Rudsamblog

Small group sang Kullervo and suffice it to say that I still need to learn to count and sing and breathe all at the same time. Probably we should all look at it a lot and get the feel of it and the dynamics. What fun it is - and what an unpleasant chap Kullervo appears to be.

Jenny amused us with her gargling warm-up though I think the keyboard was a little too close to me for comfort - it was making some very odd noises later in the rehearsal and I felt somewhat responsible. We did some King's Singers doo-doos and then some breathing exercises - which I am sure worked but find it hard to judge as I forgot to breathe in the first time....

On Hilissuvi

Start pp. A slight crescendo going into bar 4.
Sopranos - more legato at beginning and the same goes for the altos in bars 7-13.
Bar 6 - wait to come off. Hold that note for its full value.
Tenors and basses - don't come in too soon with your 'very low sounds' (wherever they are).
Bar 9 - sops and tenors a bit louder so you can decrescendo later.
Bar 14 - poco pesante - this was really beautiful, apparently. A good heavy sound which is exactly what is required. Well done, us.

Heather

Basses - at the beginning Ollie will give the downbeat for each of the phrases. Don't be afraid to move quite quickly through them.
Tenors and basses were slightly off key at the beginning. Watch tuning.
Sopranos - make sure the F is high - it helps to make a brighter sound.
Make the most of the dynamics.
Bar 2 - not as loud on first f. Leave some scope for the ff which follows.
Bar 3 - alto 2s, the 2nd basses have an F (though we've got that sorted now, eh, Rachael? We don't need' em).
Bar 9 - pronunciation: Moy doo koik on kohweeka.
Bar 10 - Need is pronounced need. How hard can it be?
Men and Jen - make sure you move quickly enough in bar 13 ainult nen de pel...
Alto 2's (were we that bad?) watch E to A bar 18.
Everyone watch the triplets - try to stay together on them.

Frog and Crow (unfortunately not a public house). (And also Claire 1 wants to know why we always kill the frogs - where, she asks, are the kissing princesses? Where indeed). (Oh, yes, and the key-changes are Claire's fault). (And Ollie didn't write it). (I think that's all the nonsense out of the way).

So, watch those key-changes.
At the beginning the sound should be very rich à la 'Dark Eyed Sailor'. And mf.
Hold rests for their full value.
Ollie wants more phrasing at the beginning but it can be quite choppy with more enticement and menace in the Come on shore.. bit.
From bar 20 a big difference - much more legato, especially the altos.
Bar 40 - the men have the melody, we need to hear it, so softly with the sho shos ladies.
Very well remembered though.
(And, by the way, Helen doesn't like the end).

O Bone Jesus

I have very little written for this which is surprising as it is so difficult. I can only think I was concentrating rather harder than usual. Of course, I have nothing at all useful for the men-and-jen as they were elsewhere during the hard-work bit.

Susan and Kay are being Mean. Kay seemed surprisingly keen on taking this part.
General note - COUNT. And do it in crotchets a lot of the time. Bar 19 in 3/2, think of it as 1 2, 1 2 3 4. And the value of the rest in this bar is a crotchet.
Altos - don't forget you have a G#, bar 6, not G natural.
I also have written what looks like: 'First 2 notes bar 7 in right place for newdo'. As before, please feel free to interpret this as you will or to explain to me what I mean if you have any idea. (Can't help feeling I'm not very good at this job).
That's all for that one, believe it or not.

O Morgenstern

Put in some dynamics eg a tiny crescendo on Morgen.. at the beginning but fade out on ..stern. And fade again on ...Lichtes bar 7.
NB Lots of control for pp beginning and for the ppp bar 32. Really prepare the oh (bar 32) and make it an or-y sort of an oh.
The tuning must be exact. Think technically of the distance between the notes.
(But it's going to be lovely. And Anna-Lauren thinks - and I agree - that we should learn it off-by-heart. So let's).

That's everything, which is just as well as I'm so late sending them.
Happy Sunday. (And Monday and Tuesday). See you Wednesday xxxx