Madrid International Choir: What makes us international?

 English speaking choir in Madrid

A choir, like any organisation, is not something just because its name says it is, you have to be what you say you are. In the case of Madrid International Choir, and our Ensemble, we can think about the following: 

Who are our singers and instrumentalists? 

What music do we perform?

Who do we perform with?

Our players and singers are truly international, coming to Madrid from more than 20 countries, including Spain, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Canada, China, England, France, Germany, Hungary, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Netherlands, Peru, Philippines, Rumania, Russia, Scotland, South Africa, USA, Venezuela and Wales.

Some of our group have lived in Madrid all their lives, several settled here years ago and plan to stay, while others, especially our younger members, are visiting students who might be with us only for a few months. All are welcome, and each one brings their own personality and experience to our community.

Our repertoire is international since it includes lyrics in English by composers from UK and USA, in Spanish by composers from Spain, Mexico and Costa Rica, a Basque carol, texts in French, Latin, Italian and German, and a traditional Turkish song arranged especially for us by Elif Gozen.  

Collaboration is an important part of our character. In the last two seasons we have performed with a local orchestra, numerous Madrid choirs in the Dreamers concert at the Auditorio Nacional de Música, and with the Coro del Cabanyal both in Madrid and in Valencia. We also have performed memorable concerts with mezzo-soprano soloist Clara Conde, from Castellón, and with the Madrid-based international female barbershop choir The Barbees. The Jolly Holiday Singalong at the International Institute in Madrid was a happy occasion and we hope it will be a regular feature in our calendar.

In June 2024 we hosted our first visiting specialist when Phoebe Martha visited from London to lead a Vocal Improvisation Residency: see her work on Instagram @phoebespockets

We have been happy to welcome and share concerts with Canyon Crest Academy and The Stockton Chorale, both from California, and we had a very special weekend when singers from the Tanti Canti Choir visited from The Hague, Netherlands, with their director Elif Gozen. In the coming season we look forward to visits by the Estudio Coral Armentum from Costa Rica, and other choirs from, USA, Ireland and UK.

Madrid International Choir and Ensemble are international, not just in name, but in our origins, in our repertoire and in our numerous collaborations.

Photo: New Scientist

Madrid International Choir, English speaking choir in Madrid

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Madrid International Choir: Songs for peace

Madrid International Choir, English speaking choir in Madrid

How can you write an anti-war song without using the word peace?  Which pop singer from Liverpool completed a lyric for a classical composer from New York half a century later? Why would you be persecuted for calling for a deeper understanding of peace in your time?

Let’s take the last one first. Peace is not an absence of war is a well known phrase. It’s only a tiny fragment of the philosopher Baruch Spinoza’s extensive output. He was born and died in The Netherlands and he is buried in the grounds of the church in front of City Hall in The Hague: it’s impossible to live in the city without bumping into memorials and statues in his honour as you cycle around: Baruch Spinoza 1632-1677.

Apparently the trouble he got into was not so much for the better known part of the phrase: Peace is not an absence of war, more to do with what followed: Peace is not an absence of war, it is a virtue, a state of mind, a disposition for benevolence, confidence, justice. Spinoza was calling for the government of his day to up their game and work to achieve these high aims of benevolence, confidence and justice and his suggestions were not well received in his time. 

The musical setting we will sing was composed recently in The Hague, for international high school students of the city. It’s in C major and starts with a bell like call for Peace, with the sopranos on a high G. One of the students remarked that starting on high G was not an easy thing to do, and the composer replied that achieving and keeping peace is not an easy thing to do.

The song ends with a contemporary observation by the composer: Peace is working out together who we are. 

Amy Beach was a prolific composer and concert pianist, born in the USA in 1867. She wrote numerous pieces in various genres, including orchestral, solo piano and choral settings. Recently we performed a joint concert in Madrid with The Stockton Chorale from California, and to end the concert we sang Peace I leave with you, by Amy Beach, at the suggestion of their Musical Director, Dr Bruce Southard. It’s a beautiful setting of a verse from the bible, John 14, 27: 

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, (neither let it be afraid)

The key is the calm and comforting E flat major and the four part harmony is mainly diatonic and reassuringly familiar. At the significant moment of the text, the first appearance of Let not your heart be troubled there is a crunchy chromatic alteration in the inner voices, to be resolved soon afterwards for Let not your heart be troubled. Musically this is an interesting setting, and the stretched ending, over a repeat of Let not your heart be troubled, gives time to re-establish the tonic key and lets us go in peace. 

There are many positive elements to performing joint concerts with international choirs and one of them is that we get to know unfamiliar music. In this case we were introduced to Amy Beach’s inspiring music, and we will be looking to include more of her work in our repertoire.

Why did the composer end her setting with Let not your heart be troubled, and not include the last words of the verse, neither let it be afraid? I have no idea, but given her expertise and experience, I am sure there was a good reason.

How far is it from Neither let (your heart) be afraid to Let’s hope it’s a good (year) without any fear?

Amy Beach didn’t include the reference to being afraid, but John Lennon and Yoko Ono wished us all a new year without any fear in Happy Xmas, War is over, released in 1971. Here’s a brain teaser: Amy Beach died in New York in 1944 and both Yoko Ono (1933) and John Lennon (1940)  were born before she died, both far away from the city, and they settled in New York where they enjoyed the early years of their son Sean, before Lennon’s tragic murder in 1980.

Happy Xmas, War is over is a secular seasonal song, far from snowy images of Bethlehem and the stable. The lyric on the chorus is War is over if you want it, which was a phrase which John and Yoko had featured in a poster campaign throughout the USA in previous years. Yoko and John were serious campaigners for peace, not frivolous self-publicists. In their time the war in question was being waged in Vietnam, but in their early years they had both seen the devastation of another war at close quarters.

One of our choir members requested that we include this song in our new season so I started listening to it again and with closer attention. For the first time ever, I heard some whispering in the opening seconds, and it turns out to be Yoko and John wishing happy Christmas to the children from their previous marriages: Kyoko and Julian. What a beautiful way to start the song, and what a great way to end the song, with War is over if you want it/ War is over now. 

From the personal to the universal with some unforgettable music in between.

Read more:

https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/spinoza/

https://www.nieuwekerkdenhaag.nl/

https://www.amybeach.org/

https://www.stocktonchorale.org/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flA5ndOyZbI

Photos: Amazon, NewYork Times, The Independent

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