The Circle Volume 14

In this issue:

1. The Capital Singers

2. Buckler’s Hard

Buckler’s Hard is a quiet riverside village in the South of England, a good place for a day out. But two hundred years ago Buckler's Hard played a vital role in Britain's seafaring history by building

Two professional and entrepreneurial choirmasters in Pretoria built a unique choir using the power of the internet. Between 2015 and 2020 the Capital Singers choir grew to over 1000 members. It was probably the biggest choir in Africa before it was forced to cease activities in 2021 due to Covid. great wooden fighting ships for the British navy in the Napoleonic wars. Some of the Buckler’s Hard men of war fought in the Battle Of Trafalgar under Lord Horatio Nelson.

The Capital Singers

Some people love to sing, others don’t or can’t. My first experience of choral music was in the 1960’s in the Kimberley Cathedral choir, where I was head choirboy for a year.

Many years later I practiced for months with the Cape Town Philharmonic Choir for The Messiah, but never made it to an actual Easter performance.

Many people have sung in a choir at some time in their life and many would like to be part of a choir, but don’t have the time or dedication to go to practices.

Two professional choirmasters from Pretoria, Christo Burger and Michael Barrett, wanted to find a way for people in the local community to experience the joy of singing in a choir.

Burger and Barrett are well known for their professional work. Burger is director of the award-winning Akustika™ Chamber Singers and Jacaranda Children's Choir. Dr Michael Barrett is the conductor of the University of Pretoria (Tuks) Camerata and a senior lecturer in Choral Conducting in the Department of Music.

The two colleagues forged a remarkable partnership and built a highly successful choir they named the Capital Singers, over a five year period.

On a wet Friday afternoon in April 2015, a group of about a hundred singers and musicians from all walks of life, gathered in the foyer of the Studentekerk, the Pretoria University Students’ Church, in the capital city of South Africa.

We had never met one another before and we were there to attempt to achieve something others deemed impossible – to practice together then present a full three-hour Easter concert the next day, on the Saturday afternoon, less than 24 hours away. With a broad selection of mainly spiritual music comprising 14 different songs, including several works by the Welsh composer Karl Jenkins, this was not easy material to master.

How did it come about? Some three months earlier, interested singers were invited to enrol for this concert (at a small fee) on the Capital Singers website.

After enrolment, and about eeight weeks before the event , each singer received an email containing the sheet music and recorded MP3 tracks for their voice group (soprano, alto, tenor, bass) for the full concert repertoire.

Participants were required to learn and rehearse the music on their own. Many practiced the music by singing in their cars when driving to and from work. Weekly E mails were sent out encouraging the singers to practice.

On that first Friday evening the choirmasters led the singers through the program until 10pm. The choir rehearsed again on Saturday morning and afternoon for about 6 hours. The first concert was held on Saturday evening followed by another on the Sunday. Many of the singers were nervous before the first concert, not having sung before an audience for many years.

I recall our first performance ending with a standing ovation from the audience, (admittedly most of whom were friends and relatives of the singers) and requests for encore after encore.

At that first concert, the Easter concert held in the Studentekerk in central Pretoria in April 2015, there were less than 100 singers with two performances. The last Capital Singers concert, the Christmas concert held at the Times Square Sun Arena in December 2019, had over 1000 choristers and three sell-out performances to audiences of 3600 each time.

The concept was proved by the success of the first concert. The repertoire for each new concert project was carefully chosen by Christo Burger and Michael Barrett, then arranged and orchestrated in collaboration with musical director Janine Neethling. Volunteer professional singers recorded the separate MP3 tracks for the soprano, alto, tenor and bass parts of each song.

The MP3 rehearsal tracks for the singers were clear, easy to follow and well detailed, making it easy for the singers to learn the music and come prepared for each event.

There are always fewer basses in a choir than sopranos, altos or tenors. There were only 15 basses at the first rehearsal.

