Rudsamblog

Another productive rehearsal, with lots of detail.

1. Sleep Weel My Bairnie

Tuning: Bars 14-16 2nd Sops: watch tuning, esp on B natural on 'brae'. Also Bar 21 (no 1st Sops tonight but applies to all Sops): ensure come in on a D natural and 2nd Sops Bar 54: B flat on 'sha' of 'shadows' (the lang, lang shadows) (no 1st Sops present tonight). Bars 60-63 Everyone, esp tenors - careful of tuning (an' the stars are on the deep).

Tone: 2nd Sops: Bars 21-45, When telling the story as the mother, fuller, warmer sound ('The auld wife..)

Consonants: All: e.g. on 'Sleep, place the 'p' gently at the end of the word, listening for each other, so that we all do this together. Look up, watch Derrick!

Dynamics: All: Bar 6: More diminuendo. In general throughout piece, make diminuendos more pronounced.

2. After Culloden

Overall: All: More emphasis on 1st beat of bar, to achieve a more lilting effect. 

Pronunciation: The Flow'rs o' the Forest are a' wede away. o' not 'of': and 'aw' sound for 'a' wede away (not 'ow').

Tuning: Bars 9 & 10: Basses - watch the pitching of the B natural on 'shadows' and 'creep'; ensure it's clean (rhink back to B on Bar 8). Bar 32: Basses to place notes accurately (they're a little 'fuzzy' at the moment). Bar 34: Altos should be the loudest voice, very marginally louder than sops, with other voices quieter. Bar 69: Sop entry: make absolutely sure you're singing an A.

Pace,Timing, Rhythm: Bar 9: Sops and Altos: strictly a quaver's length on 'At' (it's not dotted) - then on to the next bar. All: From Bar 14, pace picks up considerably - be ready, learn words and notes and watch Derrick! Bar 15, Basses/Tenors: don't linger on the rest in Bar 15, nor lose the crescendo on Bar 17. Think of music constantly pressing forward. Bars 41-49: Sops and Tenors need to listen carefully to each other as singing a bit out of sync. Sops: pay attention to rhythm Bars 43 and 47.; tenors, keep up with Sops! Sops: Bars 44 and 48: The English, the prime (emphasise these words). Bars 64 onwards: All: always bring out the rhythm in 'a' wede away' parts of line 'The Flow'rs o' the Forest are a' wede away'. Pay attention to entrances/exits of lines. All: Make sure you're ready for and on the first beat of the bar when you need to be, like a metronome (don't linger on upbeats).

Dynamics: Bar 26: Altos. Not too loud ('Speed bonnie boat'). Bar 33: Crescendo in non-alto part. Basses, style note: bring out the suspension on 'Skye' and your downwards scale (Bar 37). Bar 57 onwards: All: Listen to each other. Bar 59: Basses: Keep note going to end of phrase at Bar 63. More resonance. All in last section Bar 64 onwards: Don't be nervous: sing out; go for notes. Crescendos are happening all the way through the last section Bars 64-83. Tenors: penultimate bar (Bar 86) is in 6/8. The high D is slightly flat; pitch up slightly.

3. Lullaby for Lucy

Dynamics / shape The notes are there but shape's lacking. Sing phrases meaningfully. Sop: invite the listener in. Sing louder than other parts. All: when there is repetition of a word or phrase, sing it slightly differently the next time, to add interest. Pay attention to Dynamics. Third line, last page. 'Till Lucy came among them, all brightness and light' Sops esp - loud on 'bright', with crescendo, and all aiming towards ff 'light'. Altos: second into third bar, and on into bar 4 of page 4 (last page) bring out 'bright' on 'brightness' and bring out the rhythm. All: lean into the 1 in the bar to bring out the feel of the Lullabye.

Text Stress consonants 'pl' of plants, 'cr' of creatures, 's' on salt and sweet etc. Try speaking the text out loud (goes for all songs), but especially for this one, to bring out the meaning. Over-enunciate when doing this, to bring out all these elements.

4. Trout loch

Pace Keeps losing speed, settling into a slower tempo. Power on! Intense energy, push it forward - forward momentum. Bar 26: Tenors/Basses: pay attention to 1 beat rest (4th beat in bar). All: accentuate the 1st beat of each bar of 3 beats in the bar. Accentuate the 1st and 3rd beat of each bar of 4 beats in the bar.

Tuning Tenor entries at start. 2nd Tenors: Sing along or in head with basses to find the first note of your entry bar 3. Same for 1st Tenors, to find first note of your entry in bar 4.

5. She Walks in Beauty

Text Bar 21. Pay attention to text and percussion of words; to their meaning. Phrasing. Pronunciation: More 'aw' than 'a' in basses. All parts except basses: Bar 36: Note that the break in the phrasing is after the third beat in the bar, different from the previous time in Bar 27, where it is after the first beat in the Bar.  Breathing should reflect this. Bar 45: don't cut the movement after 'win'; keep going. Bar 46: Basses: lead the crescendo. Remember pronunciation of 'innocent' is more like 'innecent' (not 'o' sound).

6. My Guardian Angel

Phrasing All: no break in Bar 4. Breathe at end of Bar 8. Then there's a 6 bar phrase. Pronunciation: no big 'ya' on 'Alleluia'. Instead, emphasise 'A' at start of Alleluia.

Timing Tenors: watch the length of time you are holding onto 'Angel', when you come in on p.3 with 'The Angel'. It's being held too long. Think: 1, the A -A -An-gel, with 3 beats on A-A-An and 4th beat on -gel. Keep song going. The tied notes are always late.

