Hello Everyone,
I hope you all are enjoying this beautiful spring day.
Welcome back, Deb! It is so wonderful to have your musical support and beautiful accompaniment – we missed you!
Please let me know if you would like to be a part of the WVC 30th Anniversary Celebration planning committee. Board members Janet Huebner and Anne Menkens have already volunteered (thanks!) to work with me on celebration plans for next fall.
As you have time this week (and as we are nearing the end of March!), please sing through your music using either the practice tracks (especially if you have pitch/rhythm questions) or the YouTube recordings to hear all parts, phrasing, articulation, and dynamics. It would be of great benefit to the ensemble and it will also let you know where your individual questions are. The YouTube recordings are an excellent resource if you have pronunciation questions.
Next week we will have our final sectional for this spring from 6:45-7:25 PM. It is for all voices – bring your questions (it is optional but I encourage you to take advantage of the extra rehearsal time)!
Regarding tuning, we talked about how to accomplish singing the opening section of Gate Gate such that we seamlessly flow into the entrance of Deb’s piano accompaniment. As a follow up, I have attached information from Donald Brinegar’s book, Pitch Perfect: A Theory and Practice of Choral Intonation so that you can read (if you want!) his introductory explanation of the difference between 5-limit just intonation and 12 tone equal temperament tuning and see his illustration of the difference. Last night we sang it once in tune and then the second time flat so we haven’t achieved consistent success….YET! In my previous experiences of conducting this piece, we have successfully stayed in tune by using E (fifth scale degree) as a drone in rehearsal. Deb will give us an A before we start singing…it is then our job to keep that pitch exactly there so that when she plays her A in m. 11, we match like magic! Since this piece is in A Major, we can also easily use our tuning forks (tuned to A440). I will have those out and ready to share.
Rehearsal Reflection
Gate Gate mm. 122-177 and reviewed all
– We worked on mm. 122-177 pitches and rhythms
– Note the 7/8 section mm. 131-153 3+2+2
– Note when your part has repeated pitches and when it has a melodic contour…those are tricky so perhaps mark your music such that you have a system of remembering
– We worked on the dynamic contrasts throughout, especially the quick crescendos in mm. 142-143 and 144-145. Those are such fun!
– We reviewed from the beginning in circles
I Thank You God mm. 82-100
– We need to move this section forward at 120 beats per minute!
– There are so many tempo changes throughout – be sure to know this piece extra well so that you can look up a lot!
– We will take breaths in mm. 89 and 91
– We will breathe as marked in the score m. 31
– Note the 16th notes in mm. 25-26 (careful to not sing them as 8th notes)
– We need to work on very crisp and precise consonants to bring this text to life
– We reviewed all in circles
Sing, Wearing the Sky
– We worked on the octave glissandos mm. 96-101. Begin the glissando as soon as you begin singing the note and arrive at the end of the glissando at the rhythmic ending of the note. These glissandos differ from those in mm. 16-18 when you sing the note for a beat before beginning the glissando.
– We worked through parts mm. 10-39
– We worked on mm. 64-66 – regardless of the differing time signatures, all of the eighth notes are equal – note the accents that give this section extra excitement!
– Make sure to not add an extra ‘la la’ in m. 67 – rest on the quarter rest
Tabula Rasa
– We worked through parts mm. 42-end and then spent time reviewing all
– One of our bigger challenges in this piece is to lean into and accurately sing the dissonances (especially the half steps/minor seconds). It is easy to get pulled toward the other singer’s note but then we will lose the compelling soundscape of dissonances and consonances.
A Bell Awakened mm. 47-63
– We made good progress on this piece working through pitches and rhythms
– Next time we rehearse this, we will make sure to cover mm. 64 to the end – the ‘I can’ section
Looking Ahead to 3/27/23
I would like for us to sing through as much of our repertoire as time allows so that we know where our gaps are and can aim to fill those at our April rehearsals. We may not stop and fix issues that are not especially pressing, but rather take stock of where we are as a whole. So, this week please work on the sections that are the most challenging for you individually and next week we will take stock of our strengths and weaknesses as a whole. I am looking forward to it!
Hugs,
Laura