I got chatting to the singer standing next to me, and it turned out that he lived in Midstream as well. We became friends and later formed a lift club for other members of the choir who also live in Midstream.

For many choristers, a concert is socially and spiritually rewarding. A thousand singers led by a good choirmaster can unite together to create a unique musical experience. A concert performance by professionally-led choirmasters elevates the singers to a level of euphoria for days after.

The Capital Singers concerts were a fixture on many Pretoria family calendars between 2015 and 2019. During these years the Capital Singers performed at least three events each year, each one held over a single weekend. A sell-out Christmas concert took place at the end of every year. Participation was not limited to Pretoria. Whole families travelled from as far afield as Nelspruit and Mossel Bay and even Cape Town for the Capital Singers weekends. For young people, singing at the concerts became a social event, like going out on a date.

More and more people applied to join the Capital Singers after each concert. Numbers grew from the original 90 to 150, then 400, then 800.

The policy of using only professional musicians who perform regularly with local orchestras, contributed greatly to the success of every Capital Singers concert.

The

national

well known local

The first Easter concert was followed by Popera, selections from popular opera, in June 2015, and a festive Christmas concert.

I was fortunate to sing in two fabulous concerts in 2016, the first being “Extravaganza”, a selection of songs from great stage shows, and secondly “Cinema” legendary songs from the movies, with guest stars Andre Venter and Magdalene Minaar.

2017 saw “Swing low” a wide ranging selection of spiritual music orchestrated with and presented by the brilliant pianist Charl du Plessis and his trio.

Later in the year this was followed by Fantasia, songs from the Disney films with guest singer Jonathan Roxmouth.

Jonathan joined us shortly after his role as the Phantom in several productions of The Phantom of the Opera, including the world tour.

In 2017 the Capital Singers moved to the Pretoria State Theatre for four concerts over 18 months. The 2018 Christmas concert was held at the third and last venue, the huge Sun Arena in Times Square, Pretoria.

In may 2018 the Capital Singers presented possibly their most successful concert ever, titled “Rewind to the 80’s” . It featured rock ’n roll and pop medleys from that decade with nostalgic hits like “Whiter shade of pale” ‘Sweet Caroline” “Mull of Kintyre” and a selection of Abba hits.

The choir was supported by well known local artists Elvis Blue, Joseph Clark, Vicky Sampson and 16 year old discovery Erin Beck.

I was unable to take part in the September 2018 concert titled ”Spy” featuring themes from the James Bond franchise films.

The successful “Rewind back to the 80’s” was followed up in 2019 with a second and equally successful “Rewind”, this time featuring songs from the 70’s as well. The September concert in 2019 was called “Iconic” and featured music by legendary artists like Sinatra, Elvis, and Cher.

The outbreak of Covid in 2020 led to the cancellation of the June 2020 production of Capital Singers, titled Our African Dream, and there are at this time no known plans to revive the choir. The demise of Capital Singers, that wonderful project, is just one example of the economic consequences of the pandemic and its tragic impact on human lives.

In 2015 two talented and entrepreneurial choirmasters, Christo Burger and Michael Barrett, had a vision to create an opportunity for people in the broader community, to experience the joy of singing in a choir. They succeeded brilliantly for five years, worked incredibly hard, built the biggest choir in Africa, and touched the lives of hundreds, if not thousands, of people. The community of Pretoria owes a debt of gratitude to these two great musical leaders.

Buckler’s Hard

In the New Forest National Park in the south of England, on the banks of the Beaulieu River, is a tiny, tranquil village named “Buckler's Hard”.

It consists of two rows of modest 18th century red brick cottages which face each other across a wide corridor at right angles to the river shore.

Buckler's Hard today is a great place for picnics, sailing and canoeing. Visitors from around the world can visit the museum and the Ship Inn restaurant, or enjoy a scenic walk up the river to the Beaulieu estate.

