Rudsamblog

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