Saturday, July 04, 2009

New homepage

Dear All,

We have moved to a new website.

For future events and information, please visit us at

http://thesummersingers.wordpress.com

Thursday, April 23, 2009

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU



Happy Birthday To You

"Happy Birthday to You" is an
American song which is sung to celebrate the anniversary of a person's birth. Non-English speakers have translated it into other languages.

The melody of "Happy Birthday to You" was written by American sisters
Patty and Mildred Hill in 1893 when they were school teachers in Louisville, Kentucky. The verse was originally intended as a classroom greeting entitled "Good Morning to All".

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, "Happy Birthday to You" is among the top three most popular songs in the English language, along with "Auld Lang Syne" and "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow." One of the most famous performances of "Happy Birthday to You" was Marilyn Monroe's rendition to U.S. President John F. Kennedy in May 1962.

"Good Morning to All" lyrics

Good morning to you,
Good morning to you,
Good morning, dear children,
Good morning to all.
"Happy Birthday to You" lyrics
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday dear (name)
Happy Birthday to you.

This traditional version of the song generally known is actually the chorus to the original. The first verse goes like this...

So today is your birthday
That's what I've been told
What a wonderful birthday
Now you're one more year old
On your cake there'll be candles
All lighted, it's true
While the whole world is singing
Happy Birthday to you ....

Some add another phrase to the end, sung to the same tune:

How old are you now,
How old are you now,
How old are you (name),
How old are you now.

Many alternate versions exist, most commonly sung as a joke, for example:

Happy Birthday to you,
You live in a
zoo,
You look like a
monkey
And you smell like one, too.


And the other version of the above:

Happy Birthday to you,
I went to the zoo,
I saw a big monkey,
And I thought it was you.


Some versions of the song add the line "And many more" as the final lyric.

Happy Birthday to you
You live in a zoo,
You look like a goat
And you chew like one, too

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Vocal Music, the soul of classical music


The soul of classical music


For most centuries vocal music formed the core of classical music. In fact almost all notated music before 1500 is purely vocal and in the second half of the Renaissance still nine-tenths of the musical output was vocal.

In the Baroque we see the meteoric rise of instrumental music, but the production of vocal and instrumental music was about equal in quality and prominence in this period. It was only after 1750 that instrumental music gained its pole position in classical music. However, if we counted all the notes sung and played today, especially with the contribution of amateur choral singing, one wonders if vocal music still might take the number one position in classical music performances.

There are several ways we could classify vocal music. There is a clear distinction between solo vocal and choral, and also between sacred and secular vocal music. Whichever way we look at it, the number of genres produced in vocal music is countless. The simplest category is that of solo vocal music: only one voice, accompanied by whatever instrument, ensemble or orchestra. This is the fascinating world of Song reaching from the Medieval Troubadour songs, via the solo cantatas of the Baroque era towards the classical master of song (with piano) Franz Schubert. Opera, with its numerous arias and recitative, also belong to this category as does the gorgeous Symphonic songs written by the late Romantics Gustav Mahler and Richard Strauss.

Choral music on the other hand is much more complex to classify. In fact all sacred vocal music up to 1600 was written for choir or vocal ensemble. This counts for the Medieval Gregorian Chant as well the main Renaissance genres mass and motet. Right from the start of the Baroque the greatest of all pioneers Claudio MonteVerdi mixed old and new styles, both solo vocal and choral in his Vespro della Beata Virgine. This contrasting mix of music types became standard practice in all great forms of Baroque sacred music: the Oratorio, Cantata and Passion. This tendency to combine all kinds of musical types can also been seen in secular music, but most of all in opera.

Friday, March 13, 2009

20090314 Music Exchange + Steamboat Dinner

Dear singers,

Here is the invitation by Tsun Jin Choir. Details as below:
Date : 24-3-2009(Sat.)
Time : 6.45pm-10pm
Venue : Tsun Jin High School
Activities:Yummy Steamboat, Music Exchange...
Invitation Link: http://cc.tsunjin.edu.my/choir/?p=349

Tq

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

20090628 KL A Cappella Festival


Date: 28-6-2009 (Sat.)
Time: 5:00 - 6:30 pm
Venue: SJK (C) Yuk Chai, PJ(八打灵育才小学)
Ticket: RM 30.00 (Please contact 016-2529598 Ms. Kok)
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Performing Choirs:
吉隆坡循人中学合唱团,Synctone,The Summer'Singers,
Sound Blender,雪隆人镜白话剧社合唱团、琼联合唱团
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TSS in 20080629 KL A Cappella Festival