NOTES for Week of CONCERT Fall 2022

Dear friends,

Thank you for the good work you've put in to make this a great concert. Here are some musical notes that I hope you will internalize and then express wildly.

Pat-a-pan

• Make it playful, fun, light and brisk. Look animated.
• Each of you lead the way in singing the dynamics.
• You MUST capture their attention with this first song.
• MEN please practice finding your initial pitch from the G4 that's given on the pitch pipe.

Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind

• Please look up and watch for phrasing/breaths. The spirit may move me to express it in ways other than how we have practiced. 

Magnificat

• Keep all the uptempo sections moving and lightly articulated. TENORS you set the mood et exultate at the beginning.
• ALTOS sing with a warm, rich, "motherly" tone. Lightly, but distinctly articulate your 16th-note figures.

O Magnum Mysterium

• Watch me for breaths. We won't rush them.

In dulci jubilo

• Sing with a gentle precise rhythm. 
• Sing anything other than the melody no louder than mp. 
• Listen for the solo sections, so they never have to over sing.

Sing We All Noel

• Stagger breathing mm. 31-35 (no breaths between oh's)
• Watch for rubato in mm. 37-45. Also mm. 66-75

Betelehemu

• Have fun and move on this piece (in your own spirited way) starting when the rhythmic drumbeat starts
• We'll coordinate with Alan to determine transitions with the percussion.

Be All Merry

• Because we will be using two editions, there are some differences (rhythm, harmonies, parts doubled, etc.), including the addition of a measure at 24.
• Mark your music with the letters at these measures (the ones in your score): A=9, B=17, C=25, D=38, E=53, F=78, G=93, H=110
• Sing the dynamic markings!
• If you have the melody, be clear on the diction.

Wexford Carol

• Long, rich phrases. 
• Watch tempo and dynamic changes.

Long Ago (In the Bleak Midwinter)

• Watch tempo changes (lots of tenuto and ritardando/a tempo
• Make cross rhythms distinct (even quarters vs. dotted rhythm)
• Final chord is C# Major (change to E-natural)

Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day

• Don't over sing. Keep light and buoyant.
• Sing dynamics when phrase grows and subsides (often).
• MENs section (mm. 67-92) should be lighter and with more lilt.

Enfold Us - MAKE THESE MARKS

• NO ONE takes a breath in m. 6
• Break after fermata in m. 13. Then BASS get a cue for breath.
• Break after fermata in m. 21. Then SOPRANO get a cue for breath.
• NO ONE takes a breath in m. 23
• Break after fermata in m. 29. Then SOPRANO get a cue for breath.
• Luftpauses after alert us in m. 33, after creation in m. 37, after needs in m. 38, and after dangers in m. 39
• Break after fermata in m. 42. Then SOPRANO get a cue for breath.
• Break after fermata in m. 45. Then SOPRANO get a cue for breath.
• NO ONE takes a breath. in m. 49
• EVERYONE takes a breath in m. 51.
• Break after fermate in m. 54.
• Short break after presence in m. 55. SOPRANO get a cue for breath your love.
• SOPRANO breathe before your wisdom in m. 58, and your peace in m. 60.

Joy to the World

• Make sure you have your notes and rhythms in the 3rd verse up to speed. You sing that alone.
• I will be conducting the audience so be prepared for the phrase you do at the end of each of the audience verses.

The Work of Christmas

• Make me cry!

NOTES for Week of November 7, 2022

Dear Friends,

I was really pleased with the way you were sounding in our rehearsal on Tuesday. That being said, we are in the home stretch with only three more Tuesday night rehearsals and our rehearsal with the instruments on December 1. 

1. Please plan to review your music regularly. Sing along with the recordings to get used to hearing your part with others, and at tempo.
2. If you must miss a rehearsal, please make sure you check in with your section to find out what you missed. I don't want to play catch-up in the subsequent rehearsal.
3. Please check your emails for memos and attachments, i.e., the concert order.
4. Continue to invite friends, co-workers, and family.
5. I will try to focus on several pieces in rehearsals and quickly run others that we rehearsed the previous week.

Betelehemu

Continue to work on memorization and movement. Here is a break down of movement and claps.

