KIDDERMINSTER Male Choir and the Valentines ladies choir spent the Bank Holiday weekend in Germany, as guests of twin town Husum, to help celebrate the 400th anniversary of the German town's charter. VON STEWART joined in the fun.

MY trip to Husum with the Valentines was filled with music. The entertainment began on a rainy Friday morning when, because of the weather, the ladies had to sing under the canopies of a restaurant while the audience sheltered in shop doorways.

The programme began with guest singer Chris Wright, who performed Hard Times Come Again No More, then the Valentines sang what almost became their theme song while in Germany, Du, du, liegst mir im Herzen, in both German and English. The latter included a line about singing 'in Husum for you', with Husum changing to the name of whatever venue they were at.

By the time they had sung Boogie Woogie Blues and Liverpool Lou, quite a large crowd had gathered, all joining in with Wooden Heart.

Following a welcome at the Town Hall by the mayor of Husum, the ladies sang Plaisir d'Amour.

I can't describe the atmosphere at the harbour on Friday evening - you had to be there.

The ever-increasing crowd and people watching from their hotel windows joined in the songs, whether in English or German, all moving to the music. At times we were almost dancing.

The only problem was the road which ran between the choirs' platform and the audience, so cars drove by from time to time.

The local Shanty-Choir opened the proceedings with songs in English, including Molly Malone, then a selection of catchy songs included one to the tune of the old Petula Clark hit Sailor.

When the Valentines began the breeze was so fierce that musical director Pam Cunningham and accompanist Morfudd Sinclair had problems holding their music down. But this did not deter our ladies and we were treated to a display of first-class singing, including a superb version of The Carnival is Over. Chris joined the ladies again with songs such as Way Down Rio and The Keel Row, then the Valentines had everyone moving to Gonna Rise up Singing.

They delighted their hosts by ending with Die Lorelei and Wooden Heart in both languages, everyone joining in with gusto.

Next it was the turn of Kidderminster Male Choir, who performed Bring Him Home and I Dreamed a Dream from Les Miserables, followed by a beautiful Calm is the Sea.

MD Harry Lewis had met a Welshman who lives in Husum and, especially for him, the choir sang Llef, almost reducing him to tears. The entire audience, which by then was enormous, were all jigging to When the Saints Go Marching In and a wonderful medley of songs from the 60s. As always, the men were accompanied by Maureen Bowkett.

The Shanty-Choir closed the programme with John Kanaka and Down by the Sea, by which time we were all on a high, partly from so much music and partly from the atmosphere and camaraderie of the occasion. I discovered on the trip that you just cannot stop the Valentines singing. After lunch at Glcksburg they sang Farewell to Thee at the restaurant and followed a short tour around the water-castle by performing three items.

On Saturday evening, when the Valentines had a night off, the KMC sang at St Nikolai-Kirche, Bredstedt, and they were on form.

After problems with the keyboard were sorted out, they sang I Dreamed a Dream even better than on the previous evening, and set me shivering by singing Malotte's glorious setting of The Lord's Prayer, so apt in those surroundings.

They sang several unaccompanied items, including Mala Moja in German and the rousing Battle Hymn of the Republic, with the solo taken expertly by Peter Burns.

An Evening's Pastorale really demonstrated the versatility of this talented choir, who are able to sing softly and sweetly, yet can create so much volume when needed, even when at half strength as they were on this trip.

It was tingle time again when they sang Morte Criste, which I have heard them sing so many times, but somehow in this setting it really had an impact.

As Harry had requested, we all shouted for more and the choir sang the encore which was printed in the programme - When the Saints Go Marching In.

Interspersed between the KMC items, the Bredstedter Liedertafel sang. They have been in existence even longer than our men's choir, having begun in 1842, some 62 years before Kidderminster got going.

This is a smaller choir, and has a totally different sound - an open, and very crisp sound, perhaps lacking some of the nuances of our own chaps but nevertheless very good singers.

They had no accompaniment, singing various items including Sanctus by Schubert, a beautiful Fiereabend (Evening Song), and two items in Plattdeutsch (low German) - Abdenfreden (Evening Peace), and Goode Nacht, a setting to words by Husum's famous son, Theodor Storm.

They ended with Habet Dank which we all know as Amazing Grace.

Sunday morning meant a trip to the lovely tiny church at Schobll where the Valentines and Chris took part in the Gottesdienst (divine service), singing such as Peace be with you and Malotte's Lord's Prayer.

We all sang the hymns, in German of course, Morning has Broken and Now Thank We All Our God.

Following the service, the ladies gave a short concert and I was so pleased they included my favourite, which I usually hear the men sing - The Rose.

The final item, Wooden Heart, saw many of our hosts reaching for their handkerchiefs and, again, there was an atmosphere I wished I could capture.

Unfortunately I was unable to attend the final concert, featuring both our choirs, at the Marien-Kirche in Husum on Sunday evening, as I had to catch my flight home, sad to leave Husum and the super couple who so kindly hosted me and my husband.

They had so enjoyed the singing that they attended the final concert, determined not to miss a moment of this successful twinning occasion, and reported a fantastic evening.