126
127
THE ALLEYNIAN 709
MUSIC
a
at
distance a
Lockdown brought about a strange silence, says Dan Ludford-Thomas . Voices simply went underground, or more accurately, online. Singers could no longer sing together in unison or in harmony
accompany pupils in real time. Teachers have had to send over recorded tracks for singers to sing along to. Online lessons allow for continued work on technique, sight-reading and aural tests, and they provide a constant mirror: singers can literally see what they are doing. On screen, you can see mouth shapes, what the body should and should not be doing and how you look when telling a story. Of course nothing beats live music-making, and its return cannot come soon enough. Not being able to rehearse together regularly, either as piano and voice or in choirs, has smashed away any complacency. The absence of this ability to vocalise out loud has been keenly felt, and I believe when it returns, and as society opens up, things might be initially rusty, but the joy of being able to sing will be electric. Whether it is the power of the massed singalong in a Great Hall assembly, a choir taking flight in a chapel service or in concert, or the singing of songs on the terraces, singing will make its welcome return as that act we can all enjoy.
Though the concert did not have a live audience, it was no easy-going job. The performers worked throughout the term to provide a recording for this event that would not only be heard once, but that would also be accessible to a much larger audience, and listened to over and over again. As a result, these recordings had to be of top quality. Each group was allocated a period of time for their recordings, which in most cases required more than just a few takes. The Great Hall was set up with microphones, lighting and cameras, and with the help of the music staff, especially Isa Khan, our very own Studio Technician, Dulwich College musicians of all year groups were able to make professional recordings of the various pieces we had learnt. The concert concluded with the Allegro con brio from Beethoven’s Piano Concerto no. 3 in C minor, performed by Year 13 pupil Bobby Han alongside our Head of Keyboard, Luis Parés. This performance was absolutely breathtaking, and reflected the incredible musical talent within the College. To learn such a piece by heart and produce a recording of this quality is a real achievement, especially at such a young age. Congratulations to Bobby and all other performers in last year’s Winter Concert.
The 2020 Winter Concert was the first of its kind, writes Miles Camilleri (Year 12). Instead of performing in front of an audience in a beautiful venue, the musicians of the College produced an online concert premiering on the Dulwich College YouTube channel on 25 November
At Dulwich College we have kept singing alive for our choristers with online singing lessons. These have been invaluable both as a way to keep singers fit and as a way to maintain wellbeing. There has also been the creation of choir performances on film: singers record their parts at home and then send them in to be stitched together. Socially distanced performances have also been achieved, and in such cases, however modest the music-making has been, the relief has been so evident and the smiles on faces constant. The online world has developed singers’ listening skills and their ability to rehearse independently as the teacher cannot
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online