Heart & Soul - National Youth Choir (15-18 Years)

• This event takes place at Albert Hall Conference Centre in Nottingham. Find out more about getting here
• Everyone is welcome to join us for the pre-concert SING! at 4pm before you settle down for the performance at 5pm
• Concert seating is unreserved so we recommend you arrive early to enjoy the pre-concert SING! and get first pick of the available seats
• For the enjoyment and safety of our young singers, please do not take photos or film during the performance
• A professional photographer from National Youth Choir will be taking photos during the pre-concert SING!. If you are attending the pre-concert SING! and do not consent to having your photo taken, please let the photographer know or approach any of the National Youth Choir staff (wearing pink polo shirts or purple lanyards)

Ubi caritas et amor - Maurice Duruflé
👂 Right at the beginning of the piece, you can hear a simple tune with the words 'Ubi caritas et amor'. This tune has been taken from a Gregorian chant, a bit of music sung in religious ceremonies that's so old, it was around at the same time as the Vikings. Listen out for the tune sung back and forth between different groups of singers all through the piece.

Magnificat Primo a 8 - Chiara Margarita Cozzolani

Upon your heart - Eleanor Daley

The Art of Dying (world premiere) - Anita Datta
👂 You are the only people to EVER hear this piece in a concert. That's right, this piece was created by Anita Datta for our singers and you're at the very first performance. Our singers had a blast working on this piece and exploring Bengali folk music with Anita on the course this week, and we are lucky that Anita will be here to watch this first performance. If you see someone come and take a bow after this performance, that will be her!

👂 You might be able to hear that sometimes the choir are singing in English, and sometimes they are singing in Bengali (a South Asian language which is the seventh most-spoken language in the world!). This is because the lyrics have been pulled together from lots of different traditions and religions, including the Christian Bible and a traditional music from the Bengals called ‘Baul Sangeet’, which is influenced by ideas from Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sufi Islam. And sometimes the choir aren't singing lyrics at all! Listen out for the singers using different mouth sounds to imitate drums and traditional one-stringed folk instruments from Bengal.

My spirit sang all day - Gerald Finzi
👂 Gerald Finzi chose the text from a love poem by Robert Bridges as the lyrics for this piece. Gerald was writing the music right around the time he was getting married to his wife, Joy. You might notice that the word 'joy' is repeated over and over again in the poem, which is perhaps why Gerald chose it. How many times can you hear the choir sing the word 'joy'?

My heart be brave - Marques L A Garrett
👂When Marques L A Garrett was asked to write piece about social justice, he didn't choose to set modern lyrics from a living poet. Instead, he turned to the poetry of American writer and civil rights activist James Weldon Johnson, who was born in 1871. In the poem, James speaks to his own heart, encouraging it to be brave, to "look up", "rise up" and find hope. If you were having a conversation with your own heart about doing something scary, what would you say?

If the river leaves without me - Reena Esmail

Hear my heart sing - Bernard Hughes
👂 This piece is like a musical rollercoaster. It's fast, punchy and you never know where it's going to twist or turn next. There are three main sections - the first is about the heart as an organ, the second is about singing (with a big tune sung by the tenors) and the third is about the joy of singing with your heart. Listen out for the repeated heartbeat rhythm during the piece and the words 'Look in your heart and sing' at the end.

INTERVAL

My soul there is a country - Charles Hubert H Parry

Wie lieblich sind deine wohnungen - Johannes Brahms
👂 This piece is the smallest part of the largest work Johannes ever wrote, his 'German Requiem'. In the 1860s, when this piece was written, it was traditional for composers to use a specific set of Latin text, the Catholic prayers for the dead, as the lyrics for a Requiem. But Johannes wanted to do something different - he picked a different set of words from the Bible, translated into German. Instead of offering prayers to people who have died, the new lyrics he chose focus on providing comfort to living people experiencing grief. How do you feel when you hear this music?

Love’s Philosophy - Cecilia McDowall

I carry your heart - Toby Young

WILD CARDS (So good, the choir will be performing two!)
It's all right - Curtis Mayfield arr. Robert T Gibson
(Sittin' on) The Dock of the Bay - words and music by Steve Cropper and Otis Redding arr. Mac Huff

Sing to the moon - Laura Mvula
👂 If you were into R&B and Soul in the 2010s, you might already recognise this song from Laura Mvula's debut album with the same name. The arrangement you're hearing today was premiered by the BBC Singers at the Last Night of the Proms in 2019. We were lucky enough to start a three-year partnership with the BBC Singers last year, and since then National Youth Choir singers have performed with BBC Singers at some exciting concerts including their 100-year anniversary concert in London.

Alleluia - Jake Runestad
👂 How do you make a song interesting when the lyrics are just one word? In Jake Runestad's piece, the choir sing the word 'Alleluia' over and over again, but the way Jake writes the music means there's always something new around the corner. Play a game of music bingo: Can you hear when the music is fast and when it's slow? Can you hear times when different voice parts answer each other, and times where everyone is singing the same thing at the same time? As soon as you start to hear the clapping, you know you're near the end - get ready to strap in and enjoy the showstopping finale of this concert!

Singers in National Youth Choir (15-18 Years) meet twice a year for residential courses. On courses, singers live, sing and learn together with rehearsals for most of the day time and social events in the evening, all facilitated by a team of National Youth Choir conductors, vocal coaches, musicianship leads and pastoral staff.

From dancercise to birthdays to the now, traditional 'pink day', there's far too many special things about National Youth Choir courses to mention all of them. To get a taste of what these young singers have experienced over the last seven days, watch our Instagram stories highlight