Tweeter watching

Pretty cool.

Fall 2009 Calendar Dates for Choir

Fall Classes begin Tuesday, Aug. 18
Fall Break Oct. 15-18
Fall Choral Concert Sun, Oct. 25, 3:00
Thanksgiving Holidays Nov 25-27
Last Day Class - Thursday, Dec. 3
Christmas at the Alys, Sun. Dec. 6, 3:00 with rehearsal night before (Sat, Dec. 5, 8:00 pm)

L'orvietanr with IPA.doc

Text with IPA (microsoft word document)

L'amour qui nous attache (from Le Tartuffe)

Text with IPA symbols (microsoft word document)

L'amour without practice spaces

L'amour with practice spaces

Je ne veux point me marier

HARPAGON: Oui, un homme mûr, prudent et sage, qui n'a pas plus de cinquante ans, et dont on vante les grands biens.



ÉLISE. Elle fait une révérence: Je ne veux point me marier, mon père, s'il vous plaît.



HARPAGON. Il contrefait sa révérence: Et moi, ma petite fille ma mie, je veux que vous vous mariiez, s'il vous plaît.



ÉLISE: Je vous demande pardon, mon père.



HARPAGON: Je vous demande pardon, ma fille.



ÉLISE: Je suis très humble servante au seigneur Anselme; mais, avec votre permission, je ne l'épouserai point.



HARPAGON: Je suis votre très humble valet; mais, avec votre permission, vous l'épouserez dès ce soir.



ÉLISE: Dès ce soir?



HARPAGON: Dès ce soir.



ÉLISE: Cela ne sera pas, mon père.

ÉLISE: Non, vous dis-je.

ÉLISE: Je me tuerai plutôt que d'épouser un tel mari.



HARPAGON: Tu ne te tueras point, et tu l'épouseras. Mais voyez quelle audace! A-t-on jamais vu une fille parler de la sorte à son père?

ÉLISE: Mais a-t-on jamais vu un père marier sa fille de la sorte?


TRANSLATION:

ELI. (_curtseying_). I have no wish to marry, father, if you
please.

HAR. (_imitating_ ÉLISE). And I, my little girl, my darling, I wish
you to marry, if you please.

ELI. (_curtseying again_). I beg your pardon, my father.

HAR. (_again imitating_ ÉLISE). I beg your pardon, my daughter.

ELI. I am the very humble servant of Mr. Anselme, but (_curtseying
again_), with your leave, I shall not marry him.

HAR. I am your very humble servant, but (_again imitating_ ÉLISE) you
will marry him this very evening.

ELI. This evening?

HAR. This evening.

ELI. (_curtseying again_). It cannot be done, father.

HAR. (_imitating_ ÉLISE). It will be done, daughter.

ELI. No.

HAR. Yes.

ELI. No, I tell you.

HAR. Yes, I tell you.

ELI. You will never force me to do such a thing

HAR. I will force you to it.

ELI. I had rather kill myself than marry such a man.

HAR. You will not kill yourself, and you will marry him. But did you ever see such impudence? Did ever any one hear a daughter speak in such a fashion to her father?

ELI. But did ever anyone see a father marry his daughter after such a fashion?

L’amour qui nous attache

L’amour qui nous attache
Le Tartuffe, Acte III, scène 3

L’amour qui nous attache aux beautés éternelles
N’etouffe pas en nous l’amour des temporelles.
Nos sens facilement peuvent être charmés
Des ouvrages parfaits que le Ciel a formés
Ses attraits réfléchis brillent dans vos pareilles;
Mais il étale en vous ses plus belles merveilles.

Il a sur votre face épanché des beautés
Dont les yeux sont supris, et les cœurs transporteś;
Et je n’ai pu vous voir, parfaite créature,
Sans admirer en vous l’auteur de la nature,
Et d’une ardente amour sentir mon cœur atteint,
Au plus beau des portaits oú luimême il s’est peint.

From Google books: The Plays of Moliere

Our love for the beauty which is eternal does not stifle in us the love for things fleeting; our senses can easily be charmed with the perfect works which heaven has created. Its reflected loveliness shines forth in such as are like you; but in you yourself it displays its choicest wonders.

