Because I Sing: press coverage

The Independent on Sunday, 25 March 2001

The Daily Telegraph, 19 March 2001:
"Each choir will sing, unamplified, a number of its own choice in its own style, rehearsed and led by a member of a professional vocal group, The Shout. Every song will be linked to a dramatic scenario devised by Alain Platel and a refrain composed by The Shout’s leader, Orlando Gough; the visual element will include projected photographs of every performer. 'What makes this so moving,' says Platel, 'is that none of these choirs was aware of any of the others’ existence until Because I Sing. So there is a real sense of breaking down class and geographical boundaries, as well as combining so many different musical idioms.'" (Rupert Christiansen - read full article)

The Independent on Sunday, 25 March 2001:
"Written specifically with the Roundhouse’s acoustics in mind and involving some 16 choirs, in addition to The Shout, and 600 singers, Because I Sing has as its aim the mapping of a song-line for London out of the capital’s diverse communities. 'In all our conversations with the choirs, we asked what made them sing,' says Platel. 'we never found an exact answer. Some hide behind God and talk about spreading a message. Others describe it as a feeling of power, to be able to communicate. One thing everyone has in common was once they started talking bout singing, their behaviour changed. They become very excited.'" (Louise Gray)

The Guardian, 2 April 2001:
"The 16 participating amateur ensembles were colour-coded – smart blacks and reds for Maspindzeli, the wonderfully gritty Georgian Choir, national dress for the Armenians and Maoris and smart uniforms for the school choirs. In this context, Orlando Gough and Richard Chew’s professional choir The Shout were just another ensemble, MCs whose own repertoire provided links while new sets rumbled into position." (John L Walters - read full article)

Evening Standard, 2 April 2001:
"The Georgian Choir Maspindzeli sang with exciting, hard, nasal tone. The Armenian Church Choir sounded as if they had just come from a long and boring service – and probably had. The Maori Choir Ngati Ranana aggressively performed the Haka, the war dance that their nation’s rugby team has made famous. Four choirs were gender specific. The self-parodying London Gay Men’s Chorus alternated amusingly with the Lea Valley Women’s Institute. The London Jewish Male Choir sang a haunting pre-Christian song of exile. The tenor-rich Welshmen in Cor Meibian Gwalia had their performance enhanced by the rhythmic silent sign language “singing” of the London Deaf Choir... The most beautiful singing came from South Hampstead (girls') High School Choir whose voices were light and fresh, tuning exquisite and diction better than anybody's." (Rick Jones)

The Times, 3 April 2001:
"There was not a seat to be had. In fact, there were no seats : punters, performers and promoters alike were kept promenading for two hours by a keen team of scarlet sweat-shirted officials. They ensured that toes were not snapped off as staircases spun round in all directions; and that scuffles did not break out between cheerleaders for the London Gay Men’s Chorus and the Lea Valley Women’s Institute Singers – or, indeed, between the global bankers of the Lloyd’s Choir and the internationalist feminists of Velvet Fist." (Hilary Franks)

The Times Magazine, 5 May 2001:
"I went along to ask the question: why do you sing? At least, it started out simple and then grew complex the moment it was uttered, rather like a single call being set upon by a crowd of difficult harmonies. The short answer comes in the lyric of the theme song which all 16 of the amateur choirs here have learnt, and which they bat wildly around the roof and walls of Robert Louis Stevenson’s fantastic old engine shed. 'I sing because I sing. Why? Because I sing.' Round and round it goes, a question made rhetorical, and oratorical, by the manner of its asking." (Alan Franks)

Time Out, 11-18 July 2001:
"Rather than presenting her material within a net of words and preordained ideas, Fiennes’s languorous feature-length film ‘Because I Sing’ has courage in its footage. It’s not that Fiennes wanted to make something oblique, she just believes in the audience and their powers of observation and connection. ‘I pitched it as a sound piece – narration comes in between the viewer and the experience of the material. It’s a lot harder to make it work without narration, but you don’t want everything interpreted for you. Also, I knew with Artangel, I would be slightly protected.’" (Emma Perry)

Evening Standard, 13 July 2001:
"'I was scared that the film would make people look ridiculous,' admits Fiennes. On the contrary, after only 10 minutes it’s quite obvious that choir practice must be the most underrated form of free therapy within the M25. 'No one knew exactly what we would discover when we brought the choirs together,' says the 34-year-old director. 'It was rather like a happening.'" (James Christopher)