Dear Singers
That was the best performance we have done at Mountain Meadows. The small room and low ceiling makes it tough, but you did very well. Thank you so much!
S’vivon transliteration
Here are the words for S’vivon:
Sovivon, sov sov sov, Chanuka hu chag tov.
Dreidel, spin spin spin. Chanukah is great holiday.
Chichester Video with translation
As we try to understand the meaning of the text, it is great to see Hebrew and English side by side. This is an improvement on even that! Listen to the piece, see the Hebrew and the English all at the same time!
Bernstein: Chichester Psalms – LEONARD BERNSTEIN (Complete)
And, some notes…
Notes
Vivaldi 1
- Be careful to make sure the word is GLO-ria, not glo-ri-A
Vivaldi 2
- The cresc. from 78 – 86 is a long one. The only way to do it effectively is to start soft. Please mark m 78 p
- bonae should be “boh-neh” not “bow-nay”
Vivaldi 8
- Nice job, Ellie
- Make sure to sing the syllabic accents: “qui TOL-lis pec- CA – ta”
- Ellie would like to take more time in m 34. To make that work, we will stay in her slower tempo all the way to the end of 35.
Vivaldi 12
- Make sure “cum” is open
- Be aware of the two main melodic ideas. If you are not singing one of those two melodies, back off.
Bernstein 3
- Notice dynamics at 49 and following. We are getting softer.
Lullabye
- Sopranos: good job at the key change, m 22
- m 22 don’t forget short-LONG-short (Dat-DA-dat). (Have you ever noticed that the word “short” is longer than the word “long”?)
- Sopranos: sing through the consonants for more expression at 30. Good-nnnight mmmy ann-gel, nnow it’s ti-mmmme to dreammmmm.
- In general, realize what wonderful poetry this piece is, and what a wonderful setting of the poetry as well. The eighth notes direct us to the important quarter and dotted quarter note words. Go with that and lean toward the ends of the phrases and then enjoy those endings. e.g. Goodnightmyangel, timeto cllohse your Aheyes.
Bernstein 2
- As I mentioned during rehearsal, Sops and Altos please sing beautifully and expressively, but exactly in tempo! (not easy to do)
- DO NOT sing during the cutoff at the end, m 145. It is SO important that the measure is silent! (except the orchestra)
Blackbird
- Altos, do not be surprised by the change at 32. We will need to go over this
- If you have not already done so, PLEASE write the roadmap into your score:
- Repeat from end of 12 to 3
- Second time skip 11 and 12
- Do not repeat at 25
Mark