REHEARSAL NOTES for April 19, 2022

Dear Friends,

My mind is mush as I move into the long haul of this weekend - 5 services in the next 2 days.

1. Please be proactive in inviting your friends, family, co-workers, neighbors, church choirs, everybody you know to the concert. We want to sing to full-houses. Forward the email Chuck sent and re-post the poster/blurb on social media. Get the word out. 
2. That being said, we will have someone from the Napa Register coming Tuesday to hear us and subsequently write a review. Be on your toes. A great review can help build our audience. Think of it as a preview concert. Look sharp and sing beautifully.
3. Do all you can to be and stay well. 

FOR TUESDAY

Beati quorum via

• Keep the moving quarter notes smooth and in tune. Don't let descending lines sag. Nor cadences.
• Sing molto legato.
• De-emphasis the last syllable. 

Os Justi

• Really focus on the p. 2-3. Keep a lighter "Renaissance" style in the moving 1/8th-notes.
• Be ready to change dynamics and tempi on a dime

Abendlied

• I want to hear the most beautiful tone you can muster on this.
• And I want to hear each person sing the line like it's going somewhere.

I'm Gonna Sing

• Be off-score and sing with a spirit and controlled exuberance.
• I want to see the spirit in your faces.
• Soloists practice you solos. Keep them interesting and fun. Always mindful of pitch.

Alleluia

• This went well at rehearsal. Keep up the good work paying attention to dynamics.
• Always sing toward the lu of Alleluia.
• And always get back to the pp or ppp.

Music Down in My Soul

• Again, off-score.
• Keep it under control so there's somewhere to go in volume and energy in a rather long song with lots of repeats.
• Be ready for the claps.

Modimo

• This will be a crowd-pleaser. Have fun with it.
• Here are the actions:

In m. 9, beat one shift your weight to your Right Foot rolling your hands like you're pouring something from the Left Hand into the Right Hand. 

On beat 3, shift your weight to your Left Foot while rolling your hands like you're pouring it back from your Right Hand into your Left Hand.

Repeat this on beats 1 and 3 through mm. 9 - 24, stopping on beat 3 of m. 24.

Immediately in m. 25, begin rolling your hands outward on each beat. The position has your fingers from opposing hands pointing toward each other, and you roll outward from the wrist with open palms.

Continue this to the downbeat of m. 33, when the solos start.

While the various sections are singing (mm. 33 - 40), make sounds, whistles and calls that show approval and encouragement. Turn and face the members of each part that are singing. Let your body language be relaxed and move with the music. Each member of the various sections should sing like a soloist to each other and the audience. Ham it up!

Resume hand rolls on downbeat of m. 43 until the downbeat of m. 50. 

At m. 50, resume the shift and hand-pouring starting on the RF and LH/RH. At m. 55, abruptly stop on the downbeat (staccato), and then in m. 56, resume on the same RF and LH/RH side. Sort of like a restart.

Do the same thing at m. 63, resuming RF and LH/RH until you get to measure 68 where you will stop abruptly on beat one with weight centered and  with hands slightly opened facing out. 

In mm. 69 - 70 have hands move on ka - we - na from a slightly opened position in front to shoulder height, to head height, to slightly above head as if offering a gift and hold it.

You have to have it memorized to make it natural. Practice in front of a mirror.

See you Tuesday Evening.

Ted

REHEARSAL NOTES for April 12, 2022

 

Dear friends,

We’re counting down the days (20) until our concert. There are several things we all need to do.

1.      Sing through every piece weekly, especially if we haven’t rehearsed it that week. It’s important to keep everything fresh.

2.      Practice singing in front of a mirror. Look at your posture and make your face expressive. Audiences are as taken with your appearance as they are with your sound.

3.      Forward the email you got to your email list with a personal invitation to your friends and acquaintances. We want to fill those concerts, not because of revenue (which doesn’t hurt), but because people need to hear your beautiful music.

4.      Continue to memorize the pieces I mentioned last week, and especially the ones noted below.

5.      Be prepared to sing through most of the pieces in rehearsal as you need to develop vocal endurance.

FOR TUESDAY

Grace Before Sleep

·        Listen to the resources recording. I will be taking it more like that. Slower tempo overall.

·        Women sing through the intro with great expressiveness of the words and a sense of freedom, but slower.

·        Make the crescendo in mm. 17 – 20 significant.

·        Every time sopranos or women begin a phrase with an anacrusis (pick-up), for example, each in mm. 20, 22, 24, 26, it should be proceeded by a relaxed breath and very slight pause. Also but in m. 28, and the and in mm. 38, 40, 42.

·        Make mm. 29 – 34 slower and more peaceful sounding.

The Sweetheart of the Sun

·        Follow Barnum’s tempo and dynamic recommendations! Exaggerate a bit if you need to.

·        Soprano and Bass really release the “n” of won (nə) in m. 14 as you breathe to go on so we understand what the word is as the others are holding it.

·        Read again the words of the poem. Determine how best for you convey the meaning of the text. It’s love at first sight.

Modimo

·        Have this memorized as we will begin to add actions to the song.

