“Remember to bring your bells and pumps to next week’s rehearsal,” musical director Alison Stewart reminded her choristers.
The unusual request was because, on July 8, the Palmerston North Choral Society will not be performing the traditional choral work they are known for.
Song Cycle is a modern choral work composed by Alexander L’Estrange in 2014 to mark the start of the 2014 Tour de France from Leeds, Yorkshire. Himself a keen cyclist, L’Estrange is recognised as one of Britain’s most popular living choral composers and arrangers. He has a background as a chorister at New College, Oxford and has been a professional jazz pianist and bass player.
Song Cycle comprises 10 songs (eight original) celebrating the bicycle, the joys of cycling and the great outdoors. It combines elements of the British choral tradition with jazz to create a unique, vibrant work.
It contains a variety of musical styles including funk, folk, jazz, barbershop and music hall. As Stephen Williams, the conductor at the world premiere, said, “Song Cycle is bursting with great melodies, fresh air and fun; it simply leaps off the page!”
