Sometimes, the experience of singing is so rich that it’s hard to know what to write following a concert – so many threads to be followed, so much that could be said.

Of our concert on Sunday (Haydn’s Seasons) it’s true to say that I didn’t anticipate at the beginning of our rehearsal schedule the joy I would experience in singing this piece for the first time, as the early grind and impossible “note bashing” of our early rehearsals (“will I ever get my head around this piece?”) gave place in time to the deep delights of performing it under the beloved baton of Sir Colin Davis and alongside the exquisite singing of our three young soloists, Miah Perrson, Jeremy Ovenden and Andrew Foster-Williams.

It is not unusual, when we sing a piece that is not part of our ongoing repertoire, for the chorus to come to our first rehearsal with the conductor with anxieties about our preparedness.  This was true last week when it seemed to us that there were corners of the piece we had barely sung before.  And still, during our final week we rehearsed every day and grew in confidence.  And when we grow in confidence we often grow to love the piece we are singing as I did Haydn’s Seasons.

There were moments of humour, too.  When we sang our pleas for rescue from the summer storm (“Wo ist Rettung!”) our dramatic intent was just a little too dramatic for Joseph Cullen, our Chorus Director, who reminded the sopranos that we were not singing Tosca.  Sheepishly, a number of us confessed to each other during our break that we wondered if this remark was addressed at us (“was it me?”)  And because I know I have one of the larger voices of the section I was quite happy to come back after a rehearsal break to find a leaflet for Tosca perched on my score (thanks, Eileen!) and to pipe down just a little when Joseph let me know that yes, I could be heard above the rest of the section.

It would be a great omission to write without mentioning our regular partners, the London Symphony Orchestra.  I particularly noticed the commitment of the orchestra’s leader who could be seen (and heard) practising some of the intricacies of the piece in the breaks and whose exhortations to the players revealed a passion to go way beyond simply playing the right notes at the right time.  (If only our national football team could play under such a coach!)

Our own coaching included some fine tuning by Norbert who brought a singer’s understanding of what it takes to project the German text as well as a native speaker’s knowledge of the language.  Amongst the vocal coaches we have worked with Norbert stands out as being both fun and effective to work with.

So, as I write, I am still singing extracts from this piece I have come to know and love in recent weeks and I find myself relfecting on the deep sense of priviledge I continue to feel after half a lifetime (yes, half my lifetime) of singing as a member of the London Symphony Chorus.

Even as I yearn to catch up with last week’s sleep deficit, my gratitude is heartfelt.