Casey's magnum opus #1

Magnam Opus 1 - by Casey Edmunds

*This was performed on August 14, 2011, the last day of the United Voices of Edmonton Choir tour to England in the summer of 2011.

To the tune of....

Four strong winds

As we stand at the airport
Adam's bag has not been found
Hasn't left the airport - still in Calgary.

Casey's late he's not arrived,
he is the last one all the time.
Thankfully at 3:15 he is seen.

As we board our Sussex Coach
We meet Lee and David too!
Don't be fooled it's not a bus we're riding on.

We'll find Clara, Glen and James,
Mary, Lea, Adam too.
Lucas you stink won't you please take us to BATH

Chorus:
Four fried eggs, and baked beans, sausage, bacon, baked tomato
Potato patties and field mushrooms everyday,
This is England's morning breakfast, hope your bowels aren't affected
Be sure to let go before the tower tour.

We'll sing evensongs and matins,
in Abbeys and Cathedrals,
Gloucester, Oxford, Bath and Alveston we'll be.

Met the verger and the canon
taught us about the procession
Didn't matter to the choir they're United!!

Magnificat by Mack (also known as the Casino Mag)

(interlude)

This is (repeat)
The casino maganunc (repeat)
When you hear it, it recalls the sound
of winning (repeat)
For it was written by Warren in
Las Vegas (repeat)

For he began to write it,
For England we shall sing,

The United Voices of Edmonton (repeat)

For that we shall be Anglican
Anglican for 2 weeks

With psalms, responses and litanies,
We're WILD for responses.
And mercy is on them that singeth those 50 bloody verses!

(sinister register)

They had showeth strength with their psalm,
They had put down the Capon and attempted the Wild responses
Oh yeah!!!

Abide in thy love

Men:
We are like monks in an Abbey
We eat, sing and pray everyday

We are like monks in an Abbey
No rest or free time to play

Ladies:
For the morning rehearsals
So tired I was

All:
This is dedication (repeat)

Four strong winds (cont'd)

Funny thing about this choir
Different ages you will find
But we have multiple personalities

Altos they are so forthright
Sops are a little more uptight
Basses can't even sing on key!

Magnificat by Warren (Casino)

And the tenors (the tenors)
They sound lovely
they're the divas of the choir,
Take that sopranos!

Four strong winds (cont'd)

Four great sections we make up,
One great choir we can be,
Hope you won't forget that sound we have achieved.

Don't forget T-J and Warren
They've done so much to make this happen
Thank you for making us sing so beautifully

Chorus:

Four fried eggs and baked beans,
Sausage, bacon baked tomato,
Potato patties, field mushrooms everyday

This is our most famous tour
who would of thought we would get through it
But we finally sang psalms properly!!!

Bon Voyage!

It's finally almost here!

Time to leave behind all the hard work that the United Voices of Edmonton have put in, and go on the journey that we've been planning for almost 2 years!

During this time of preparation, we've had a lot of extra rehearsals, sang at four evensong services around Edmonton, met and planned, had some "fun"draisers, and have gotten to know better our fellow choristers from our own choirs and the other choirs that have comprised the group (Robertson-Wesley, Knox-Metropolitan and the Willan Chorale) and perhaps even gotten to know ourselves better too.

It's been a wonderful time of great music-making, as well as researching and learning a lot of new Canadian music. We're truly thankful for the musicians across Canada who have shared their music with us, which we will now share with the congregations and audiences in England.

The tour takes place from July 29-August 15. Stay with us on this journey and share with us in the experience!

Photo: United Voices of Edmonton at Knox-Metropolitan United Church
Taken by Katharine Moore

Tammy-Jo Mortensen