Hello Everyone,
Much progress was made last night during both the soprano sectional and regular rehearsal. Thank you for your hard work and attention (and always good humor).
I had a great conversation with Jocelyn Hagen this morning and talked with her about Hands Upon the Plow. I will share when we rehearse it next. I am having such fun hearing us rehearse this piece.
I should explain my ‘love of ironing.’ I am not a fan of wrinkles (don’t usually wear linen because of it) and have been known to iron my sheets (which are linen – haha). I find the task satisfying. It requires no decision making once I set up the ironing board and set the iron temperature (per Susan’s instructions!). It feels deeply satisfying to see the wrinkles smooth out. It is a task that has a beginning and an end. And, it gives me the opportunity to binge watch something on Netflix while I am ironing and not feel like I ought to do something ‘productive’ instead. Now, I will let you know once I get the scarves finished if I still feel the same about ironing but for now, I am looking forward to it!
Rehearsal Reflection
Be Like Jane mm. 112-end
- rehearsed the transitions between the sections, especially mm. 112, 117, 135, 157
- remember to rest on the final measure beats 1 and 2 unless you are a S1 – then sing on!
- we will take a breath at the end of m. 116
- we will not take a breath at the end of m. 156
- this piece needs precision so please sing it during the week so that we can continue to make progress and not relearn sections. Go Be Like Jane!
What Happens When a Woman?
- we reviewed the sections in canon, mm. 39-46
- we talked about singing in C minor without pitch drift…and that the flat singing of the consonant W might be the culprit! So sing What as Hwat. Impossible to sing an H flat. Rachel also noted that we scoop on ‘happens’ which I think is stylistically appropriate but could also cause us to drift downward. So, we need hyper awareness to not let this slip.
- we sang with a drone which helped us stay in tune.
Wild Embers
- we worked on improving intonation by half of the chorus singing a drone while the other half sang parts mm. 24-34. We need to audiate the drone as we sing.
No Fairy Tale Here mm. 35-end
- we focused on singing this section and understanding how the piano part is independent and does not give singers ‘hints’ about their notes or rhythms. Thanks, Deb, for working so hard on this very challenging section.
- finding the starting note in m. 44 is tricky for everyone, but especially the sopranos who have a leap of an octave and a half. Everyone will need to be secure on that note with this section in unison.
- note the dynamics through this section to the end, especially on page 11. We should not oversing this page because the decrescendo illuminates the text in a way that a fortissimo would not.
- I find interesting the intersection of Alice Paul (Hands Upon the Plow) and Ida B. Wells (No Fairy Tale Here)
https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/a-noble-endeavor-ida-b-wells-barnett-and-suffrage.htm
The Radium Girl
- note the cadences when the ending note matches the sythesizer’s sustained pitch. These did not tune well – singers often under the pitch. Please have particular awareness in mm. 17 (sopranos), 19 (altos), 24 (sopranos), 41 (sopranos), 45 (sopranos, mezzos), 47 (altos), 52 (mezzos, altos).
- the tonal center moves up from E minor to F minor at m. 53. We also need to sing in this new key in tune!
- I know it was probably hard to hear the synthesizer across the room and when I turned up the volume Deb couldn’t hear the singers. We will work out the logistics on that. 🙂
The Girl With the Numbers
- this piece has rapidly shifting tonal centers that make tuning a big challenge! Awareness of where the accidentals are leading us is helpful. Even without knowing the theory behind the modulations, you can listen to our reference recording or listen to the practice files so that you know where you are headed as the tonality shifts.
- altos, when you are singing the pattern at mm. 33-35, watch the starting pitch of m. 35. Previously, your low note was a G but in m. 35 it is an A
- altos, at m. 41 be careful to not ‘sink’ into the pitch…because then it goes flat! Present that note on a platter out in front of you!
Still I Rise
- we worked on making a successful modulation from m. 32-33 – great job on that!
- we reviewed from the beginning though m. 84
- in our enthusiasm we should not over sing this piece. We should build rather than sing fortissimo from the beginning!
Looking Ahead to 11/24
We will continue to polish our music. Please send your section leader any challenges that you would like for me to address in rehearsal.
Sisters’ Voices will join us for the first half-ish of rehearsal on December 1 and 15. By December 1, we should be able to sing through our music working on expressive elements. Let’s have all remaining pitch/rhythm challenges ironed out (see what I did there?) by the end of November. Let’s also focus on memorization of What Happens When a Woman?, Like a Mountain, and Still I Rise. We will not sing those through in rehearsal specifically for memorization – so please repeat as necessary at home with your practice files.
Hope everyone has a wonderful rest of your week. I am looking forward to our next rehearsal!
Laura