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.

# posted by rudsambass @ 9:59 pm