In case there is any confusion about the pronunciation of the Russian texts for the Raminsh pieces, below please find the IPA for the last two.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
IPA for last two Russian texts (Raminsh)
Hi everyone,
In case there is any confusion about the pronunciation of the Russian texts for the Raminsh pieces, below please find the IPA for the last two.
In case there is any confusion about the pronunciation of the Russian texts for the Raminsh pieces, below please find the IPA for the last two.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
What a glorious day after the big snow. Looking out of my office window it is so peaceful and the sun is trying to peek through the clouds. Life is good and I hope wherever your are: work or home having an unexpected holiday, that you are having a great day as well.
A few notes re last Tuesday: if you were one of the nine people who missed the rehearsal, the choir did some good work on the two Rautavaara pieces, the Raminsh "Ave Verum", "First Snow" , "O Sacrum Convivium" and the second of the three Slavic Songs of Raminsh. I can't say it was a great rehearsal, as in some cases it was one to a part and that's not fun with these complex harmonies, trying to balance the surrounding parts. However the people who were there did a great job and worked hard.
I appreciate the notification when you are absent, even if it is late. I check my email right before rehearsal and always appreciate knowing if you are going to be late or worse, absent, so thank you for notifying.
But one of my pet peeves is when the message ends with something like "don't worry , I'll practice my music." I realize that it is meant to put a positive spin on an otherwise not so positive situation, however I know you will practice your music. You don't need to remind me as I take that for granted - that you will practice your music, learn your Russian and Finnish texts, and do whatever it takes to arrive prepared. How else will you get your head inside these scores and learn them? Certainly not in the 20 or so minutes I spend on them each week. But Camerata is not a choir in which you can practice your music at home and everything somehow magically comes together. You are a more sophisticated ensemble that that. If someone in the line up is missing they will not hear how much the choir is pushing a crescendo, or how much to sing the third note of a cluster, or when the diminuendo begins and ends. That only happens in knowing (and trusting) the people you are singing beside you. And in order to do that it takes confidence and experience by singing it, feeling it over and over...in the 20 or so minutes I spend on the piece.
I understand all of the good reasons people miss - illness, inclement weather, job responsibilities, etc., etc., etc but make no mistake about it, in a choir like Camerata the magic will not happen until everyone is there. That all being said, I appreciate sincerely how hard everyone worked on Tuesday night. There were some really lovely work done on "First Snow", the Miskinis, Raminsh "Ave Verum" etc.
Oh...and by the way....I will miss the two weeks of February 15 & 22 :)
However you will be in very experienced hands as Tristan and Christina already know which pieces need the work.
For this Tuesday, we will push hard on the following:
The three Raminsh Slavic Songs - there is a fun, inebriated tenor solo on the last song of the set - "Along the Peterskaya" - complete with basses whistling (in a drunken sort of Russian whistling-style) and ...wait for it...sleigh bells. Does anyone know where we can get sleigh bells? And a slap stick (where can I get a slap stick - and that doesn't mean Greg at his... hmm, "best")
Rautavaara - both pieces
First Snow - final review
Amulla varhain - notes are easy - listen to text on the website.
Before signing off, I want to wish Camerata Xara the best in their fundraising concert "Sweet On You" this Saturday, February 5, 7:30 pm at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic. Tickets are still available and if you are able to go contact Tenille (tenille.goodspeed@gmail.com) or go to http://www.xara.ca/. I regret very much that I am going to miss this one, but wish the Xara girls and Christina all the best as they raise money for Xara's participation at Festival 500 this summer.
Finally, congratulations to former NSYC and National YC singer and pianist/composer Edward Enman (see the separate post) in winning the HCS Young Composer's Competition. Lovely piece.
Have a great weekend folks.
PS. Keep looking for Christina's text pronunciations of the Raminsh Slavic folksongs #s 2 & 3. They will be on the Choir only page of the website tonight or tomorrow. More Russian!
A few notes re last Tuesday: if you were one of the nine people who missed the rehearsal, the choir did some good work on the two Rautavaara pieces, the Raminsh "Ave Verum", "First Snow" , "O Sacrum Convivium" and the second of the three Slavic Songs of Raminsh. I can't say it was a great rehearsal, as in some cases it was one to a part and that's not fun with these complex harmonies, trying to balance the surrounding parts. However the people who were there did a great job and worked hard.
I appreciate the notification when you are absent, even if it is late. I check my email right before rehearsal and always appreciate knowing if you are going to be late or worse, absent, so thank you for notifying.
