Hello Everyone,
GREAT job at rehearsal last night! So many moments to celebrate! Hooray!
Thanks for your wonderful accompaniment, Deb! It was really fun to hear everything coming together so nicely.
I mentioned a link for a clear Gaudete pronunciation – here are the King’s Singers. This is not the same arrangement, but the text is the same with the exception of verse 3, in our score it is Ezechielis and in the King’s Singers score it is Ezekelis. We will sing it as written in our score, Ezechielis.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQyrD7U5aNE
I have attached a DRAFT of the program notes for you to read over as you have a chance. Please don’t worry if you see typos or formatting concerns – this is a DRAFT and is being reviewed before printing. Also don’t worry about the layout page breaks – Karla has done an outstanding job (once again) formatting our program so that it is an elegant masterpiece. Please don’t share this beyond WVC since it is a DRAFT.
Overall, we need to clearly sing the consonants so that the text is discernible and expressive. And our dynamics could have a much broader range if we truly sing our pp sections as softly as we can sing with a supported and resonant tone.
Rehearsal Reflection
Caritas Abundat
– This piece will be a great way to begin our concert – such drama!
– We need to keep the tempo steady in the fast sections and go a bit faster than we did in rehearsal.
– We need to pay attention to the dynamic markings and not sing mb (mezzo boring). For instance, mm. 11-12 have a crescendo and decrescendo. After that, it is marked simile so we will continue with the same dynamics in mm. 13-14 and when similar sections repeat throughout the piece.
– In m 34, note that S1 releases ‘stars’ on beat 3 but A1 and A2 carry their ‘ah’ through to the downbeat of m. 35.
– After mm. 43 and 57 we will pause (the violin will carry over). After m. 72 we will continue directly on (with the page turn this is tricky so turn early).
– In m. 80, embrace the dissonance of the minor 2nd in the S1 and S2 parts! (C and B-natural).
– As you have time, practice the claps and stomps.
Luminous Awakening
– Really great job on this!
– The softs need to be ever so soft! Notice that we only crescendo to a mp at m. 9 and then mf at m. 12 before returning to p at m. 13. When we crescendo to a f on the last chord (and continue the crescendo all the way through the release of the last note) it will be so amazing if we have sung the soft sections softer.
– Let’s really round the O at the beginning.
– Flip the R please, most especially on ‘spirit.’ The vowel should be forward and bright.
– Sing the B-naturals super high – that is an unexpected tone – the raised 4th – which puts us in the Lydian mode. There are also B-flats in this piece so let’s make the most of those B-naturals!
Gate Gate
– This piece has come so far! The 7/8 section is much more precise.
– The tuning on the first 10 measures was outstanding – when Deb joined us at m. 11 it was seamless.
– Please do pay attention to your part and don’t sing on auto pilot – sometimes your notes repeat and sometimes they have a melodic contour. For instance, at the beginning, the top system is all sung on A4 – no harmony, no other notes.
– Please take note of the softer sections of this piece and if your part has the supporting long notes (mm. 35-50, 91-106) make sure you are not covering the moving parts.
– Crescendo mm. 129-131
– Practice the hand claps!
I Thank You God
– The tempo changes were not always together – I will be as clear as I can so please watch!
– Pages 18-19 were not especially in tune – I thought that the C5s for the sopranos and mezzos were flat so let’s listen carefully there. C is our tonic in C-minor so if it is out of tune it is very noticeable.
Tabula Rasa
– Spend some of your practice time on this piece, please. We will give this specific attention next week. If you are really confident on your part singing it by yourself, we are a big step closer to accomplishing the challenging dissonances when we put it together.
– This piece needs to have forward momentum so thinking about singing toward what comes next is important.
Sukkat Shelomekha
– mm. 47 and 48, we will sing ‘chaim’ as two syllables on 2 quarter notes – so turn the half notes into 2 quarter notes (it is already like that for the altos in m. 48).
– This piece needs to be very gentle – the soft sections need to be much softer and sung with great tenderness. Then we can make the most of our more emphatic f sections.
– If you have not already written the translation in your score, I think it is very helpful to have the translation right there (if you are not fluent in Hebrew) so that we are singing as expressively as possible (something on which WVC usually receives compliments!).
Gaudete! Gaudete!
– We will work on syllabic stress to bring out the text.
– Listen to the King’s Singers if you have pronunciation questions.
– Overall, it is coming along nicely!
Where the Light Begins
– Overall quite lovely!
– We can think more about dynamic contrasts – for example, we start m. 37 p and by m. 41 we are f. Let’s make the most of these contrasts.
A Bell Awakened and Sing, Wearing the Sky
– We are getting closer to these pieces coming together! We will devote specific rehearsal time on them next week.
Looking Ahead to 4/3/23
We will spend the bulk of our rehearsal time on:
Tabula Rasa
A Bell Awakened
Sing, Wearing the Sky
As time allows, we will sing through and fine tune our other pieces. Hopefully, on 4/10/23 we will be ready to sing through all of our rep again, fine tuning as we go.
Our concert order is:
Caritas Abundat
Luminous Awakening
Gate Gate
I Thank You God
Tabula Rasa
My Soul is Awakened (Chamber Choir)
Dechrau Eto (Chamber Choir)
Sukkat Shelomekha
Gaudete! Gaudete!
Where the Light Begins
A Bell Awakened
Sing, Wearing the Sky
I hope that all of you have a wonderful rest of your week.
Hugs,
Laura