Rudsamblog

OK folks, this will be kept short to save you time in your busy lives. Notices first.

YORK
1. Most of us are on the 8am train from Waverley on Saturday, if you aren't or miss the train , either make your own way from York station or meet us at 10:29 at the station and we can go together to the venue, walk =30 mins, or bus or taxi.

2. The concert is at 7pm in York Cemetery Chapel, Cemetery Road. YO10 5AJ will give you a map on Multimap or Google maps. I don't know if it's sold out, they are limited to 80. The phone number was on the poster I forwarded a while ago , 01901 122193.

3. If you want to meet friends/family after the rehearsal, Ollie thinks we should be free by about 3:30pm. The shared picnic [for Soon Amore choir and us, not our hangers-on!] is at 5pm in the grounds and SA are providing this. If you want more time with friends then skip the picnic - let us know - and be back at the Chapel by 6:30pm latest to warm-up etc. Don't plan on going back to your host's house to change, we can change at the venue and things/bags can be locked up there.

4. Bring your own lunch and a present for your hosts if relevant [people were asking what to take - wine, chocs etc, something consumable is usually a good idea].

5. Normal concert dress, and don't forget your BLACK shoes.

6. If you have a proper copy of Sleep, Visur , etc then bring it in case Performing Rights Society do a spot visit.

OTHER
1. Ollie will email a list of music for Douglas's daughter's wedding [8 Aug. 1pm, Newmains, Wishaw.]
We're singing 3 hymns,[ melody ], psalm and for 10 mins before the service and when they sign the register.
Irish Blessing, Schubert Ave Maria and Take my hand are all included plus others.
Expect to rehearse from 11:30am latest on the day, and we will share cars, leaving about 10:30am I expect.

2. There may be more new music for the St Giles concert, but Ollie is aware that people will be on holiday. If necessary there may be 1 or 2 songs that you might sit out for.

3. Most important, Douglas has asked us to sing at HIS WEDDING TO JEAN on 15 May 2010!! Congratulations to both of you.

NOTES -BRIEF!

TOURDION is sung as we always sing it. If you don't know what that is I hope this is correct!

Page 1 is A, page 2 is B
1. T and B sing AABA
2. AT and B sing AABA
3. SATB sing AABB
4. SATB sing but S and T swop parts [octave lower/higher etc] and sing BBAA
5. SATB sing AA

TORMIS : we sing Lulling as a separate item, then the other 4 Tormis as a set, so check you know where your next note comes from [whether you choose your own method or Ollie's!!]
Pussy-cat: we get a G and 2 bars from Ollie
To sing you a little song: follow me, folks!
Heavenly suitors: the first bar is a slow beat
What are they doing: women sing your line legato, well-toned and not too loud. Bar 5 sops = staccato on "min"

POLISH LULLABY: no prob
VISUR: smile page 2, watch Ollie for last line fermata etc
SOORB: sang through
SLEEP: pretty good!
BROWN EYES: words fail me, well they did, but AnnaLauren's whistle will make up for it. SEBASTIAN AND CLAIRE 1 Ollie would really like us to jazz this song up with a bit of free improvisation, in fact I think he said a couple of extra verse would be good........or was that last night's dream.....??

In the absence of our glorious leader, not to mention Anne and a few others, it was a relatively gentle rehearsal – other than the hysteria. Here are some small notes on what we did and other stuff too...

We ran through Don't it make my brown eyes blue a couple of times, paying some attention to the middle section where the chords are a little bit slippery.

A bit of Tormis for old times sake: The Heavenly Suitors and What are they doing? seemed okay; some issues with starting THS but WATD worked quite well after letting the women go over the words slowly a few times. The chords on Pussy Cat are working, and it didn't seem worth going through the whole piece – or TSYALS – in the absence of the soloists. We will need to remember how to progress from one song to the next.

Tourdion, after a slow start, picked up speed and enthusiasm as in days of yore. Remember the pattern and we should be fine. Underparts remember to quieten down as the melody comes in.

Uśnijże mi, uśnij, sung slowly as it is a lullaby, sounded fine. Already!