But one of my pet peeves is when the message ends with something like "don't worry , I'll practice my music." I realize that it is meant to put a positive spin on an otherwise not so positive situation, however I know you will practice your music. You don't need to remind me as I take that for granted - that you will practice your music, learn your Russian and Finnish texts, and do whatever it takes to arrive prepared. How else will you get your head inside these scores and learn them? Certainly not in the 20 or so minutes I spend on them each week. But Camerata is not a choir in which you can practice your music at home and everything somehow magically comes together. You are a more sophisticated ensemble that that. If someone in the line up is missing they will not hear how much the choir is pushing a crescendo, or how much to sing the third note of a cluster, or when the diminuendo begins and ends. That only happens in knowing (and trusting) the people you are singing beside you. And in order to do that it takes confidence and experience by singing it, feeling it over and over...in the 20 or so minutes I spend on the piece.
I understand all of the good reasons people miss - illness, inclement weather, job responsibilities, etc., etc., etc but make no mistake about it, in a choir like Camerata the magic will not happen until everyone is there. That all being said, I appreciate sincerely how hard everyone worked on Tuesday night. There were some really lovely work done on "First Snow", the Miskinis, Raminsh "Ave Verum" etc.
Oh...and by the way....I will miss the two weeks of February 15 & 22 :)
However you will be in very experienced hands as Tristan and Christina already know which pieces need the work.
For this Tuesday, we will push hard on the following:
The three Raminsh Slavic Songs - there is a fun, inebriated tenor solo on the last song of the set - "Along the Peterskaya" - complete with basses whistling (in a drunken sort of Russian whistling-style) and ...wait for it...sleigh bells. Does anyone know where we can get sleigh bells? And a slap stick (where can I get a slap stick - and that doesn't mean Greg at his... hmm, "best")
Rautavaara - both pieces
First Snow - final review
Amulla varhain - notes are easy - listen to text on the website.
Before signing off, I want to wish Camerata Xara the best in their fundraising concert "Sweet On You" this Saturday, February 5, 7:30 pm at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic. Tickets are still available and if you are able to go contact Tenille (tenille.goodspeed@gmail.com) or go to http://www.xara.ca/. I regret very much that I am going to miss this one, but wish the Xara girls and Christina all the best as they raise money for Xara's participation at Festival 500 this summer.
Finally, congratulations to former NSYC and National YC singer and pianist/composer Edward Enman (see the separate post) in winning the HCS Young Composer's Competition. Lovely piece.
Have a great weekend folks.
PS. Keep looking for Christina's text pronunciations of the Raminsh Slavic folksongs #s 2 & 3. They will be on the Choir only page of the website tonight or tomorrow. More Russian!
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Nova Scotia does it again!
Kentville musician wins Camerata composer’s competition
His winning composition, Then Shall I Leap Into Love, uses text from a poem by medieval mystic Mechthild de Magdeburg. The choral work will be premiered by the Halifax Camerata Singers at a concert May 28.
Enman began studying piano with Jane Murphy at age four. The son of Jennie and Steven Enman, he attended Northeast Kings Education Centre and in 2009 graduated from Acadia University with a Bachelor of Music degree.
Now 23, he is enrolled in the Master of Music program at the University of Ottawa where he studies piano performance with David Jalbert. Enman also accompanies the university’s Calixa Lavallée Chamber Choir.
Enman worked with Nova Scotia choirs as a singer and pianist for many years. A member of the Nova Scotia Youth Choir (2004–08), he was Nova Scotia’s tenor representative with the National Youth Choir of Canada in 2008 and 2010. While a student at Acadia he took part in the Halifax Camerata Singers’ Youth Mentoring program and worked with both the Annapolis Valley Honour Choir and Acadia University Chorus.
He also has been successful as a composer. His piece Good Times (Yellow) won the high school category in the Vancouver Chamber Choir 2005 Young Composers Competition, and in 2009 his piece Music was a finalist in competitions sponsored by VCC and the Canadian Chamber Choir. His choral works have been performed by Annapolis Valley Honour Choir, the choir of the Nova Scotia Choral Federation’s Youth Choir Camp, and Novus Chamber Choir. He is currently working collaboratively with the Capital Chamber Choir on a new piece, we want to smile, which will be premiered in Ottawa in April 2011.
Enman is the second Nova Scotian to win Camerata’s national Young Composers Competition. The jury comprised composer and 2011 Juno Award nominee Peter Togni, Halifax; Acadia University School of Music Director Jeff Hennessy, Wolfville; Camerata Artistic Director Jeff Joudrey, Truro; and Camerata Xara conductor Christina Murray, Halifax.
