Thursday Thoughts

Tough night. Usually the second rehearsal of a new program is rough - the first night everything is new, we begin from nothing and at some level,  make music. But often for the second rehearsal, some choristers neglect to put in the work needed to take the music further. It is the human condition, but I don't have the time, nor do I build the time in my planning, to teach notes. That's your job and couple that with difficult texts and the mountain seems high.

So please read my "thoughts"  today carefully as I am trying my best to equip you with the tools you need to give an exciting performance of this program. Budget your "home practice time"  and guard that time in your schedules carefully. 

For next Tuesday:

Chantez a Dieu - Sweelinck:  Practice singing your part slowly and centre all the vowels. Pay attention to strong-light syllables. Know the text intimately. Think of it as  a madrigal and always feel the dance. I said last week sing as if you are preparing a solo - not many of you heard me,  as there was a lot of fumbling around. Finally sing it at tempo.

Denn er hat seinen Engeln befohlen - Mendelssohn
Richte mich, Gott - Mendelssohn
Text and melody. Know the German. Go online and listen to good recordings of these pieces to get the feel. As I mentioned in rehearsal, stop trying to sing in such a legato style when the text dictates that the consonants separate the notes.

Chichester Psalms mvt I:  This all comes down to you not only being able to speak the text in rhythm at tempo, but buying into the notion that Bernstein knows what he is doing by writing ma molto marcato for each of the men's entrances (beginning at m. 14) and then marcato for the women (m. 22)  I asked you to carefully mark the 18 measure theme beginning at m. 14 and for those of you who were away or need a review. I have attached it here:

 
If your scores are marked and you memorize the "order" of the thematic material, you will be able to see Bernstein's working through the A section via the various voicings of the choir. For those of you who are still having trouble with the text, I have attached a link to a Hebrew speaker speaking the text. He speaks rather quickly but you can get the word stress of the rhythm. Play it over and over if necessary. Please copy the following link and paste it in your browser.:

  http://paysonchorale.org/audio/virtualchoir-index.html


Chichester Psalms mvt II: This movement is the soloist singing a lovely,  lyrical, floating setting of Psalm 23 The composer's directions suggest a young boy strumming his harp and almost idly improvising on the melody. The sopranos pick up on this melody at m. 32 and then in canon with the altos at m. 48. Then all hell breaks loose when the sublime SA duet is interrupted by the thunderous voice of the Almighty and asks the repeated question: Why do the nations rage?  M. 64-120 contains the most difficult material of the Chichester Psalms and it is said that men who were forced to memorize the Allegro feroce sections will be able to recall it at will 20 yearls later as it stays with you for life. NB:  The words of this entire section must be memorized by all of the choir and that memory work must take place at home. We will begin it next week. so again, listen to the sound clip  (Mvt II) of the text.
   
Sing Unto The Lord  (only mvt IV) - Glick:  We will begin this next week. Learn the notes. 

Second-Storey Sun - Enns: m. 1-33 needs work. Please prepare. 

Final thoughts: For some of you this is the toughest rep you have ever sung while for others it is all in a day's work. Most of you are somewhere in the middle. This will be a brilliant concert but I'm not waiting for people to catch up. Please be prepared every rehearsal.