Visit to Bedford 2008

Celebrating 25 Tears of Friendship !!

Visit to Langenlonsheim July 2005

written by our Publicity Officer, David Thompson

On Thursday July 28 2005, 24 members of St. Mary’s Singers from Potton with family members and friends, flew to Germany to visit Langenlonsheim, Potton’s Twin Town.

The occasion was the three-yearly exchange visit between Singers and the Gemischter Chor of Langenlonsheim. This year it was Singers turn to visit Germany and perform in a Concert with their German partner. Both choirs perform separately their own programme of music with the final part being performed by both choirs singing in German, English and for the first time this year, Italian. However, the concert opened with both choirs singing J.S Bachs Festival Chorus, "Freut euch alle". Singers programme consisted of arrangements of British Folk Songs by John Rutter and Alan Bullard and the madrigal from the Mikado by Gilbert and Sullivan. The local choir performed music by such composers as Brahms and Andrew Lloyd Webber but the coming together of the two choirs for the finale was perhaps the highlight of the show. The two choirs managed to bring the light, delicate passages of the Mozart round,

"V’ Amo di core" to the fore, giving the audience a rare musical treat. The concert finished with two English songs from the time of Henry VIII, "Greensleeves" and "Pastime with Good Company" The latter was accompanied by a rhythmic drum beat played by Phil Wright. Singers were under the musical direction of Sarah Aylen and accompanied by Anne Wright.

Another singing highlight of the visit was St Mary’s Singers performing the Schubert "Mass in G" at a service in the town’s Catholic Church. The church was full to capacity and afterwards the choir received a standing ovation from the congregation as they left the building.

                                            St Mary's Singers after the Church Service

The visit, over 5 days, packed in many more events from a trip down the Rhein to Oberwesel and a visit to Speyer where apart from taking in the history of the city’s Cathedral , a visit was also made to the Technikmuseum where as the name implies, many items of technical interest were on display. These ranged from cars, railway locomotives and aircraft. Here perhaps the most interesting was a Jumbo jet supported about 35 metres above the ground and accessed by a spiral staircase.

                    A wine tasting evening                                                        Low flying Jumbo at Speyer

In the evenings, get togethers with our hosts where sampling the local wines and eating local speciality dishes were very popular. At an official reception at the start of the visit, gifts were exchanged and speeches were made emphasising how important Twinning exchanges and events are in today’s world to encourage harmony between nations. Certainly harmony between the two choirs was an important element of the visit.

                                                    Exchange of gifts at the Reception

The Gemischter Chor has been invited to come to Potton in three years time (2008) when

St. Mary’s Singers will hope to return the hospitality given to us by our German Hosts.