Halifax Camerata Singers is Atlantic Canada’s leading chamber choir. The choir frequently commissions choral music from Canadian and international composers, and encourages young singers through its Youth Mentoring Program, Nova Scotia Youth Choir bursaries, the Young Composer’s Competition, and Camerata Xara Young Women’s Choir.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Thursday Thoughts
On Tuesday I referred to a book I was reading called "The Swedish Choral Miracle" by the conductor of Pro Coro Canada, Richard Sparks. The book was the result of Sparks' research into the Swedish choral sound as influenced by the world renouned conductor from that country, Eric Ericson. Early on in the book, Sparks illustrates the six key ingredients which have evolved to make up the spectacular sound of the great choirs in Sweden:
I thought we made great strides in rehearsal on Tuesday. "O Crux" is really coming along - the music is coming off the page with great conviction. We have a good start on both Rautavaara pieces and the first of the Raminsh set. What will help things go a long way is your spending time with the text. These texts are not like German, Latin, French, etc. They are languages that up to this point, we haven't sung a lot, so it is important to get them in your ears. Please use the online resources which have been provided for you.
In other choir news, the esteemed jury for the Young Composer's Competition met yesterday and made a decision on the winning composition. The jury consisted of Peter Togni, Jeff Hennessy, Christina Murray and myself. There was a lot of discussion over the compositions and I am delighted to tell you that we have a winning composition which I believe will be a fitting addition to the May concert. As the composer has yet to be contacted, I'm not at liberty to tell you his name nor the name of the winning composition but that will be public soon.
Speaking of the May concert, here is a video of a wonderful piece (which we will sing in the May concert) by BC composer Rupert Lang, called "Agneu de Dieu " beautifully sung by musica intima. Think of this as your own little musical sampler on a day the province has come to a grinding halt with yet another weather system! Hope you like it!
For next week please spend time with the following pieces:
First Snow - Holten
Psalm of Invocation - Rautavaara
Evening Hymn - Rautavaara
Of Home and the Great Wide World - Raminsh
The Black Raven - Raminsh
O Sacrum Convivium - Miskinis
On surri sun rantas - (remember it is the Torma setting)
Have a great week. See you on Tuesday.
- intonationism - the emphasis placed by Swedish conductors on pure intonation
- pianissim - the emphasis on soft (listening) dynamics
- non-vibratism - relatively straight tone to improve intonation
- aliquotism - each singer's attempt for unison with others, ie the relinquishing of one's individual musical personality in favour of the choir's.
- consentism - the unaminity of ensemble diction
- precisionism - the emphasis on rhythmic precision
I thought we made great strides in rehearsal on Tuesday. "O Crux" is really coming along - the music is coming off the page with great conviction. We have a good start on both Rautavaara pieces and the first of the Raminsh set. What will help things go a long way is your spending time with the text. These texts are not like German, Latin, French, etc. They are languages that up to this point, we haven't sung a lot, so it is important to get them in your ears. Please use the online resources which have been provided for you.
In other choir news, the esteemed jury for the Young Composer's Competition met yesterday and made a decision on the winning composition. The jury consisted of Peter Togni, Jeff Hennessy, Christina Murray and myself. There was a lot of discussion over the compositions and I am delighted to tell you that we have a winning composition which I believe will be a fitting addition to the May concert. As the composer has yet to be contacted, I'm not at liberty to tell you his name nor the name of the winning composition but that will be public soon.
Speaking of the May concert, here is a video of a wonderful piece (which we will sing in the May concert) by BC composer Rupert Lang, called "Agneu de Dieu " beautifully sung by musica intima. Think of this as your own little musical sampler on a day the province has come to a grinding halt with yet another weather system! Hope you like it!
For next week please spend time with the following pieces:
First Snow - Holten
Psalm of Invocation - Rautavaara
Evening Hymn - Rautavaara
Of Home and the Great Wide World - Raminsh
The Black Raven - Raminsh
O Sacrum Convivium - Miskinis
On surri sun rantas - (remember it is the Torma setting)
Have a great week. See you on Tuesday.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Thursday Thoughts
I went to see the King's Speech last night and if you haven't seen it yet, run to the nearest theatre before it is gone. It's based on historical fact and is brilliantly acted by Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush and a host of others. In reflecting about the movie afterwards, I was thinking of the parallels of King George's huge effort to overcome his speech impediment and that in our society today, sometimes we are unwilling to put in the effort it will take achieve our individual success. People have become so ingrained with "instant this and microwaved that," that sometimes we forget the obvious - it takes time, energy and effort. I expect that most of us realize this as we become older but by then it might be too late. I well remember when I was a young music student, someone said that in order to become a great musician that it took 20% talent and 80% hard work. I'm not sure that this statistic is truly accurate, however the lesson to take away is that you can be extraordinarily gifted but without the work ethic you will achieve little.
