Dear Singers
I think this type of rehearsal is the most satisfying to me. We metaphorically dug into the dirt and got our hands dirty.
As you might expect, there is some residue left…
Notes
Away From the Roll of the Sea
- As a general rule, a syllabic accent should be treated as <>, not an accent. This is the case with the example, “their STERN lines are GROAN-ing a LULL-aby air”
- Be careful about your particular rhythm. The rhythms vary between parts. For example, mm 35 – 38
Sweet Suffolk Owl
- I realized after the rehearsal that I really need to prepare a slow version of this piece on Bandlab since there are so many details that take careful rehearsal. I will do this before Monday. My concept of the piece is very different from performances I have heard online. I see this piece as quite funny, hence the need for clarity.
- To review:
- Sopranos mm 1 – 8 “t” on the downbeat
- Altos, Tenors, Basses mm 1 – 8 “t” on beat 3
- Sopranos mm 11 – 17 “t” on 3 and then the + of 4
- Altos, Tenors, Basses “t” on 4 and then the + of 4
- Suffolk is pronounced “suff – eck”
- The diphthong in “dight” is an “ah” sound
- Dynamics:
- mf mm 1 – 13
- f mm 14 – 17
- for future reference
- p mm 17 (beat 3) – 20
- pp mm 20 – 22
- f m 23 and following
The Prow
- Reviewing the odd-ball stuff at the beginning (which I love–I know there is a follow-up joke here)
- mm 2 – 5 mumuring the text on the pitches given, gradually speeding up
- During m 6 switch to humming your m 7 pitch at some point.
- m 7 gradually open to “ah”
- Sopranos, especially firsts, recheck your notes mm 7 – 12
- Basses, practice mm 10 – 11 by singing “da-ga-da” on the sixteenths. That helps the accuracy. We can remove the consonants later.
Big Yellow Taxi
- Tenors, m 29 make sure to look at the notes carefully. The last two notes go down to a G, not an Eb
- Altos, Sopranos, recheck starting notes mm 31 – 37
- Basses, m 32 (and similar) should be one dynamic higher in this section, i.e. mf then f. The dynamic on the held note should be one dynamic lower.
- Tenors, please put a quarter rest at the end of m 37. This helps the accent following.
- m 42, breath before “gone!” Alto 1 do not sing beat 3, instead sing “gone” on beat 4 (as we talked about)
- For this “gone!” consciously place your tongue in the “g” position and then slap it down to the “ah” hard!
Lark in the Clear Air
- No breath until m 8, beat 2
- Then altos, tenors, basses, no breath (in the obvious places) until m 18
- Sopranos breath on the breath mark
- Tenors enjoy the appoggiaturas mm 22 -23
- Altos actually have appoggiaturas as well (although not marked in the same way) mm 19 – 20. Treat them the same way as the tenors treat them.
Home on the Range
- Check notes and rhythms in all the places during which you had a problem. I would like to be able to run this piece easily now.
Mark