Hello Everyone,
Rehearsal was so wonderful – thanks for the focused work from everyone. We got so much accomplished! I did realize on the drive home, however, that we reviewed everything except Some Glad Morning (I neglected to turn the page on my notepad; I was so excited about Sky Dances!). We will catch up on it next week.
I hope that you enjoyed our circle-singing review. I look forward to walking around and hearing the various circles when I’m not playing the piano! (Also very much looking forward to Deb’s return!)
We gave our circles flower names (I think I remembered them all – correct me if I did not!):
A – Azalea
B – Bluebells
C – Cosmos
D – Daisy Dames
E – Elderberry
F – Forget-Me-Nots
Rehearsal Reflection:
Here in My Heart. mm. 55-102 (reviewed mm. 1-54)
– Altos have a skip down of a 5th from m. 65-66 – it is an unexpected leap but you handled it well
– m. 79 new material and the crescendo was ah-mazing!
– continue to make sure that you are singing a syncopated rhythm when there is an 8th note at the end of the measure that ties over the barline. We need to make sure we don’t sing those notes on the beat.
– great work on the consonants. Challenge yourself to continue to focus on enunciating a new consonant each run through. The F of ‘fill’ is super clear!
– Wonderful review!
I Love You/What a Wonderful World mm. 60-78 (reviewed mm. 1-59)
– pg. 11 S1 upper/lower divisi
– pg. 12 A1 upper/lower divisi
– pg. 14 S1 stays on the G#, you don’t have the melody here
– pg. 14 A2 has a skip up from B# to E, then you will be in unison with voices above your part
– pg. 15 A2 have the moving notes and we all have a rit. so careful watching there, please
– ‘what a’ is sung ‘wadduh’ – soften the T
– minimize the R and L in ‘world’
– minimize the R in wonderful ‘won-duh-ful’
– great job on the new material and wonderful review!
Measure Me, Sky! mm. 35-55 (reviewed mm. 1-34)
– mm. 50-55 key change, G Major to B Major – EPIC!
– keep the vowel of ‘sky’ open to an AH, the vanishing vowel of the diphthong is sounded at the very, very, very end of the note
– let’s work on really enunciating these consonants – so many opportunities to sing this piece with clarity and bring this poetry to life with expression.
– really exceptional work on this piece
Nigra Sum mm. 23-82 (reviewed mm. 1-22)
– breathe at the end of m. 64, 69, 74, 82
– thanks, Diane, for leading the Latin pronunciation
– let’s continue to see how expressively soft we can sing the soft sections of this piece. mm. 75-79 will be our real challenge, especially for the sopranos!
– wonderful review!
Sky Dances mm. 35-66 (reviewed mm. 1-34)
– notice the new rhythms in m. 56 for the sopranos and new phrasing for the altos on pages 9-10
– wonderful work on this piece!
Some Glad Morning mm. 35-59 (mm. 1-34)
I inadvertently skipped this one – sorry about that!
Honour the Earth mm. 1-48
– Great review
I Am mm. 1-29
– Of everything we are working on, this piece is our biggest challenge. If you have time for individual practice, please spend it on this piece with both the practice files and the reference recording.
Sing, Wearing the Sky mm. 1-39
– Nice work on improving the tuning mm. 19-26.
Looking Ahead to 9/30/24:
If we are able to use the choir room in the new building, Kay and I would like to lead sectionals and focus on a few aspects of our singing that we think would enhance our sound. Alto 1&2 will meet in the regular space, Soprano 1&2 will meet in the new building choir room. If we are not able to have that space next week, I’ll send a follow up email. But, if we can divide for the first section of the rehearsal, this is what we will cover for the 1st half of rehearsal:
A1&A2 with Kay and Deb in the regular rehearsal space
S1&S2 with me in the new building choir room (across the street from where we rehearse)
Honour the Earth mm. 49-115
I Am mm. 30-67 (as time allows, review mm. 1-29)
Sing, Wearing the Sky mm. 40-67
For the second half of the rehearsal the sopranos will rejoin the altos, we will take a short break, then rehearse the 2nd half of rehearsal together in our regular space.
Honour the Earth mm. 1-115
I Am mm. 1-67
Sing, Wearing the Sky mm. 1-67
Some Glad Morning mm. 35-59 (review mm. 1-34)
As we have time, we will review any of the following…but I do want to spend the time we need on I Am so we may not get to these:
Here in My Heart. mm. 1-102
I Love You/What a Wonderful World mm. 1-78
Measure Me, Sky! mm. 1-55
Nigra Sum mm. 1-82
Sky Dances mm. 1-66
Chamber Choir:
Please see the attached for the part assignments (thank you Karla for creating the spreadsheet/PDF and thanks to everyone for your flexibility in switching parts as needed so that we have a balanced ensemble – much appreciated!)
Please also check the divisi on Sing My Child – it is detailed on the PDF.
Sing, My Child mm. 1-74
Earth Song mm. 1-37
See you next week!
Laura