It was not always so. From the mid-18th century until the early 19th century, Buckler's Hard played a crucial role in Britain's seafaring history and in turn, the history of the nation. It doesn’t look like a shipyard now, but in the 18th century great wooden ships were built here. Britain and France were officially at war during 65 of the 126 years between 1689 and 1815. Naval battles increased the need for the construction of warships. The river here is deep and wide enough for shipbuilding and launching, and is sheltered from prevailing westerly winds.

In 1744 master shipbuilder Henry Adams was sent to Buckler's Hard from the royal shipyard at Deptford, to oversee the construction of the 24-gun vessel, the Surprise. Adams married a local woman and went on to win contracts to build the hulls of many of the famous wooden warships of the day during the Napoleonic Wars.

The Buckler's Hard Maritime Museum showcases the development of this fascinating village, the story of its ships, and the residents who lived and worked here.

There is a lifelike display of a labourer’s family life in a cottage in the village, revealing how villagers lived and worked in the early 1800's.

The hards or landing places where the ships were built and launched, are still there, the old supporting timbers visible at low tide.

About 4,000 trees were needed to build a first rate ship of the line. The keel, ribs and beams were laid down, then covered with a rough roofing. Work would stop for several months to allow the timber to season.

When work began again the seasoned planks for the sides were built on to the ribs, the deck planking was fitted to the beams, and the seams between the planking were filled with oakum and sealed with hot pitch.

Readers of Patrick O’ Brian’s seafaring novels will recall the name HMS Surprise, the first Man of War to be built at Buckler's Hard in 1745, the first of 52 naval vessels constructed in this shipyard on the Beaulieu River.

The ships built at Buckler’s Hard during this period were mainly fully fledged men of war. The impressive hulls of these 74-gun vessels - typically 170 - 180 feet long and almost 50 feet in breadth - were launched into the river. The hulks were towed by men in rowing boats to Portsmouth where masts, rigging and fittings were added.

The last Man of War was launched at Buckler's Hard in 1814.

Launch days were well-attended, joyous celebrations, often the culmination of up to three years of hard work by shipwrights, craftsmen, and labourers. Dignitaries were invited to name the vessels and a bottle of wine was broken on the bow.

In 1804, between 3,000 and 4,000 people attended the launch of the 74-gun Swiftsure. One hundred and ten guests were entertained at a celebration dinner, and the Ship Inn is said to have served an impressive 2,100 pints of beer.

Three Buckler’s Hard vessels Agamemnon (1781, 64 guns), Euryalus (1803, 36 guns) and Swiftsure (1804, 74 guns) - took part in the Battle of Trafalgar in October 1805 when twenty-seven British ships, partly under the command of Horatio Nelson, defeated a combined fleet of thirty three French and Spanish ships.

The Agamemnon was particularly dear to Nelson's heart - he served on her as captain for 3 years and often referred to her as his favourite ship.

During World War II, the Beaulieu River was closed to private vessels and Buckler’s Hard became a repair facility for the Navy. Houses in the village were requisitioned for Navy personnel and it became a base for the construction of dummy landing crafts for the secret ‘Operation Quicksilver’.

Later in the war, in support of the D-Day landings, concrete pontoons for Mulberry Harbours were built on a site just below the village.

Beaulieu River and Buckler’s Hard played a part in the build up to the D-Day landings with many craft and thousands of Army and Navy personnel gathered in the area.

Sir Francis Chichester (1901-72) used to moor his boat, Gipsy Moth IV, at Buckler’s Hard. He was knighted for breaking the record for the fastest voyage around the world by a small vessel. Gypsy Moth is now moored at Greenwich.

The Circle is a private, limited edition magazine produced as a retirement hobby for family and friends, and fellow Midstreamers. The magazine is distributed at no charge. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author.

Photographs have been sourced from the Buckler’s Hard

the Capital Singers’ website and

and

from

and the Buckler’s

collection.

the Rough Guide to

Museum guidebook.