NOVEMBER 2023 GLENFIELD GAZETTE online

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NOVEMBER 2023 GLENFIELD GAZETTE
The Last Word for The Vicar of Dibley
THE FICTIONAL
Buckinghamshire village
of Dibley burst onto our
television screens in 1994,
along with its eccentric
cast of characters and a
chocolate-loving vicar,
Geraldine Grainger, the
role made famous by Dawn
French.
Twenty episodes later and the
sitcom had captured our hearts.
Who could forget the “Christmas
Lunch Incident” which changed
the nation’s view of the humble
Brussels sprout forever? So
imagine the excitement when
the Glenfield Ladies Co-operative
Choir was invited by Ben Cutler-
Thomas of Whetstone Drama to
record the theme music for their
production of The Vicar of Dibley in
early October.
By the end of September,
precious choir rehearsals are
usually focussed on the impending
rush towards our own Christmas
concert. Instead, we were armed
with hymn books and the sheet
music to the Vicar of Dibley’s iconic
theme tune, and surrounded on
all sides by microphones. The
Howard Goodall setting of “The
Lord is my Shepherd” (Psalm 23)
was recorded by the Choir of Christ
Church Cathedral in Oxford so we
had a lot to live up to. Sounding so
familiar it still took three separate
and completely different recordings
to get right. At the first attempt
we sounded a bit rusty and made
a loud flapping noise when we all
turned over the sheet music at the
same time so our Musical Director,
Laura Freeman, asked us to sing
the second version from memory
“with no flapping!!”.
Once Laura was satisfied with
the overall effect, we started to
sing more familiar hymns from our
past. You may think that “a hymn’s
a hymn” but with an age range
from 20 to 90 years, the choir all
knew different versions. Being
The Glenfield Ladies Co-operative Choir recorded the
Vicar of Dibley theme music for Whetstone Drama Group
of the ‘Baby Boomer’ generation
I certainly don’t remember ‘Sing
Hosanna’ during morning service
in the 1970s, although we did have
Led Zeppelin for a whole week. Our
youngest member, Katie, had never
heard one of the traditional hymns
and Rutter’s ‘For The Beauty of the
Earth’ was completely unknown to
many. Eventually, we had smashed
several timeless classics including
All Things Bright and Beautiful and
Bread of Heaven which Ben would
use during scene changes. We
also had our own comedy moment
when the electronic piano had a
‘glitch’ and flipped from a keyboard
to a full-on Phantom of the Opera
church organ.
Singing for pleasure can be hard
work and after two hours on our
feet, we had recorded the third
version of Psalm 23 getting the
thumbs up from both Laura and
the Tech Team. In true Vicar of
Dibley style, I needed a large
mug of tea and a whole Christmas
selection box by the end of this
very special rehearsal.
Whetstone Drama’s play was
completely sold out by the end
of September and those of us
lucky enough to secure tickets
at the United Reformed Church
theatre had a real nostalgic treat.
All the cast gave tremendous
performances bringing Dibley to
life over four evenings with backing
vocals by the GLCC.
In the closing scene the choir had
the play’s last word, holding on
to “forever” as the lights dimmed
to rapturous applause. We were
totally proud to be part of this
production but it doesn’t quite
end there for those who will be
appearing as ‘nuns-in-sequins’ in
Sister Act due in May 2024.
Tickets available for
our Christmas Concert
OUR OWN CHRISTMAS
concert rehearsals are now in
full swing for Saturday 16th
December at 7.00 pm in the
Free Church, Kirby Muxloe.
Tickets are £8.50 including
refreshments and are available by
telephoning 07970 075039 or email
admin@kirbyfree.org.
See you there.
Kate Ball
Glenfield Library Opening Hours
BOOK You
May LIKE
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