Anyone a choir/music person?

[wilbur]

My father's old college is holding a Memorial Service for him next month and one of the pieces of music that my sister and I want to have sung by the choir is a choral version of Elgar's Nimrod called Lux Aeterna. The college has asked us to provide the sheet music (30 copies) which I can buy online for £2.95 each, but I was wondering if anyone who maybe sings in a choir knows of somewhere I can rent the music from, or borrow and make a donation?

i know my local library lends sheet music for choirs so it might be worth checking yours?

Well, I'm not far from Westminster, but who would I approach there? Seems a bit cheeky to just phone up the choir director (although my grandfather was a choirboy there.)

Ooh - I know somebody whose father has a library of sheet music which he lends out - possibly not this kind but I'll ask her and get back to you.

Yes, your local library is probably the best place to start - they often will be able to get things from other libraries. But they do often take a long time - like 3 months in some cases.

OK, have spoken to my friend - her dad doesn't have it or she would have sung it by now (he runs a choir as well), but she says local libraries have access to pretty much everything and our county libraries (Lancs) charge about £5 for up to 40 copies. She doesn't know how long it might take to get them that way though.

There is a British Music Information Centre which could help. Also a British Music Library but google didn't come up woth anything.

wilbur, speak to the music library at the barbican, they have got a good load of scores. alternatively, while you are there, you could ask the guildhall school of music if they rent from their library (don't know if they do).

Bron! You got through!

wow, marina is clearly the expert!
wilbur, another thought is to just buy the sheet music, and when you are done, donate it all to his college in his memory? if they have the music they will sing it relatively frequently and it might be nice to know that it is being sung there because of your dad?

If anyone is around when I pop my clogs, can you tell my (completely unmusical) dh that I want stanford's bluebird and balfour gardiner's evening hymn please. pref sung in st george's chapel windsor. thanks!

They do if they publish them, Bron. I suspect Wilbur would have to pay as much or more to the publisher to hire as she would to buy them outright.
Noted, pph. Hope it is not needed for many years!

Thank you all so much for your help with this. I called the Victoria Music Library, Marina and they were v. helpful and nice but Lux Aeterna was not available (made me want to join a choir myself though, all that lovely music to sing!). So we decided to do as you suggested, pph, and buy the music and donate it to the College (King's College London) as they have a brilliant choir that Daddy loved listening to. I like your choices for your "going out" music too, pph - never been to the chapel in Windsor but hear it is amazing. Will Queenie (or Kingy by that time) let you in though?

But then, you are a princess, so it shouldn't be a problem

oh good wilbur, I think that's a really nice thing to do.
I'm sure kingy or queeny won't let me within a mile of the place, However I did sing the balfour gardiner there once, I can still hear the sound of it ringing around that wonderful vaulting in my head, and it still gives me goosebumps down my neck when I do.... ahhhhh

Do you sing in a choir now? My best friend joined a chamber choir recently and she gets to sing in all these gorgeous churches all over London.