Dear all
Apologies this has come later this week – I’ve been distracted by the sun in Lanzarote.
Firstly a reminder that there is no rehearsal next week (19th October). THe next rehearsal will be on Tuesday 25th October.
Secondly, Solos – The Turtle Dove is written for a soloist in the first and fourth verses. I am planning to finish the rehearsal on 25th October at 9pm, and then use the last half hour to hear auditions for these verses. The score asks for a baritone but any voice part (male or female) is welcome to try out. We may also consider having different soloists for the first and fourth verses. Additionally, I would like to hear from any sopranos who can comfortably sing a high C (C6) for a small bit at the end of Battle of Jericho.
If you are interested in either of the above, please drop me an email (d.ansticepim@gmail.com) or message (07919270624) to let me know, so I know who to expect. You will be asked to sing all or part of the first verse of The Turtle Dove with AND without accompaniment (high sopranos for Battle of Jericho – I will reply to messages with more details)
I last week’s rehearsal, we spent time getting to know The Turtle Dove by Vaughan WIlliams. This arrangement is fairly simple but very effective – we need to make sure the parts are balanced and blended when we sing, especially when accompanying a solo in verses 1 and 4. If you were not at the rehearsal, please take whatever time you can to have a look over the notes in this piece, using the practice tracks available on the website if it’s easier.
We then spent time on Battle of Jericho, learning the final bits we had not looked at previously. We have now note-bashed the whole piece, but I am conscious that not everyone has been at every rehearsal. We cannot continue to spend large parts of rehearsals note-bashing after half term, so please make time to learn bits you missed, especially in this piece, which I still hope to do from memory!
We lastly looked at Shenandoah, having not done so for a couple of weeks. This is really starting to settle into a good performance piece and the sopranos and altos are managing very well with the stretto in the fourth verse. We have a tendency to go very flat in this piece, especially in the first 2 verses, so we will work on keeping the pitch up.
Thanks all, see you on the 25th!
Dave