Rudsamblog

Quite short notes tonight, as not much of note was said. We just got down and sang.

Jenny made us do train noises and then a little bit of yodeling, both of which got people in a good mood.

Peter1 keeps going down to wherever it is he keeps going down and he'll be going down there a lot for a while. Says Ollie. As a result, P1 and Mirren will not be with us for a while - though they're not Leaving. In the meantime, Ollie is finding cover, which started this evening when we all got to WELCOME PENNY, out new (temp) Alto2. Huzzah!

We will not be doing anything more with Wade in the Water. Ollie didn't like how it sounded, so there. Nobody complained.

VISUR VATNSENDA wotsit
Remember the phrasing. It's mostly up to the Sopranos to make this song feel like more than some notes stuck together, so feel free to feel it.

AVE MARIS STELLA
will be sung by heart. Which, judging from this evening's quick couple of times through, will cause little trouble.

IF YE LOVE ME
Try to be aware of the difference between the homophonics in the first line and the contrapuntal nature of the other bits (Ollie's big words, not mine). Feel free to make this clear to the audience.
Sopranos - don't go flat, especially in Bar 5 where you want to.

SLEEP
We sang it. Then Ollie tricked everyone into singing just the beginning bit without the music, which of course meant the whole thing. Apart from when he forgot to point at the women to make them come off, it went pretty much perfectly so, no pressure to pick it up or anything, Penny?

AKANAMANDLA
Look, it's very simple. Honest. We only sing the third line once, at the very end. Sing Akanamandla; Akanamandla;
Akanamandla; Akanamandla;
Simdumazile; Simdumazile;
Simdumazile; Simdumazile;
Simsabisile; Simsabisile;
Simsabisile; Simsabisile.
Only on the last Simsabisile do we do the coda thing that used to be sung every verse. Otherwise you just sing the first two lines 6 times, twice with each word, and keep it repeating.

And remember the emphasis, which is not what it used to be (see bold).

CLOUDBURST
Whooooo. This'll be interesting. Another by Eric Whitacre (Sleep), this is a long-term project, relying on us being able to perform /without the music/ and with a piano, handbells, suspended cymbal, bass drum, tubular bells and thundersheet. Most of those Ollie has sourced, and Penny says (gosh isn't she eager!?) that she'll look into the thundersheet, possibly with a view to making one. Those of you who have a copy, look at it. It's available from iTunes for
79p if anyone has the need/ability to do such things.

There's also talk of (prompted by Natalie's request for Jewish music) Whitacre's Five Hebrew Love Songs, which would have us singing with a solo violin/string quartet, but nothing is happening with that at the moment.

HIDE AND SEEK
Well, isn't it fun? The Ransom Notes bit towards the end shouldn't be too staccato, more accented, although Ollie wants to hear rests where there should be rests. Robin gave us a delightful impassioned lecture on what the song is about - having an argument with a loved one, not being sure where it's going, realizing it's over and you don't care etc. We listened to the original in the kitchen. I expect that's on iTunes too? We're not going to notebash this particularly because it needs a lot of detailed direction, so it's important to have a good look at it in your own time.

Well, that's all I've got noted, because I missed the notices. Perhaps Anne could send round anything important that came up? AGM next week. Be there or have no say in the next 12 months of Rudsambee.