Hello Everyone,
Thanks for a fun-filled and productive rehearsal. Hats off to the altos who spent extra time at their sectional going through a list of challenging spots that Kay had noted (thank you, Kay!). \
I sent the excerpts I recorded to Annie and she replied,
“Oh my word, Laura!! Tá siad sin go h-íontach!!!! (These are wonderful) Wow!!! I am beyond impressed 😄 Well done, WVC!!! They will be blown away in Ireland by your amazing Irish. ☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️
Hooray for us and a nice affirmation from Annie.
I look forward to our S1/S2 sectional next week – send any concerns to your section leader and/or bring your questions to the sectional.
Please write the Irish text transliteration in your music before our next rehearsal if you have not already done so. And PLEASE use the corrected/updated version that is on our website. Also be aware that the videos of Annie’s work with us at the retreat are posted on the website if you need to review or practice any of the Irish texts.
Next week on your voice part card, I am going to ask you to write down your performance height (your height plus the height of the heel you plan to wear to performance – I am 5’4″ and wear a 1 1/2″ heel so my performance height is 5’5 1/2”). I will also ask for other needs such as if you need to sit rather than stand, need a music stand, have particular hearing issues that affect your optimal placement in the performance formation, if you need to be placed next to a singer who is your same voice part or if you are fine with different voice parts singers on both your right and left and anything else you think would be helpful for me to know as I fine tune our performance arrangement. I will also consider the timbre and volume of your voice as I consider our best ensemble blend, balance, and intonation.
Rehearsal Reflection
We covered pitches, rhythms, and text review for the following.
Now Let Me Fly mm. 60-84, 89-94
WIll the Circle Be Unbroken mm. 10-17, 26-44
– Note that mm. 1-9 and 18-25 are 3-part divisi. The rest of the piece is 4-part divisi. Please mark your music if you have not already done so.
A Stór mm. 1-44
– Let’s make sure that the melody can always be heard above the accompanying voice parts.
– Great job on this – we will pick up the tempo a bit – it’s going to be grand!
Swing Low mm. 42-end
– Energize the longer notes – half notes and dotted quarter notes – with a slight crescendo (example: mm. 44, 45, 48, 49, etc.)
– Slight lift between ‘jesus, jesus’ in m. 47
– Watch for places we will slow down and speedup – this piece should have some freedom in the tempo in order to be more expressive (without going overboard!)
– Note the rhythm in m. 55 and once you get to the long note, sing softer so that we can hear all of the moving parts.
– Note at the end we will close to M on beat 3 of m. 74
The White Rose mm. 53-end
– Nice work on this, especially adding the Irish text.
Mo Ghile Mear mm. 26-41, 50-65
– Nice work adding the Irish text!
Looking Ahead to 3/18/24
– A Stór mm. 45-80
– I’m Beginning to See the Light mm. 36-61
– Mo Ghile Mear mm. 83-end
– My Favorite Things mm. 150-end
– Now Let Me Fly mm. 37-end
– Stand By Me mm. 32-56
– The Times They are A-Changin’ mm. 42-end
– ‘Tis the Gift to Be Simple mm. 1-21 (sing all if time allows)
Chamber Choir
Review all of both pieces and focus on polishing.
Thanks, everyone! See you Monday!
Laura