Hello Everyone,
What a fun Valentine’s Day rehearsal! I so enjoyed sharing my love of choral music and WVC with you all. Thanks for bringing the treats, Jackie! I have attached our Valentine’s messages – be prepared to feel the LOVE when you read them. Hope I didn’t miss your message – if I did, let me know and I will add it to the document.
We made great progress on our music, especially working on expressive elements of dynamics, articulation, and phrasing. The chorus sounds full and vibrant – such a joy!
Rehearsal Reflection:
Warm ups
– Attached is the minor canon we learned last night.
She Who Makes Her Meaning Clear
– mm. 1-28 we sang through, making sure we heard all of the notes in the chords.
– everyone learned the small group part mm. 32-41
– m. 48 crescendo and connect without a breath from ‘strength’ to ‘in’
– mm. 50-56 observed the dynamics, worked on phrasing
– mm. 77-80 increase the energy in each measure
– mm. 87-end decrescendo until the last note, then crescendo to the release
Rise Up mm. 54-end
– note the subdivision of the beat and sing the consonants on the rests.
– note the tempo changes – look up!
– altos be sure to rest for 4 beats in m. 73 (easy to want to come in on beat 3!)
– m. 77 is piano, at the repeat, crescendo.
Nothing Short of Grace mm. 35-end
– mm. 47-50 build with a crescendo
– m. 54 note that we decrescendo to a mf in m. 55.
– m. 57 change the eighth note on beat 1 to a dotted quarter note.
– m. 57 beat 4 begin this phrase p, then build through m. 63.
– we need to hear the K of ‘take,’ P of ‘step,’ K of ‘courage,’ and the T or ‘heart’ (but minimize the R of ‘heart’)
Sing My Child
– tuned with a drone of the tonic or Do (F in F Major), being mindful of the descending intervals that can cause us to lose our tonal center and noted the Eb which is a ‘surprise note’ in the key of F.
-final consonants are sung on the rests like snare drum hits
How Can I Keep From Singing mm. 25-end
– worked on phrasing, dynamics, and articulation
Richer for Her
– our Valentine to the women in our life who embody the poetry of this piece (and celebrated ourselves, too!)
Looking Ahead to 2/21/22
We will focus on:
Be Like the Bird
Storm Comin’
Sing My Child
The Imaginary Garden mm. 10- 72 and review mm. 73-90
Song of Miriam mm. 31-54 and review mm. 1-30
What the Heart Cannot Forget
Love and hugs,
Laura