The Dark-eyed sailor has all the same glitches it used to have. We tried it slowly and then very fast while trying to be quiet. Try to be quiet, folks - we'll never manage it but the song might sound less DAH DAH DAH if we aren't belting it out all the way. Also, men remember to be awake for the tricky entry halfway through.

Sleep worked. Who'd have thought it? Even though half of the parts were effectively solos, even though we've not sung it properly for 18months, it sounded like Sleep (even without Douglas's snoring at the end). Do go over it if there are any bits you fluffed or that you know you have problems with. Ollie will assuredly mould the song with his directoririiness and this will help with entries but be aware of phrasing, dynamics and your entries. Listen to it if you need to (it's at
http://cid-2ddf56b8fdf7c0b5.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/Music/Summer%2009/Whitacre%20-%20Sleep.mp3).

FURTHER INFORMATION

At York we will be lacking Arno and Angus. This is why the song list is so different to that at the last concert. As a result, Sebastian will sing Bass1 on Jede sedlák and John will sing Bass1 on Bogoróditsye Djévo. And so we had a try of those, which worked swell (other than more mania from AnnaLauren who was tonight's Naught Distracting Person). Sleep will be ok because we are singing that with Soon Amore who, presumably, have their own Bass1s.

The concert will be 45minutes each half, with us going first finishing with a joint Sleep led by Ollie. Soon Amore will then do their set – after an interval I'm guessing – which will finish with a joint Don't it make... led by Toby. There may not be a big joint encore as there's nothing suitable left, but don't rely on it as everything is still subject to change.

Kay2/3 is not at York with us or in fact with us at all. She was only brought in to cover Natalie's sabbatical and when Natalie returned we held on to her as long as we could but 6 altos is CRAZY, hear? Apparently not everyone knew this...

Small group: We will not be doing Autumn Leaves at York, but we WILL be doing Star of the County Down so anyone who is in that group please arrive early next Wednesday.

Oliver2 – It's possibly a good idea to stand aside for things you don't know as it's not really worth you cramming just for one concert...

For anyone who missed it, the current list of songs we are working from is below. We will not do all of them, but most should feature. You will hopefully have a final list of songs, in order, by Sunday. And if there's anything else important you'll find out later. IN SUMMARY, look at your music and listen to recordings if you need to before next Wednesday.

Dieu! Qu'il la fait bon regarder
Jede sedlák do mlejna
En Une Seule Fleur
Star of the County Down
Bogoróditsye Djévo (Rejoice, Mother of God)
Tha bean agam (I have a wife);
Chuala mi e (I heard it three times);
Còta fad' air Dòmhnull Lòm (A long coat on skinny Donald);
'S ann an Ile (On Islay).
Äiutus/ (Lulling)/
Kiisu Miisu (Pussy Cat)
Laulda Teile Lauluke (To Sing You A Little Song)
Taevased Kosilased (The Heavenly Suitors)
Mis Teil Tehakse? (What are they doing?)
Visur Vatnsenda-Rosu (Quatrains by Rose from Vatnsendi)
Dark-eyed sailor
La, La, La, Je Ne L'Ose Dire
Uśnijże mi, uśnij
Soorb (Sanctus)
Tourdion
Don't it make my brown eyes blue
Sleep

Hi all, here's a few nots and musts!

Claire 1 warmed us up with rounded vowels sung quietly. GOOD TIPS here:
When singing FF to PP on vowel sounds EEEE or AHAHAHAHAH (that's ah, not ha ha ha!) there shouldn't be a difference in the vowel sound. ie - the tip of the tongue should be placed at the back of the front teeth and the cavity at the back of the mouth, and the mouth shape, should be the same so we get a nice rounded sound in any dynamic. I think this was the gist of it!

Another pointer - on the recent concert recording some of the entries were a bit not so good as they might have been. In rehearsals we're now going to have a minutes respectful silence whilst we think in our heads
about what note we're going to come in on, the vowel sound, taking a breath and coming in all together on the down beat. not slightly before or slightly after it!

Have got a list for York not in that order though. If you want me to email you a list, let me know and I'll get round to it at some point.