• Begin moving on p. 4 m. 20 starting to your right, and then continue throughout.
• Clap in an upward/downward motion on the 5 accented beats at p. 6, mm. 36-37 
• Eliminate the last measure on p. 9
• Men will sing through mm. 68-71 twice, then Chuck will sing the solo while the men repeat five more times. Women may lightly ululate here. 
• Start clapping on all six beats in groups of 3 ascending starting at repeat p. 4, m. 20. Continue until top of p. 6 m. 35. Ululation should increase with just one or two people doing it.
• At m. 36 skip to the CODA and clap on the accented beats in mm. 72-73. On the repeat, clap on all accented notes.
• WE WILL REHEARSE THIS TUESDAY

Enfold Us

• Hear the rhythmic flow of the melody which starts with the altos and moves to the sopranos at m. 5. This will help with the changing meter.
• Practice the key changes at mm. 29-30 and 45-46.
• Practice with the recording so you feel the controlled movement.
• WE WILL REHEARSE THIS TUESDAY

Pat-a-pan

• Again, intense percussive approaches to the "p's" and "n's" with little time on "a". It's beatbox backup to the solo sections.
• Crescendo and then decrescendo in the 3/2 measures at mm. 12-14, 25-27, and 65-67.
• Make crescendo at m. 39 powerful.
• Make decrescendo at m. 52 dramatically soft.
• WE WILL RUN THIS TUESDAY

Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day

• Don't slow down the my love, my love, my love at mm. 27-30 (Tenors), 60-63 (Sopranos), 86-89 (Men), 117-122 (all singing)
• Keep the tempo light and brisk
• WE WILL RUN THIS TUESDAY

Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind

• Shakespearean diction in the verses must be distinct.

Magnificat

• Tenors practice mm. 15-22, 33-40, and 116-128
• Altos practice mm. 15-19, 58-62, and 71-79. Make you entrance in m. 83 warmer in tone.
• Basses practice mm. 5-13 and 61-66
• Sopranos practice mm. 29-34, 42-50, 63-68, 71-75, and 122-128
• WE WILL RUN THIS TUESDAY

 Long Ago and Sing We Now of Christmas

• Gregory, I would like to REHEARSE THESE with piano

Be All Merry

• Clean up all rhythms and diction (shifts in language)
• Practice with the recording so you get used to the interludes
• WE WILL REHEARSE THIS TUESDAY

The Work of Christmas

• Continue memorizing
• WE WILL RUN THIS TUESDAY

Merry Christmas To You All - CANON

• WE WILL REHEARSE THIS TUESDAY

Keep up the good work. See you Tuesday!

Ted

 

NOTES for Week of October 31, 2022

Dear Friends,

We're counting down the weeks and the rehearsals. We have 5 rehearsals left which includes our dress rehearsal. At this point we need to be focused on singing with the utmost beauty of tone, expressiveness, and musicality.

A few things that will help you prepare:

1. Practice with your recordings for tempo and sense of how you fit into the whole. Always sing musically, listening to the dynamics and tempi of the ensembles.
2. Work on memorization of the specific piece and true knowledge of everything else, which means you are looking up most of the time.
3. If there are sections that cause you pause, really drill them so that they are second nature.
4. Mark anything in your music that will remind you to sing expressively and beautifully.

Continue to spread the word. This is going to be an exciting concert. People need some beauty and joy in their lives. And what better way to receive it than to be part of a thrilled live performance.

FOR TUESDAY

Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day

• Get it up to tempo. It should feel brisk (though unhurried) and dancelike. You need to feel it to sing it. 
• Sing the doo's with a lilt and a joyful freedom. No questions on notes or rhythms as this point.

Enfold Us

• You need to have a sense of the flow and phrasing. Practice with the recording. Your part alone may not give you enough of the musical information to feel the forward movement.
• It should sound like a prayer...a prayer full of awe and wonder. 
• Listen and sing the transposition on page 6 and mm. 29-31 so it doesn't surprise you.

Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind

• Make the wind sections (ah's) starting on p. 6, mm. 67 to 95 sound free and effortless, and watch your dynamics. Gregory will you please accompany on this.

Bethlehemu

• Memorized to bottom of p. 6. 
• Watch the performance by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9gXWuqZcNw

• Practice swaying while singing the instrumental section starting m. 18 and on. Shift weight to the right foot and turn your body a 1/4 turn while looking forward then repeat to the left.

Pat-a-pan

• Keep dynamics on the soft side.
• Continue to emphasize the percussiveness of the pat-a-pan figures
• Sing with the recording and watch the 3/2 measures for accuracy and tempo

Magnificat

• I'd like to go through this a couple of times with the keyboard accompaniment (Gregory) so that you can get used to it being conducted and make the transitions between sections whether or not there are tempo changes.
• Sing along with the recording to get a sense of the mood changes.

The Work of Christmas

• We'll sing through this a couple of times (MEMORIZED)

Have a productive weekend and I'll look forward to seeing you on Tuesday.

T.