So whatthehell does this have to do with such a musically talented group as Camerata and what business do I have waxing poetically on this blog? I believe that everyone needs to be reminded every now and then, that the success we have achieved is only the result of the individual effort which happens before working as a collective. I see the results of that each week: the women for instance, in the Bo Holten "First Snow." There was no way that you could have sorted out those canonic rhythms in the opening section without first working it out at home. You sped up the learning process of the piece by weeks just by your individual work and I recognize and commend you for that.
And coming from a board meeting last Monday, it struck me how many committed individuals are working so hard preparing grants, analysing financial reports, taking care of the front of house, working on a financial campaign, preparing data bases, etc., in order to allow us to make music and not worry about the "other stuff."
And then there are you guys who, in addition to preparing these challenging scores week after week, are going the extra mile to look after CD sales, preparing concert programs, helping with languages, web site, setting up for concerts, rehearsing the rep, etc., etc. Thanks to all of you who really do uinderstand that we will only achieve collective success with individual hard work.
Speaking of hard work, I need to give you notes so you can prepare for Tuesday. Those of you who missed Tuesday, please note that there were 3 new scores which we worked on: Psalm of Invocation (Rautavaara), First Snow (Holten), and the first of the set of Raminsh Slavic folksongs. The rest of the choir made large leaps in these pieces and you need to prepare accordingly for Tuesday.
Christina and Sean now have the texts which we worked on up on the website. go to the choir only section and one more time: Username: Camerata; Password: HCS1986.
Everyone needs to spend time listening to the texts in order to get the accent and language in your ears. When you can say the text out loud, then practice speaking the words in rhythm. In addition, please listen to the reference recordings I have collected. Often these are great choirs, and sometimes under the composer's direction. Please make this a goal this week.
Finally, for this Tuesday I will try to get through the following:
O Crux - Nystedt
First Snow - Holten
O Sacrum Convivium - Miskinis (basses correct the rhythm in m. 44 7 46 once and for all!)
Psalm of Invocation - Rautavaara
Evening Hymn - Rautavaara (everyone know the notes)
Three Slavic Folksongs - Raminsh (all three so please spend lots of times on these notes. Basses it wasn't great last week so please prepare accordingly.)
This will be a tough rehearsal as there are lots of new notes this week. I have two rehearsals left before going away and would like to get through all of these scores before I go away so that Christina and Tristan know where to concentrate their rehearsal time. Lets everyone make the best use of that 80% hard work this Tuesday.
Thanks for wading through this missive. Have a great week! Oh yeah - check out the website with the new photos Sean put up yesterday. Impressive group!
So whatthehell does this have to do with such a musically talented group as Camerata and what business do I have waxing poetically on this blog? I believe that everyone needs to be reminded every now and then, that the success we have achieved is only the result of the individual effort which happens before working as a collective. I see the results of that each week: the women for instance, in the Bo Holten "First Snow." There was no way that you could have sorted out those canonic rhythms in the opening section without first working it out at home. You sped up the learning process of the piece by weeks just by your individual work and I recognize and commend you for that.
And coming from a board meeting last Monday, it struck me how many committed individuals are working so hard preparing grants, analysing financial reports, taking care of the front of house, working on a financial campaign, preparing data bases, etc., in order to allow us to make music and not worry about the "other stuff."
And then there are you guys who, in addition to preparing these challenging scores week after week, are going the extra mile to look after CD sales, preparing concert programs, helping with languages, web site, setting up for concerts, rehearsing the rep, etc., etc. Thanks to all of you who really do uinderstand that we will only achieve collective success with individual hard work.
Speaking of hard work, I need to give you notes so you can prepare for Tuesday. Those of you who missed Tuesday, please note that there were 3 new scores which we worked on: Psalm of Invocation (Rautavaara), First Snow (Holten), and the first of the set of Raminsh Slavic folksongs. The rest of the choir made large leaps in these pieces and you need to prepare accordingly for Tuesday.
Christina and Sean now have the texts which we worked on up on the website. go to the choir only section and one more time: Username: Camerata; Password: HCS1986.
Everyone needs to spend time listening to the texts in order to get the accent and language in your ears. When you can say the text out loud, then practice speaking the words in rhythm. In addition, please listen to the reference recordings I have collected. Often these are great choirs, and sometimes under the composer's direction. Please make this a goal this week.
