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International Gala Concert - Male Voice Choirs, Truro 5 May 2007

When I was small I played snap, or pairs, with a favourite pack of cards. The pictures that had to be matched were children in their national costumes and I loved just looking at them and wondering what their lives were like. Nationalism has been a dirty word since the 1940s, with our post fascism and post-colonialism sensibilities, and homogeneity is making so much of the world seem bland but tonight, the wide range of difference is delightful in its variety.

On the day the SNP are celebrating in Scotland, the Hall for Cornwall is filled with choirs from all over the world; a celebration of nationalism and diversity. The farthest travelled are the Birralee Blokes from Australia, who open this evening's concert with three perfectly arranged and performed pieces. These guys all look under twenty years old and it’s great to see young men taking to choral singing, and great to hear that choirs are so keen to come to this annual series of concerts that some are having to wait a couple of years for a slot.

There are European choirs here too, and there’s a noticeable folk flavour to some of the pieces; although I’m expecting the traditional three part rhythm there are many in two, or four. It’s fascinating how many of the pieces performed have a strongly Eastern feel, taking the imagination to Russia and beyond. I remember last year’s concert where the Latvian and Estonian choirs had the audience in raptures. I guess folk music is in our very bones. I do hear it’s the new jazz.

The theatre is packed, and hot, and people are grumbling but it’s a small discomfort and anyway some people absolutely revel in complaining. The pleasure is all in absorbing the sounds as they thrill the air in the auditorium, and steal upon our ears, like a lover’s whisper. A few of the choirs have chosen to sing African melodies and these work their way through the body, tickle and soothe the spirit, to make an ancient, primal connection.

The Swedish Linkoping University Male Voice Choir creates a wonderful mood; their harmonies blend and tone to produce a glorious, uplifting sound. Hungary, Germany and Brittany are represented, and of course Wales and Cornwall. The full, deep voices of the Cornish choirs, and the angelic harmonies of the Dowlais Male Choir from Wales strike a particularly heart-warming note with me. I feel proud to be different, happy to identify with the Breton, Welsh and Cornish singers; my Celtic nations. Our histories are intriguing; I still wonder what all the different lives are like. Maybe I should go on a modern Grand Tour of old Europe - Celt in a VW goes East. Could be a book in it.
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