Commiserations to our Welsh and Iranian friends. Despite other attractions and a frigid church, another encouraging run-through last night. Lesley made a recording of the Gjielo and the Rachmaninoff. So you can hear for yourselves what sounds good and what could be improved. Overall, especially given it’s just recorded on a phone, I hope you are happy to hear just how nice you sound.
On the hot topic of church temperature, please know that Siobhan has been trying repeatedly to get the churchwardens to respond to our request that the heating be turned up an hour or two before our rehearsal time to get the church to a workable temperature. At the very least, we will have this solved for the concert itself.
I have put the concert running order in a separate post. For the purpose of the recap, here is the order of our sung pieces and some thoughts from me. Sorry if it is a bit long, and please don’t feel that there is loads being marked as imperfect. You have done an amazing job learning a whole load of notes in a wide variety of different styles. The comments are now just last little details to take pieces from good to amazing. It really does sound very promising and, with the traditional SGC last couple of weeks panic extra effort it can be something very good indeed. Confidence, so you sing out and without hesitancy, is the only ingredient that we could use a bit more of.
| Sounds good | Could be better | ||
| O Nuit- Rameau | Accompanied | Entries at starts of each verse; solo verse beautifully delicate; words are good; notes all confident | Soprano top notes bars 22, 48, 74; watching for Rit end of each verse; sing out a little more, it’s the opening of the concert. |
| Bogoroditse Dyevo from Rach Vespers RECORDING | Unaccompanied | Notes are all good; big climax bar 20 very strong; ending nicely peaceful, no unwanted Shhh | Togetherness is everything – so looking down is bad, which means being confident you know both notes and words; DON’T RUSH, especially, quavers after a long note eg T & B bar 8; altos could sing out more bars 14-24; and you can never have too much dramatic expression in this piece. More is more. |
| Sure on this shining night – Lauridsen | Accompanied | Generally the tone is great. V1 much improved last night by lower parts. Keep doing that. Soprano line bars 31-48, the big climax, very good indeed. Most tempo changes and entries fine. Lots to like here. | Basses – the tempo at E bar 48. No looking at music, you just have to watch. |
| Abendlied, Rheinberger | Unaccompanied | Notes seem fine now, words too. Expression nice, especially last 4 bars; entries all good. Big improvement over the last 2/3 weeks | The piece is all about precision. A very strict, regular beat which can’t be rushed and requires everyone to be together. Just a little more confidence required. |
| Sleep – Whitacre | Accompanied | This has become a very strong piece in the last few weeks. It sounds confident. The big climax from bar 43 is very impressive, culminating in the beautiful top A flat in sop 1. | Watching so that we can pick up the pace slightly at bar 14; keep your tone focused and spooky bars 27-43; watch out for too much ssssssleep at the ending |
| Dark Night – Gjeilo RECORDING | Accompanied | Plenty to enjoy, as you can hear. V1 good, entry at 69 very nice. Notes all sound fine, you are picking up the tempos and changes fine. The ending is great. Can’t wait to hear it with the violin | Make the sound big throughout. Sing BIG! SOPRANOS – check your note at entry at A, you are coming in on an F. Big swells at bars 42/3 and 51 – more please. Chords at bar 73 – more confidence, the notes are good. Timing at bar 77 – on me, but it is slower than you think. Just watch and count. Alto and tenor G# in final chords – more please. |
| In the stillness – Beamish | Unaccompanied | This has really come together. Low notes at ends of verses are good. Intonation is fine. Expressivity and words are what Ms Beamish would appreciate. It sounds very nice. | The coda is slower – you have to be watching bar 22. Big crescendo here, from pp to f in a few notes. Really watching for ‘and the presence of a child’ – everyone is singing the same rhythm so any out-of-timeness will show up as raggedness. |
| Lully, Lulla, Lullay -Stopford | Unaccompanied | Ditto. Sounding very good. Expression good, nice variations, ending very calming and lullaby-esque | Sops, never relax on the jump up bar 7, bar 15 and similar, or you will undershoot the top E flat. Be thinking about tuning every single note, everyone. Every repeated note is pushed up a tiny bit from the previous. |
| O Holy Night | Accompanied | Notes all solid, entries pretty good, expression fine | Watching for rits bars 26 (little one) and 38 (big one). Lower parts, go over the words for V2 to get them to fit the tune please. Still a bit tentative on entry at 17. |
| Underneath the stars, Rusby | Unaccompanied | Much better at the liltier tempo. Notes mostly good. Sounding rather lovely and a nice way to end the concert. | All about the rhythm. This is one where practice with the music would be very helpful. S & A – v3 bar 27, you have to be ready for the alternate first line rhythm. Basses bar 38, double check that E. Sop 2 bar 44 – more A please. And if you need work on the notes of V3, we will find time to look at that next week. EVERYONE – with the rhythm of Gent-ly, don’t be tempted to move too soon, especially on the last page. The Gent was getting cut a little short, sops especially. |
One more rehearsal before the Holly Lodge concert on the 8th, then one more again before our own concert.
Thanks to David for the flyers, and to Simon and others for the work on the programme and spoken intros.
Have a good week and see you in December….