GORECKIS the lullaby piece we got two weeks ago

D given at start. Ollie beating two bars of 2 to bring us in. This will give us time to think of the note, place it in our heads, breath, and sing the D as one voice. BECAUSE All the notes at beginning after the D should sound as if they're coming out of the D rather than seperate notes.

Did the pronounciation, it's not difficult. If anyone wants my version I'll email it, just don't ask for it the night before rehearsal!
JUST a reminder that all 'o's are as in 'hot' NO 'oh' sounds!
No 'j' pronounced on the end of 'shnig' it's just 'shni'
Vowels 'y' and 'i' are to be taken with a pinch of salt. They sound pretty much the same when sung even if the spoken one's are different.
LOOK at each other (scary, I know) when singing consonants to take ends of words off properly

THOSE OF US AT REHEARSAL CAN NOW DO THE MUSIC BY MEMORY! It isn't difficult. There are only three systems in which the first three bars of each system are repeated. In other words there are only about 9 notes (except basses) we have to learn. Learn the notes and the SHAPE of the lines and the DYNAMICS.

Bar 9 & 12- Altos can bring out those quavers, we're the only ones moving there
Bar 9 & 12 - are three bar phrases.

BROWN EYES - singing this with other choir. It's easy peesy cheesy sleezy

NOTE the top line of page whatever it is, is missing, so make allowances - ie what may look like an E is actually a C!!
This is not swung as yet (Anne! and Sebastian!!) because we don't know what other choir's doing.
For the same reason, (unfortunately because those long boring notes are just asking to be hammed up), there will be no scooby-doo stuff. Nope, not even Sebastian's impressions of an excited steam engine -
pshh-u-p-tch-shu-wah..etc. ONLY Anna-Lauren is allowed to whistle - not for a cow, sheep or man, though - if she can do it at the same time as laughing.

Bar 12 - Altos and Basses LISTEN to each other
Bar 34 - Altos and Tenors watch the quaver
Last Bar - (As Kay pointed out) The last note should be ON the beat. It isn't syncopated.

Make sure you get notes which should be on the beat, on the beat.

Turning his music over as if looking for something, Angus asked in a tone of regret - Where are verses 3 and 4? Are we not doing them? He took us all in, and made Ollie's face look like a cat what had been sat on suddenly. Classic, well done!

WELL DONE to OLI 2 who got a FIRST!!

CLAIRE 2 is mooning again!! Please sponsor her bottom walking.
Rephrased, please sponsor Claire who will be doing the MOON WALK. She deserves every penny - I mean the charity does!!

Think that's all, thanks, Jenny

Overall take home messages:

Just before a piece starts:

THINK: switch my brain on and concentrate,
THINK: dynamics, what kind of attack, any emphasis, legato, bouncy, or otherwise
IMAGINE: what note am I going to sing, hear it in your mind,
ADJUST (optional): actually, better pre-auralize it as slightly sharper than what I just thought because otherwise it'll come out flat as soon as I start singing,
BREATHE: silently (using Sebastian's frog and tongue down in the mouth), give yourself plenty of air just before the first note. Start outward air flow just before you need to produce the note rather than doing so right on the entry beat. This helps you control your entry timing more exactly and I think also helps eliminate pitch wobbles that are due to initial variations in air flow physically affecting sound production.

I think we've become better at entering in tune compared to when I first joined, i.e. I think Ollie's insistence on imagining the note in your mind is really helping.

Initial pitch wobbles can also be due to your brain trying too hard to adapt to other people's tuning (also known as UCDM, Ultrarapid Choral Discordancy Minimization). I think our experiences with mixing positions, i.e. not standing next to other people of the same part, is that if you learn to trust your own mental image of the note to come and take responsibility for it rather than coming to a gradual consensus with all your neighbours, then this actually leads to a better tuning for the choir as a whole. So we just have to remember this when we are surrounded by the same part!

Jede Sedlak:

Dynamics:
When BASSES start the piece, the repeated "jede jede jede jede" should be light and bouncy, not loud. It shouldn't sound forced and scare people!

The 2nd verse will be faster than the 1st verse, and the 3rd verse faster still. When we come in on verses 2 and 3 he will not have the chance to beat a bar or anything to indicate tempo, so look at our human metronome (Ollie) and synchronize your tempo ASAP.

