Hello Everyone,
Woohoo! Tonight’s rehearsal was what I think of as a ‘cram and jam!’ We didn’t cover many expressive elements but we did make progress on pitches and rhythms, understanding the relationship of one part to another, and working through some intonation challenges. I know it was a bit of a slog, but thank you for hanging in there as we laid the groundwork for all of the expressive singing we will accomplish together in the months to come.
Congratulations to Doris, tonight’s tiara recipient! I wanted to add that beyond the expert work that Doris normally accomplishes for WVC, during the WVC virtual season she had a zillion more hoops to jump through with licensing so that we could adhere to copyright law for our Zoom rehearsals and virtual projects. Thanks, Doris – we appreciate you!
Next week is our last rehearsal of working through measures together for the first time. In November, we should be able to review basics but shift the majority of our focus to diving deeply into bringing meaning and expression to each of our pieces, and hopefully singing in mixed formation as we gain collective confidence on each piece.
As I have already mentioned, we will sing through all of our repertoire the afternoon of our retreat (10/29/22). It will be an excellent time for us to assess what is solid and what needs work. Be ready to mark problem spots in your scores (hopefully, there won’t be too many!) so that you can attend to those areas individually during your practice time or to let your section leader know that you need assistance.
Tonight we again included singing the chromatic scale in our warm up exercises. Our intonation improved considerably when we used the drone at the octave and improved again when we added the drone at the fifth (Do and So). Even though they are all half steps, think bigger intervals ascending and smaller intervals descending.
Moon Goddess mm. 80-109
– we worked on pitches and rhythms
– added dynamics beginning piano and building to fortissimo
– altos can rest at the beginning of m. 84 if those notes are out of range (low mezzos, also, if the G5 is out of range)
– next time we will add in the exciting accents! Such fun!
– m. 95 mezzos should have a D5 on beat 5 (E5 in your music is incorrect)
– end of m. 104 we will breathe before measure 105 which will be full of power with unison, accented singing
Izar Ederrak mm. 33-45
– if you were out, ask your section leader about the breaths that we marked in our music – too complicated to type but easy if you can just see them in the score.
– pronunciation of ‘sarturik’ in mm. 39-40 – thank you for the question/observation! Yes indeed, as the IPA indicates on the back cover, the ‘S’ is pronounced ‘SH.’ If you have not already, listen to the pronunciation guide on our website – I really enjoy hearing all of the text pronounced so clearly – especially the ‘K’ – so crisp!
– we will continue to work on putting these parts together and work on our overall intonation. 🙂
Bright Morning Stars mm. 1-9, 31-40
– these are the solo parts. We will hold auditions later this season (but with plenty of time before our concert). More information to come.
Song to the Moon mm. 66-84
– we worked through pitches and rhythms, especially noting which parts partnered on page 12 and how the ‘duets’ shift around on this page – so lovely!
– we worked through the aleatoric section at the end. I re-listened to a recording of Z. Randall Stroope (composer) conducting and they continued singing ad libitum through m. 83 so that by the end of m. 83 everyone was singing their assigned pitch as notated for ‘na’ and then the piano has the final choral in m. 84 with voices continuing to sustain ‘na.’ Happy to answer any questions about this next time we rehearse this piece. The aleatoric singing should give a shimmery effect.
Lakutshon ‘illanga mm. 25-33
– we worked through pitches and rhythms.
– A2s have the melody on this section! We will work on bringing their part to the spotlight with the other parts supporting with their jazzy harmonies.
– note the part crossings in m. 27 S1 and S2, m. 29 A1 and A2, and m. 30 S1 and S2
– A2’s note the tongue click in m. 29 on the ‘C’ of ‘kucinga.’ The ‘C’ tongue click is with the tip of the tongue behind the front teeth. S1s have this same text in m. 5
– intonation will be our #1 challenge. We will tap into the super power of the drone!
I Got the Sun in the Morning mm. 54-95
– we sang solfeggi on the last two measures to hopefully help everyone feel confident on their part and where their note fits in the key of the piece:
– m. 94 is So Ti Do Do
– m. 95 S1 is Fi So So, S2 is Fi So Mi, A1 is Fi So Re, A2 is Fi So Ti
– m. 90 glissando after beat 2, as indicated the music (we ran out of time to work on this but will get to it next time)
– mm. 74-78 were a giant mud puddle but I have them on my to-do list. It won’t take long to iron out these measures. Notice in m. 77 you have the added word ‘it’ which makes the rhythm different than when you have similar text in m. 75-76, 39-40
Looking Ahead to 10/24/22
Two Eastern Pictures mm. 66-77
Par’o era Estrellero add text and review all
The Dawn is Not Distant review all
Mēnestinis Naki Brauca mm. 23-26 and work on text on the other verses
My Lord, What a Morning mm. 33-55, if we have time, we will also work through mm. 1-8
When You Wish Upon a Star mm. 44-55, review all as time permits
You may have noticed that I omitted The Moon of Wintertime from my rehearsal plan. With the WVC Board’s support, I have made the decision to drop this piece from our concert. As part of my personal observance of Indigenous Peoples Day last Monday, I was doing some reading on the intersection of choral music and Indigenous cultures/music and came across an article that led me to my decision – please read it if you have a chance. It gave me a new perspective on the text. http://seabornsong.com/the-huron-carol/
Interestingly, when I registered last week for the ACDA (American Choral Directors Association) national conference that will be in Cincinnati in February, I was given the option of signing up to sing in one of four immersion choirs: Vocal Jazz, Latinoamérica, Black Diaspora, and Indigenous Peoples…and although I dearly wish I could be a part of ALL of them, I chose the Indigenous Peoples Immersion Choir because it is the area of music that I have the least knowledge and experience and I am grateful for the opportunity to learn.
We have some members out with Covid or otherwise not feeling well. Hopefully, everyone will be on the mend in the coming week. We miss you when you are not with us in person and hope you feel much better soon.
Thanks again for your diligence in tonight’s rehearsal! It might not have been the most fun rehearsal ever, but I always, always, always, thoroughly enjoy my time making music with each of you and am very excited about the meaningful work we are accomplishing together. I hope you have been able to see my smiles behind my mask (eye crinkles beyond wrinkles!)
Hugs,
Laura