waltzing Matilda, the secret national anthem of Australia presented as a beautiful piece of choirmusic… All Day on the Prairie was sung completely solo by Collin D.. The choir accompanied him with the imitation of the sound of hooves. One highlight: Collin had quietly sneaked out before and returned dressed as a cowboy. It was obvious that he enjoyed very much singing just this song. He received an extra applause. Shenandoah is a well-known American folksong, sung in a very gentle quiet way. Afterwards there was quite a turn: the Austrian Der Summer is aus (sung in dialect!). Something like that you would normally expect from the Wiener Sängerknaben (Vienna Boys Choir) and similiar Austrian choirs. The audience in Strehla liked it. Ein Jäger längs des Weihers ging broke „the last spell“, there were standing ovations. Then the church turned into a southern German/Austrian/Swiss music event for a few minutes: An der schönen blauen Donau got the first people into „Biergarten“-mood, swaying back and forth . It turned even wilder during Beim Kronenwirt. During the chorus, the choirboys locked their arms and really started moving. The church-building nearly started to swing. Nearly all the people in the audience were in a movement. Only one „difficult“ listener sat there stiff as if he had swallowed a stick … Another highlight was Niska Banya from Serbia. To the astonishment of the audience, the choirboys suddenly ran through the nave under some gentle howling, and placed themselves at both ends of the benches. Some of them even walked right into them. They sang right there where they were. And in between they shook hands with the people before changing places. After a first kind of shock, the audience was thrilled. Two of the boys encountered that they were hugged spontaneously. I hope they did not get too much of a shock. That was the end of the concert. The applause would not cease. The choir director spoke some words of thanks and added, that, as the American dollar were quite weak at the moment, the 5-weeks-travelling of the Land of Lakes Choirboys turned quite expensive. So some money would be collected at he church doors. He got the audience chuckling with his remark, that he would place only the best-looking boys at the exit in order to collect a bit more money, and he thanked the audience
in advance for their generosity. As an encore a Russian song followed: Kto boitsya temnoty? – the solo part was sung again by Ian S.. Excellent performance! Again standing ovations while the choir walked out of the church. For me it meant to quickly pack my camera equipment. Together with the last concert-goers, I left the church. Outside the choir boys waited to personally say good-bye to the audience.

After the concert
The boys changed back to their casual dress, and we all walked back to the youth-hostel. The busy youth-hostel wardens had prepared a wonderful barbecue greatly appreciated by the boys who were really hungry now after their hard work. It became a wonderful evening. Nice talks with the choirboys and with choir director Francis Stockwell. Actually it was so nice, that we had a hard time to leave in the end. Late at night, I reached Dresden.

The next day
At the Hofkirche (royal church) in Dresden, Sunday, 15th June 2008. After a long time, I attended a roman-catholic church-service at the Hofkirche. A lady showed me the way to go upstairs to the gallery. Quite a different gallery from the night before. The Hofkirche is a huge church, not as large as the Frauenkirche but still quite impressive…… Anyway, a friend from Dresden and I sat on a side gallery. Opposite from us sat our friends, the Land of Lakes Choirboys, looking quite impressed by the size of the church. A bit further back and next to the organ, there were the Dresdner Kapellknaben, the second famous boys choir in Dresden. At last I saw them live! To cut a long story short: it was an ordinary catholic service including eucharist. The Kapellknaben sang a large part of the liturgy, one of them being next to the altar part-time singing solos from there. The Land of Lakes Choirboys‘ turn came during communion. Due to the high amount of congregation members wanting to take part, a lot of music was necessary to bridge the time. Three pieces of choirmusic were sung by these American boys alone and by heart, all in Latin. I forgot though to ask for the titles. But the Ave Maria of the concert the night before was one of them. A little later, the Land of Lakes Choirboys sang together with the Dresdner Kapellknaben. The two choir directors acted like relay runners: the Dresden director, Matthias Liebich, began directing both choirs and right in the middle of the hymn turned the „baton“ to Francis Stockwell, so he could go to the organ to concentrate on the final music afterwards. After the service, I met the LOLCB again. Some of the boys greeted me very friendly when they recognized me. A little while the Land of Lakes Choirboys stayed in the church to look at this impressive building. At the request of some visitors they sang again near the altar. Yes, quality is exciting! Afterwards we walked a short way through this old city. The boys changed into their casual clothing on the bus. Then we walked to an outdoor restaurant on the shores of the Elbe river for lunch. Time for me to say good-bye. After a walking tour through the city, the boys would return to Strehla for one more night. I myself spent the rest of the day in Dresden before taking the train home. What a great weekend !

If you are living or travelling in Germany, you might be able to go to one of the concerts of this wonderful choir. While writing this, the next concert is already in progress at Hoffenheim-Sinsheim near Heidelberg. The next two concerts are outside of Germany just across the border (take a look on my previous post). On the 19th June 2008, there will be another concert in Luxembourg-city, at the local Lutheran church at 7.30 p.m. So if you are in that area, do not miss it. Afterwards you can experience the Land of Lakes Choirboys on 21st June 2008, taking part in the church service at the Lutheran church in Sarreguemines/Lorraine region of eastern France at 1.30 until 2 o’clock p.m. And for two more concerts at the same church on 22nd June 2008 10 a.m. and at 5 p.m. Afterwards they go back to Germany, to the city of Schlitz in the land of Hesse where they will have another concert at the Landesakademie für Musik on 24th June 2008 at 8 p.m. Any questions ? Do not hesitate to contact me.

Greetings to all visitors of this blog !

Sherab from Hannover/Germany