Hello Everyone,
Thanks for a lovely rehearsal last night. I loved every minute of music-making with you – even the challenging parts!
Special thanks to Kinley and Marsha for setting up in a different space (hauling over all of the stuff from the regular space across the street to the sanctuary) much appreciated! Y’all are amazing.
Some things to think about regarding singing from Andrew Crane and Jami Rhodes:
-springy knees
-tall back of the neck
-released abdomen
-open tube (larynx to lips) anything that we do that closes our tubes works against a resonant sound – poor posture, tongues, etc.
-energized breath (feels cool on the roof of the mouth and feels like it curves up – not straight to the back of the throat) everytime you breathe, not just at the beginning of the song
-loose cheeks and jaw (articulators are free to do their jobs – lips and tongue)
-sing above your hand (not letting your tongue drop back closing off your tube) on all the notes, not just the first few
We will continue to practice these techniques together!
Rehearsal Reflection
Love is Welcome Here – sing at the tempo marked with a forward movement in our sound. It should sound relaxed, comforting, warm….but not slow and mushy. Definitely need to ‘sing above our hands’ to avoid pitch drift. 🙂
To Sit and Dream – sounds gorgeous. We need to work on singing the beginnings of the phrases on time – I have some ideas (so does Deb) and I know we will have success with this final challenge. The dynamic contrasts and legato singing were lovely.
Spes – Excellent work on differentiating the sounds of the yoik from the Latin ‘formal’ singing. We will continue to work on dynamic contrasts and balance…We need to always ask ourselves, ‘Who has the melody or most interesting part? and let that shine through the texture.
Sparks of Divinity – I am not ready to give up yet – I hope you are not going to give up, either! I am confident that we can do this amazing piece. I confess, when we did the run through I started too fast, which did not help us at all – apologies!!!! I will take a more reasonable tempo next time, I promise. Deb, Kay, and I talked and decided it would be helpful to spend some of the regular rehearsal time in sectionals to review so that hopefully we can all gain confidence on our parts. I’m keeping a positive attitude about it and hope you will, too. I do think that as much as you can listen to it it will help us all.
Through the House Give Glimmering Light – We are definitely getting the lightness and dance-like ambiance for this piece. We should sound like the glimmering light! It must always have springy movement in the sound – as if we are dancing on our toes as light as fairies while singing. We will work on the ends of phrases where we have tempo variances (hard to watch while you are dancing around the rehearsal space!)
Big Dogs, Music, and WIld, Wild Women – such a fun song. Our mezzo sopranos are really shining on their featured parts – we worked a lot on that in the sectional. We will work on the tempo shifts on page 13 next time – those are so fun.
Looking Ahead to 11/13/23
Please bring any questions you have about the music – Kay and Deb will be ready and able to assist.
Sparks of Divinity – sectionals with Deb and Kay – start together in the regular rehearsal space and they will give instructions. ‘We Got This!’
Love is Welcome Here – mm. 50-end. Sing ‘above the hand’ with an energized breath (and everything else on the list above) so that this ending can be in tune!
To Sit and Dream – Let’s try resting on the last 8th note pulse of every measure that has a 16th rest at the beginning of the next measure. Let’s see if that half of a beat gets us started on the next phrase on time. Be sure to use that 8th note pulse to breathe! That means that anytime we the final consonants D at the end of ‘read’ and ‘world’ we need to put that on, breathe, and ready to sing the next phrase on time. More F on ‘unfettered’ and ‘free.’ Let’s bring out the alliteration in the poem – it’s so cool. In the ‘I reach out my hand’ section look for the tenutos and give those notes/words emphasis. I, hand, you….but not the same in all parts so please look for them.
The March of the Women – Review all and make sure everyone knows where to breathe and where to carry through.
Through the House Give Glimmering Light – mm. 77-85 Start with the A1 part in m. 77, other parts join in on the top of page 7. Please stay IN TEMPO until the ritard in mm. 84-85. A1s have the crucial responsibility of singing the F-sharp in m. 77 and the F-natural in m. 79. Sopranos, take note whether the C is natural or sharp – also very important.
Ave Maria – Sing from mm. 53 to the end and answer any pitch/rhythm questions/challenges. Sing this whole piece if time allows.
Mah Dodech Midod – Rehearse mm. 24-31, 59-78 (especially work to make sure everyone has the text in mm. 66-69)
Gloria – mm. 97-end work on pitches/rhythms/text.
You’ve Got a Friend in Me – Work for a rhythmically cohesive performance including accurate syncopations (especially S1s mm. 1-4, 19-21, 55-58.
Thank you to Deb and Kay for leading rehearsal – I know I speak for everyone when I say that you are greatly appreciated. Hope you have a wonderful rehearsal – I will miss being with you. I will toast you from Ireland next Monday evening.
Sláinte! (Cheers in Irish!)
Laura