Hello Everyone,
Wonderful singing at rehearsal last night – we are in the home stretch!
I will listen to the recordings I made and have a short to-do list ready for Thursday evening.
Here is a link if you would like to listen for yourself.
We will add our guest instrumentalists and run those pieces at the beginning of the rehearsal.
We will then run the concert in order, but depending on our time, we may only start/stop some of the pieces.
You can count on a full 10 minute break at some point in the rehearsal. But, if you need to take a break at any time, please do so – take yourself off of the risers (if you are standing) and have a seat for as long as you need to. It is a long time to stand and hold folders. Although I am also standing, I am not holding a folder and that makes a difference. Everyone please take care of yourself!
Please be aware of the intonation challenges on Deep River. We pitch drift about a quarter tone flat within the first few measures and then stay there…everyone has descending intervals which calls for our extra attention. If you have a tuning app, by all means, sing through those pitches slowly and see that you are in tune. Use your best singing posture, get a good breath, and think about spinning the sound with resonance so that it doesn’t sink. I heard from the arranger, Alex Blake, and he confirmed that he would like the diction to be as written, without dialect, as we have been rehearsing.
Speaking of diction…please, please, please don’t sing aspirated Ts in Mae-e, Mi Lugar, or Walk Together Children – those are all dentalized, soft Ts.
if you have an area of great concern, please let your section leader know. I will try to cover as much as possible at our final rehearsal.
Chamber Choir, I included the 4/21 rehearsal recording of Shenandoah in which the tuning was much better than last night and then created an additional file of Across the Sea followed by Shenandoa so that you could listen to both back to back without having to open up two files (it’s in the folder link above). Perhaps listening will help you be more comfortable with the key transition.
The significant pitch drift in Shenandoah was at mm. 6-7…and then we never recovered F Major after that. Marsha mentioned it was a challenge to go from such low singing in Across the Sea to the higher pitches at mm. 6-7 – and that indeed is a challenge (sorry!). If the low notes are out of range in Across the Sea, don’t push those – we have enough A2s in the ensemble who easily sing those lower notes. Better that you ‘fake it’ so that you are then able to sing what’s needed for Shenandoah.
I’m very excited about Thursday’s and Saturday’s music-making and I hope that you are, too. This is wonderful repertoire and we are singing it well – I can’t wait to share it with family and friends.
See you SOON!
Laura