Announcing ‘Together’, our original song, embracing internet latency in world first!
Eleanor Pullen • Apr 28, 2020
Our choir members around the world are reversing roles with their husbands and partners and joining the frontline in the battle against Covid-19. “Over half of our choir are frontline workers at our nearby Hospital and we also have two teachers” said one choir member, Kate, whilst adding “One of our members is working a long day on the Coronavirus Isolation Ward today - our thoughts are with her. In a strange way, this is a bit of role reversal. For once, the wives and girlfriends are out on the frontline whilst many husbands and partners are juggling life at home.” Our 75 Military Wives Choirs from the UK to Naples and the Falkland Islands are continuing their music-making through weekly virtual rehearsals, all whilst maintaining key worker roles.
To enable our choirs to truly sing together, we are innovating with the creation of an original song titled ‘Together’, written for us by our Artistic Director, Hilary Davan Wetton, also a renowned conductor.
Our Chair of Trustees, Maggie Pedder, said that “Our choirs have started using video conferencing software such as Zoom to host our regular weekly rehearsals. What we were finding was that the sound delay meant we had to mute everyone, which stopped us from hearing each other’s voices and feeling that sense of community which comes from singing together. We wondered if there was a way to embrace the latency rather than fight it, and that’s where Hilary Davan Wetton came in”.
Hilary Davan Wetton has composed the song ‘Together’ in an exciting world first, using classical compositional techniques and lyrics from choir members to create a song which accommodates the internet delay. The piece employs interlocking note patterns where exact pulse is replaced by a generalised forward movement. As our choir member Giselle said, “Even though we can’t all be together, we have never felt more stronger, together".
We’re thrilled to announce that the sheet music for ‘Together’ by Hilary Davan Wetton is available to purchase to perform with your choirs! Find out more information here https://www.militarywiveschoirs.org/buy-the-sheet-music-for-military-wives-choirs-together-by-hilary-davan-wetton.
Our Chair of Trustees, Caroline Paxton, has written an article for The Naval Review about the Military Wives Choirs and what we offer to women across the military community: 'Understanding women impacted by their military connection'.
Thanks to funding, the Military Wives Choirs is delighted to announce a new commission and invites applications from composers across the musical landscape.
New research finds mental and physical health benefits to joining the Military Wives Choirs