Alleluia

·        Practice starting the first A of Alleluia with a smooth, free, onset…right on cue and ppp.

·        Be prepared to start moving at the Movendo mm. 55 and gradually pick up speed at Stringendo mm. 60, slowing dramatically at the Rallentando and accents > in mm. 62.

There is a Pleasure

·        Review

Os Justi

·        Particularly practice mm. 71 through 42 for accuracy, dynamics, and richness of vocal color

A Nightingale Sang

·        We’re going to take this faster and freer. Be prepared!

Music Down in My Soul

·        Have this memorized so we can practice clapping.

FOR NEXT WEEK:

Be on time. We will have a reporter from the Napa Register coming to rehearsal so that we can have a pre-concert review. I will have you in a standing arrangement in rows so we can begin getting used to that, and so that you look a bit more concert ready. I will be rehearsing, but there will be fewer stops and starts. Think of it as a preview concert for one!

Looking forward to seeing you Tuesday.

Ted

REHEARSAL NOTES for April 5, 2022

Hello friends,

Thanks for another great rehearsal. We're counting down the weeks now until our concert, and I really want to keep our focus on: A) Beautiful tone by singing beautiful vowels; B) Clear diction that conveys meaning; and C) Musicality by expressing each phrase as if a solo.

As I said in this weeks rehearsal, we can work on all those things, as well as blend, but we're going to need everyone to be present and focused the last couple of rehearsals so that we can really concentrate on balance.

A FEW ANNOUNCEMENTS:

1. Napa Valley Register Preview: I'm waiting to hear from Sasha Paulsen at the Napa Register to see if they'll be able to send a reporter/reviewer to one of our rehearsals so that we can get a pre-concert review. It will probably be either April 19 or April 26. As soon as I hear back I will let you know. Once we have that info, we will talk about a photo shoot date.
2. Volunteers: Please talk to your family or friends about possibly helping with various tasks associated with the concerts (ticket sales, greeters/ushers, reception set-up, clean-up, etc.,).
3. Ticket Sales: We need to do everything to get the word out about our concert. Make announcements in you churches, at any meetings you attend, at work. Get posters up--we can make more. I don't want this concert to come as a surprise and be missed. Put it on Facebook, on Instagram. Whatever social media you have. Personally invite friends. You'll be doing them a favor.

FOR TUESDAY:

The Cuckoo

• Sing through by memory. 
• Sopranos continue to practice the life into the pp at mm. 10 and 26. It still sounds squeezed. We will practice this as a section.
• Make sure diction is impeccable.

I'm Gonna Sing 'Till the Spirit

• Tenor Soloists practice you solos and listen again to the recording to give you a sense of how to do with with ease. Don't over sing it. And be careful of intonation, particularly at the end of your phrases.
• We will be singing this for memory, so start getting off-score. Memorize dynamics.
• Basses watch the diphthong on It was grace in mm. 19 - 25.
• Tenors practice making the transitions smooth. Determine where and how you need to breathe.
• SAT make the wind/spirit howl in mm. 36 - 43. Increase on ascending notes and decrease on descending notes.
• Basses remember to check the rhythm on Can't you feel it. The entrance is on the & of beat 2 as I'm conducting in 4.

Alleluia

• This song is about breath control. Sing with rich vowels (only 3) throughout. 
• Really sing the pp's softly. And be aware of the dynamic shifts. And the volume of the word Al-le-lu-ia is 2, 3, 4, 1. 
• Look at your part in relationship with the other parts. When are you complementing or singing a duet with another part. For example altos and tenors in mm. 8 - 10, sopranos and tenors in mm. 20 - 25, etc.
• Remember the story of this piece. It was written in 1940 as WWII was beginning in Europe. It was Thompson's hopeful response to the concern about conditions in the world. Sound familiar? It's a prayer of hope for peace.

Modimo

• This is a song of praise. Make it joyful. Make it playful. Make it resounding. This is about enthusiasm.
• The solo sections in the middle are to be playfully competitive. Each section should have a personality. Confer and determine what your section's personality is. 
• Raoul said your menagerie of sounds was great on Tuesday. Keep it up. Be careful not to overpower the altos.
• Work on memorizing. It shouldn't be hard as it's quite repetitive. 

Abendlied

• This should sound like a musical sunset--rich, colorful tone. Peaceful with occasional power. 
• Rich, dark, German vowels. Err on the covered side.
• It was brought to my attention that we may not be pronouncing der quite right. After some investigation, it seems that the vowel is a bright "e" as in werden and not an open "e" as in dare. The "r" is actually treated like an unaccented "e" with no "r" flip.
• Really meld you sections into one voice and the group into six balanced voices. 
• Listen, listen, listen. 

Sing Me to Heaven

• Practice singing off-score.
• Really listen to your words and sing each with meaning: love, lullaby, comfort, mourn, grief, heaven.

SONGS to BE SUN MEMORIZED

The Cuckoo

Sing Me to Heaven

I'm Gonna Sing 'Till the Spirit

Music Down in My Soul

Modimo

I want A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square close to memorized.

See you Tuesday,

Ted