Ron Drew's Music Page - Activities
Singing - South Shields Amateur Operatic Society
Chapter 5.10 - Snippets of Chorus Lines
From Issue No 10 (December 1998)
Classic FM DJ Mike Read had a poll at the end of 1998 to find the nation's 100 favourite humorous poems and this item easily beat much more illustrious competition. The poem was discovered stuffed behind the vestry door of a church at Sutton Coldfield and the writer signed himself as Bob the Organist. He has never been published and to date his full identity remains a mystery. - Beryl Henderson
It's tough to be an alto when you're singing in the choir
The sopranos get the twiddly bits that people all admire.
The basses boom like loud trombones, the tenors shout with glee,
But the alto part is on two notes (or, if you're lucky, three).
And when we sing an anthem and we lift our hearts in praises,
The men get all the juicy bits and telling little phrases.
Of course the trebles sing the tune - they always come off best
The altos only get three notes and twenty-two bars rest.
#
We practice very hard each week from hymn-book and the Psalter, But when the conductor looks at us our voices start to falter.
"Too high! Too low! Too fast! You held that note too long!"
It doesn't matter what you do - it's certain to be wrong!
#
Oh! Shed a tear for altos, they're the Martyrs and they know
In the ranks of choral singers they're considered very low.
They are so very humble that a lot of folks forget 'em;
How they'd love to be sopranos, but their vocal chords won't let 'em! And when the final trumpet sounds and we are wafted higher, Sopranos, basses, tenors - they'll be in the heavenly choir,
While they sing "Alleluia" to celestial flats and sharps,
The altos will be occupied with polishing the harps.
[Ron Drew's Home Page] [Music Page][SSAOS Index]
[History] [Shows] [Highlights] [Personalities] [Chorus Lines]
Last revised: October 14, 2002.