Gareth Malone and Stay at Home Choir release charity single for Ukraine

Notes for Our World was written with the Stay at Home Choir, whose voices are heard on the record - alongside birdsong from their gardens.

Hampstead Garden Suburb member Margaret Hiscock says 1,000 singers from all over the world gave ideas for the lyrics via Zoom.

"It was such an awesome process to be part of, and so inspiring to work together on this project," she said.

Margaret Hiscock from Hampstead Garden Suburb is one of 1000 singers worldwide who collaborated on the charity single with Gareth Malone (Image: Margaret Hiscock)

"Gareth played us the music he had written and an idea of what it would be about, then we brainstormed around the themes, putting thoughts into the chat. Later there was a form where we could submit ideas. He used a lot of them in the text then adjusted the music around our input. We all felt very involved, and it was almost unbelievable that we could be working creatively with Gareth and people from all round the world. It's a been a privilege to work with him."

Malone, who ran his own online choir, the Great British Home Chorus during lockdown, was happy to lead the project.

"I thought it would be nice to compose with people and make them part of creative process," he said. "I had set aside two weeks, but then I got Covid, so I crawled out to the studio every day with this dreadful foggy head, and somehow managed to write this piece. I looked at their words, then it's like speaking in tongues or going into a trance, it's a big melting pot of creative ideas."

He said his Covid state was "a dream existence.. which fits the piece".

"We were writing at the end of the pandemic about the first light of dawn after darkness. The news was grim out of Ukraine, there was the financial situation, and the world felt gloomy, so we were trying to write something hopeful and optimistic. When we found out the national bird of Ukraine is a nightingale, we asked people to submit birdsong from their gardens.

"We want the song to be a reflection on the times we live in and a place for people to put their feelings during a tense time in the world."

A former head of German at Henrietta Barnett School, Margaret says members recorded their contributions individually at home, with their voices combined on the record, which is out on streaming platforms from July 15.

"It came out of the pandemic and then the war, these big things affecting our lives can be very dark, yet it sings of light. It's such a heartfelt piece that touches on the challenges we face, and also speaks of hope. I loved singing it."

Margaret joined the choir in lockdown when her other choirs went quite, and has enjoyed singing on many projects with major musicians like Carl Jenkins, John Rutter, The 16 and Voces 8.

"I have learnt so much, had so much fun, and sung with people I wouldn't have imagined working with," she said. "It's lovely to get really good training and the kind of insight Gareth can give to the pieces he's written. There's an incredible level of professionalism but it's also accessible supportive and friendly. Being online means people with young kids, housebound members, and people in different time zones can all sing together."

Famously working with amateur choirs from military wives to reluctant schoolboys, Malone wrapped up his own online choir straight after lockdown: "If I am honest they are better than nothing but it's far from perfect, and at times nightmarish with all those horrible technical challenges, like the time my daughter pulled the plug and the internet went down."

He does however see a benefit to virtual rehearsals: "They're great for international collaborations, and preparatory work. If you want to teach people the tenor part in Mozart's Requiem, you don't have to be in the same room, that's a game changer."

But nothing can replace the live experience.

Choir master Gareth Malone conducts the Military Wives choir on The Graham Norton Show (Image: PA Archive/PA Images)

"One of the nice things about a choir is how organic they are, just being in a room with lots of people and a piano. When I started my online choir I ran it as though I were in the room but it was exhausting. You don't realise how much energy you as a director get back from the people in front of you, their enjoyment is the gasoline fuelling you."

He adds: "From right back to military wives I remember a feeling of women turning up under emotional circumstances and using the music to release some of that tension so they went away feeling better. When the world is looking grim, you go to a choir rehearsal with other people wanting to do good and it gives you the endorphin rush of singing, but also hope for humanity."

Notes For Our World is released on streaming platforms on July 15 (Image: Supplied)

Notes for Our World is out on July 15 on YouTube and streaming platforms. Go to www.stayathomechoir.com/