More useful progress last night, well done. Here’s what we did:
Haydn
Von deiner gut p116 – we put all the different segments together and they are all doing well. The trickiest bit is the last passage.
Nun Schwanden p12 – the second movement, the first one we learned all those weeks ago. Good job at tidying up the word ends in the H A P P Y bit. The choppier minor key bit was good too.
Vollendet ist p107 – we worked through the whole thing from back to front at slow speed, then assembled at high speed and it worked well. Good job.
Brahms – still some shakiness around the notes that we need to fix. Basses will help out tenors at their low entries, then resume the bass line. Being sure of the first notes of sections is one focus. The Amen is a highlight. I’d love to get the whole thing sounding as gorgeous as that coda.
Zorongo – Marta focused on nuance and drama, and from where I was standing it sounded good. The second, quick section needs to move – 1 in a bar speed. So get those words nailed down.
The goal for the next week or two is to sign off on pieces and movements as ‘good to go’ – meaning not just that we are properly confident of notes, words and entries, but we know the musicality bits of expression, phrasing and the stuff that takes it from good to awesome. So plenty to do still!
Keep listening, keep singing along, and see you next week.
CH
For those who want to:
Homework pack
Brahms – focus on the first few notes of each section – make sure that you are totally sure of how to hit them with accuracy and confidence. The rest will flow on from there if we start each line well.
Creation – go over the three movements we did today, ideally singing along to a recording so you have the other parts around you, but practice tracks are good too.
If you need more, add to that – Die Himmel erzahen, the last segment especially; and the movements from last week, Der Herr ist Gros p76, Singt dem Herrn p151.
If you have time:
Va Pensiero – practise the words and fitting them to the music. I am confident that the music will take care of itself.