Finally, for this Tuesday I will try to get through the following:
O Crux - Nystedt
First Snow - Holten
O Sacrum Convivium - Miskinis (basses correct the rhythm in m. 44 7 46 once and for all!)
Psalm of Invocation - Rautavaara
Evening Hymn - Rautavaara (everyone know the notes)
Three Slavic Folksongs - Raminsh (all three so please spend lots of times on these notes. Basses it wasn't great last week so please prepare accordingly.)
This will be a tough rehearsal as there are lots of new notes this week. I have two rehearsals left before going away and would like to get through all of these scores before I go away so that Christina and Tristan know where to concentrate their rehearsal time. Lets everyone make the best use of that 80% hard work this Tuesday.
Thanks for wading through this missive. Have a great week! Oh yeah - check out the website with the new photos Sean put up yesterday. Impressive group!
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Russian IPA for Raminsh #1
Hello all - Christina here. Below please find the IPA for the Russian text in the first of the three Raminsh Slavic Folk Songs. Sean will be uploading an mp3 of me speaking this text to the choir-only section of the website in the next few days, along with mp3s for the three Finnish folk songs and the two Rautavaara pieces.
If you have any questions, just drop me an email!
If you have any questions, just drop me an email!
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Thursday Thoughts
It is Wednesday night, the snow is falling down and I am home in hibernating mode but thinking now is the time to jot down my Thursday Thoughts.
First of all, welcome to soprano, Elisabeth Kleven who is replacing Ariane for this concert. We wish Ariane well as she prepares for her board exams in the coming months. Elisabeth is a very talented soprano and will fit in well with the rest of the line up. Please introduce yourselver to her and make her feel at home.
Great rehearsal last night. The music is coming along well (after two rehearsals!) and you have gone from getting the notes off the page to making music in a very short order. The challenge will be to feel so comfortable with the texts that the music sings itself, but that will come with work.
Christina and Sean are working to get the Finnish and Russian texts on the choir only page of the website so stay tuned. It is important for you to spend time with the score in front of you listening to the texts so that you can equate the visual look of words with the sound and accent of the language. That way the next piece we sing in Finnish (or Russian) will be easier from the beginning.
Our annual operation grant application to the Canada Council is finally complete (whew, as he breaths a huge sigh of relief!) and will be in the mail in a couple of days. The workload for this grant app is huge and a number of people with various areas of expertise are involved. It seems that as the choir improves and its level of activity increases, the grant app becomes more complex. Thankfully it is complete for another year!
For next week please spend time with the following scores:
Ave Verum - Raminsh
Benedicto - Sisask
Psalm of Invocation - Rautavara
O Sacrum Convivium - Minisisk
Slavic Folksongs - Raminsh
First Snow - Holten
(I will conduct this in a slow 4 so the women who begin the piece need to have a really secure grasp of the rhythm. Feel the eighth note - sometimes in 3/8 and be aware of the symcops. Spend extra time on this)
Aamulla varhain - arr. Jaako Hulkkonen
Have a great week. See you on Tuesday.
First of all, welcome to soprano, Elisabeth Kleven who is replacing Ariane for this concert. We wish Ariane well as she prepares for her board exams in the coming months. Elisabeth is a very talented soprano and will fit in well with the rest of the line up. Please introduce yourselver to her and make her feel at home.
Great rehearsal last night. The music is coming along well (after two rehearsals!) and you have gone from getting the notes off the page to making music in a very short order. The challenge will be to feel so comfortable with the texts that the music sings itself, but that will come with work.
Christina and Sean are working to get the Finnish and Russian texts on the choir only page of the website so stay tuned. It is important for you to spend time with the score in front of you listening to the texts so that you can equate the visual look of words with the sound and accent of the language. That way the next piece we sing in Finnish (or Russian) will be easier from the beginning.
Our annual operation grant application to the Canada Council is finally complete (whew, as he breaths a huge sigh of relief!) and will be in the mail in a couple of days. The workload for this grant app is huge and a number of people with various areas of expertise are involved. It seems that as the choir improves and its level of activity increases, the grant app becomes more complex. Thankfully it is complete for another year!
For next week please spend time with the following scores:
Ave Verum - Raminsh
Benedicto - Sisask
Psalm of Invocation - Rautavara
O Sacrum Convivium - Minisisk
Slavic Folksongs - Raminsh
First Snow - Holten
(I will conduct this in a slow 4 so the women who begin the piece need to have a really secure grasp of the rhythm. Feel the eighth note - sometimes in 3/8 and be aware of the symcops. Spend extra time on this)
Aamulla varhain - arr. Jaako Hulkkonen
Have a great week. See you on Tuesday.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)