Thanks for a fine job today, choir.
Some thoughts on today:
1. The choir in the 2:00 pre-concert had some incredible moments. Sopranos had a sound that I've wanted but never quite got . . . we had it for a few moments today.
2. The O Magnum with the Honor choir went well; thanks for your participation in it and willingness to do it.
Our performance:
1. Cantate: Not the finest performance of the year on this one . . . Men went flat on the "jubilate deo" run and the half of the women went with them . . . and half the women did not. As much as I hate losing pitch, EVERYONE must take the new key or we have one choir singing in two keys (when we are supposed to be singing in one). Our music is dissonant enough! We don't need to add more!
Am I worried? No. We last sang that piece in November and spent about 15 minutes on it this past week.
2. Busto: Some very fine sounds! Much better on this one, and the last piece really went well. Finally, for the first time, we sang the g-major chord very well in tune (after the sopranos hold on a D). And . . . the end . . . sopranos sounded quite lovely.
A thought: at times today, I heard voices that I'm not used to hearing . . like they were singing out in the concert and hadn't been singing in the choir rehearsal. Choir, we must practice like we perform. There is no laying out in rehearsal and then singing during the concert in this choir. I've got to hear it the way that it is going to be. More on this later.
3. "When I . . . " went well. It can go better. It's just been awhile.
4. Ever in My Life. Nick felt that this one started weak; something does seem tentative about the beginning, doesn't it? Something about our pianissimo beginning sounds more tentative than effective. We'll experiment with that later.
The "Many a Star" section went very well . . perhaps the best we've sounded on that.
5. If I Can Help had good moments. I couldn't help but think about Maggie during the first verse. We've practiced it several times since we started back but Maggie hadn't been there for those run-throughs. She did great, though. I thought the performance was effective.
So what about tomorrow?
I'm excited about Amazing Grace, and I'm excited about IFICHS. We'll meet in the choir room for a little polishing and go from there. Some have asked me about concert length, and I don't know. If you want to leave after we sing, you can.
OK! Overall, not the best we've sung this year. Bad? Heavens no. Good? yes. Can be better? Absolutely. Will be better? I'm positive. Worried? What? Me Worry?
3 comments:
Good, I'm glad to know I was going temporarily auditorially (word?) insane during Cantate... but overall I think it went well. Thanks everybody, I love singing with you guys so much, and Luke, your socks rocked...hahaha
DrCopeland! I don't know if we tell you enough, but you are incredible and we are so lucky to have you! Today was not so good, but I was still happy to be there! See you tomorrow!
Martin's comment...
Well then, this seems like a good time to make my first entry here. I usually tend to keep things to myself (with the occasional exception of a "nice", when things go extraordinarily well).
First of all, I strongly agree with Katie. Thanks for reminding us of what great company we are in.
Now, as for the music, I agree with Dr. Copeland's observation. I felt that the "Cantate" was the weakest piece in Saturday's performance. For the first time, I find the fact confirmed that we go flat on the "jubilate" in the male voices. This problem has occureded quite frequently, but I don't believe that we have ever made a serious attempt to tackle it. This is where we go flat. On occasion, we also go flat on the "Dic nobis" part, but not as often or as badly as on the "jubilate" part. I must admit that I do find the transition from the girl's "fecit" to the guys "jubilate" confusing, because of the tonal context.
What I found more interesting, though, was what happened -for the first time that I recall- on the "dic nobis" part on Saturday: did you hear what I heard? Amazing!
Well, let's see how things go today.
Greetings,
Martin
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