Dynamics Those doing Chorus parts - don't disappear, don't be too quiet - you're need to be heard.

Cheers,

Kirsty.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kay's notes for 12th July:

We had a very productive rehearsal.

1) Piranhas

We worked on the last section and worked back the way.

p15 bar 42 there is a sf and crescendo on "resulting".

Staccatto on dotted rythmns.

Altos worked on chromatic notes at bar 57.

Accent on each triplet from bar 69 onwards.

Bar 61 medical is a triplet - not as fast as four quavers.

Pace of the piece - a sense of always onto the next thing, next thing.

In general folk need to look at their notes at home and get it into their heads.


2) After Culloden

Don't over-emphasise down beats/ avoid nodding dogs.

We worked a lot at pace changes - so you need to be aware of these
throughout the piece. It is slow at the beginning then there is
accelerando at bar 14 and speed changes there-after as marked. Bar 26
medium pace.

We worked on bars 42-47 sops and tenors together. Take a slight break at
bars 43 and 47 in the rest marked on sop line.

Worked on final bars from bar 64. Watch you are not delaying upbeat
entries - needs to keep up speed.

Sleep well my Bairnie

Watch tempo change at the start. First two bars are slow then tempo
picks up from bar 3.
We worked on the chords- please check your notes.

Sopranos need to chill out and sound like a lullaby (aided by learning
their notes!)

Enunciate words like "shadows" and "creep"

Hi everyone

Next rehearsal is on Monday

Better attendance than on Monday when only less than 6 people turned up - please see Derrick's Email from Monday and fill in the Doodle poll - concert happening very soon!

General 

1. To avoid the same mistakes being made over and over - make sure you have a pencil (Susan always has spares) and mark your copies with reminders and to highlight which bits need some personal practice to get right.

2. Most important thing to concentrate on is thinking about singing through each phrase - not just singing each note separately - will help tuning and also expression. Crescendos and diminuendos also happen through notes not just from note to note.

Music - sang through the whole programme last night - highlighted what really needed a lot of work!

1. Thea Musgrave -  Dreams and Subway Pirahnas (not Peacock)  TO DO FROM MEMORY BY NEXT WEDNESDAY 26th  -  it is only 5 minutes  long and has very memorable words!

2. She Walks in Beauty - did not go well - needs revision at home before next rehearsal

3. After Culloden - need to be secure on entries ; need to keep in time so need to 1) breathe early and 2) watch Derrick 

4. Scotland at Night - a mixed bag of success here

Trout - was not great . We've done this a lot but still didn't manage to get people coming in at the right time and on the right note - personal work needed here 

Simmer Dim - tuning was not pleasant - have a look and see when you are singing the same note as another part (mark it in!) so that you can listen out - just keeping on going the same way as before is not an option

Dusk - not too loud at the start and bars 19-23 to be hummed by lower parts and 2nd sops 

Refinery - basses when only part singing eg bars 5-8 , keep in tempo; don't close 'cal' of chemical down onto 'l ' sound keep open vowel 

Ceilidh - keep to written dynamics and keep energy going to the end 

5. My Guardian Angel - is like plainsong - slight crescendo when notes rise and slight diminuendo as notes fall but overall dynamic grows throughout piece. Need to keep the pulse going by feeling the first beat.  Words 'Go Love' need emphasis

6. Sleep Well my bairnie - good progress - for non-Scots among us 'wean' is pronounced 'wane' to rhyme with 'stane'

7. Lullaby for Lucy - went well - may do repeat in concert - to be decided 

So a lot of good stuff - but a lot of work to do. If  you couldn't manage to get to the rehearsal - get that pencil out and mark your copies so that we make everything sound even more muscial and beautiful at the next rehearsal!

Denise 

Apologies for the delay in getting these notes out. Hope they are helpful anyway!

Firstly, it was lovely singing in the upper room at Priestfield. Great acoustic and definitely going to be a good place to rehearse!

Now for some details:

Sleep Weel My Bairnie
- First two bars slower, then tempo speeds up a little from bar 3.
- Bar 9 - the sopranos come in half a beat later - other parts don't wait for them. Also take note of dynamic at that point (mf)
- Needs more bass generally - to fill out the sound.
- Beware the page turn from bar 13-14.
- Bar 21 onwards - sopranos are storytelling so make sure the words and music has some movement and excitement. Lower parts - the particularly important notes are when the chords move for alto 2 and tenor 2.
- Bars 58 - no breath into 59.
- The line from 64 onwards - no breaths.
- Over accentuate the words, particular 'shadow' and 'creep' to allow texture to develop.

After Culloden
- Don't rush! Should not sound like a folk song being sung in the pub!
- Pronunciation of chevalier is SHevalier
- Bar 14 onwards - accelerando - watch Derrick! Then keep the faster tempo into bar 18 onwards.
- Note the rit in bar 25.
- Accelerando again in Bar 53.
- Bar 58 is then the same speed as the beginning.
- On bar 63 only the altos hold the note. Everyone else come off with Derrick.
- Caution with the cadences - at some points they change and are not the usual tune that you will be used to!

Dreams
- Count the beats!
- Sopranos - try to memorise bars 9-10 - sing over and over to practice. Also, careful not to be singing Eb in bar 12. It's an E natural.

Piranhas
- Fill each bar with energy - make the piece kind of mad. Explosive crescendos and extremes of dynamics!