The last "pum" in "vydr um pum pum" in the women's verses should be short, don't linger. This is especially true in bar 18.

Note for the women: all 3 choruses are the same, namely "Jede sedlak do mlejna" - there was some confusion over this.

Hebrew Love Songs

I.
ALTOS in bar 18, careful with tuning the semitones C natural, B, C natural on "no-fel". This was sounding pretty good by the end of the bashing!

II.
Bar 55, BASSES, the "U" in "Uve kalut" should sound deep, rich, and sonorous. And, oh yes, in tune :-)
Bar 57, EVERYONE, watch Ollie to put the "t" at the end of the fermata.

III. (Larov)
Bar 6, EVERYONE, the "U" entries should be confident and in time, and should be an open and rich sound (BASSES, use the same sound as described for the "U" in II. above.). The "U" should grow in intensity, i.e. crescendo through the note.

Nice 'swell' ( <> in terms of dynamics) on "chad" in bar 9, but not too sharp - then it feels as if you're swerving in a car at high speed around a hairpin bend, it's kind of scary.

IV. (Eyze sheleg)
Make sure you're bonging, not monging: monging is minging.

Bar 8, BASSES, use similar sound as "U" as for II. above. Not too soft. Watch tuning. Whatever you do just don't mess up the lingering aural memory of AL's beautiful solo....

V. (Rakut)
Bars 28 - 31, EVERYONE, Ollie asked for an open sound for the "ha - chi". Balance: slight emphasis on the lower voices.

Une Seule Fleur
See take home messages. The entries and tuning were quite sloppy to begin with again. We just have to focus for this one.
START /p/!! NOT LOUD! Don't make Ollie cringe.

Middle section:
Not too loud, it's only /mf/.
Bar 45, EVERYONE, hold that note for its full length, even if we do decrescendo.

Green Fir Forest
Middle system p. 2, SOPRANO melody should be legato. Last page, deep breath and hold for long!
BASSES look up (yes, but I still need my squiggled phonetic writing out of the chinese! :-(

Morgenstern
Top parts /p/, emphasis on BASSES brain on, tuning (see take home message)

Spring Time
Dynamics!:
Start pp
Hold back substantially until the f, bottom of page 2.

Lulling
BASSES & TENORS, louder at first before the other voices come in, after which we're in the background.
ALTOS, your melody when you first come in should be a bit louder, and not sound airy / breathy. The latter timbre should be reserved for "Su su tas" (last bar, third system, first page). This later bar and the following few should be phrased, difficult as they are kind of wandering, but try.
"Bah" should sound like the "a" in an English chocolate "bar".

Anouncements

• Rehearsal saturday before the concert, 2pm-4:30pm. Had said until 4pm earlier but would be good if we can stay longer because the handbellers may not arrive until 3pm or just after.
• There will be NO INTERVAL in the concert
• Someone from the Bosnia project will talk at some point during the concert (not while we're singing, I assume)
• Also during the concert, right after we finish singing the second to last song (Une Seule Fleur) and before Cloudburst, Claire Two will mention the retiring collection to take place the end, and the gift aid vouchers. Then, while we bring the music stands into position and get the percussionists, handbellers and pianist onstage, Claire One, Oliver Two, AnnaLauren and I will distribute 'gift aid' vouchers (stapled to envelopes, apparently) to anyone in the audience who is willing to fill one in. The retiring collection at the end will be done by those same people holding buckets, as I understand.
• We will be using music stands for Cloudburst, not for anything else, so bring all your music (no sharing until Cloudburst). We should have enough stands, but if you have extra music stands and it's not inconvenient, bring them just in case we need for percussionists / handbellers. Best if Douglas brings his black one that is in line with the Reid Hall ones, and I will bring two differently shaped but still black ones. If Ollie thinks we need more than three extra stands, other people please bring.
• We need an audience! Get mass-mailing! (prod) Flyering! (prod) Poster-sticking! (prod) Tell your friends! (prod prod prod prod prod prod prod prod prod). See Chris for flyers / posters.