It has lavished on your face a beauty which dazzles the eyes and transports the heart, and I am unable to gaze on you, you perfect creature, without adoring in you the author of nature, and without feeling my heart seized with a passionate love for the most beautiful of the portraits in which he has delineated himself.

L’orviétan

Updated 3/27/2009

L’orviétan
L’amour médecin, Acte II, scène 7
Link to Google Books

A dialogue between Sganerrele and The Quack

Sganerrele:
Holà! Monsieur, Holà!
Je vous prie de me donner une boîte de votre orviétan,
que je mén vais vous payer

L’or de tous les climats qu’entoure l’Océan,
Peu-til jamais payer ce secret d’importance?
Mon remède guérit par sa rare excellence,
Plus de maux q’uon peut nombrer dans tout un an:
La gale, la rogne, la teigne, la fièvre, la peste, la goute
Rougeole,

Ô grande puissance de l’orviétan

Sganerrele:
Admirez mes bontés et le pey q’uon vous vend
Ce trésor merveilleux que ma main vous dispense;
Vous pouvez avec lui braver en assurance
Tour les maux que sur nous l’ire du Ciel ré pondi

Translation from Google books:

Sganarelle:
Hey! Good sir, I pray you give me a box of your orvietan, and I will pay you for it.

The Quack (sings):
The gold from all the shores washed by the sea,
Would it ever buy this precious secret?
My remedy can cure, with its rare and excellent power,
More ills than one could number in a year.
Scabies, Itch, Mange, The fever, The plague, The gout, The pox, Hernia, Measles.

O, the mighty power of orvietan!

Sganarelle:
I dare say, Monsieur, that all the gold in the world is not sufficient to pay for your remedy, but, nevertheless, here is a shilling which you may take if you choose.

Quack, (sings.)
Admire, then, my bounty; for twelve paltry pence
A marvellous treasure to you I dispense;
With this you may brave, quite devoid of all fear,
The ills which poor mortals are subject to here.

Scabies, Itch, Mange, The fever, The plague, The gout, The pox, Hernia, Measles.
Of orviétan such is the excellence rare.

hmmm. b u s t e d

L'orvietan diction

Special thanks to Dr. Kris for her knowledge, skill, and work to help us here.

Diction practice MP3's here:

L'orvietan I
Lorvietan II (space for practice)

Samford at HT

Samford HT Concert Canceled. Please disregard the previous post. (i removed it)

Former Ole Miss Singer in Chanticleer

Here's former student Gregory Peebles in a Chanticleer performance. His is the beautiful soprano voice with the incredible attention to consonants:

Food for thought

There are interesting discussions going on at ChoralNet about singers, texts, and beliefs. Here's a portion of one of the messages:

Let me relate an experience that applies: several years ago my university choir sang at a gala concert of high school choirs. After the concert, a father of one of the high school singers called me to say, "You shouldn't have sung that song." His concern was the medley from Porgy and Bess, during which we sang the words "...the things that you're liable to read in the Bible, it ain't necessarily so."

His complaint was that youngsters should not have the truth of the Bible questioned. I asked if it mattered that the words came from the mouth of a character in an opera, and did not represent anyone's particular point of view. He replied no, it was wrong. I asked if his daughter participated in drama in high school, to which he replied, "Oh yes, she loves that." I asked is she ever performed on stage a character whose actions he would not approve of if she did them off-stage. He agreed. I replied, "Would this not be the same thing: words from a play? What was the difference?.

His reply speaks volumes about the power of song: he said it's very different, because you sang the words. We ended unable to agree, agreeably. But it does indicate that for humanity over the ages, the word becomes sacred when sung. Substitute true for sacred, and you see the issue. While I think we must constantly walk a line between singing truthfully and singing "Truth," something greater than the sum of the parts occurs in our art. Since Truth varies widely among performers and listeners, we must maintain our awareness of the power and problems of words with music.

Floyd
Dr. Floyd Slotterback
Professor of Music
Northern Michigan University

Look here for more.

O Danny Boy

Whitney told me about this:

Whitacre Interview

Here's an interesting interview with Whitacre - an interview with Eric by John Birge. It's a great interview and I encourage you to listen.

MPR describes it this way:

Eric Whitacre is a phenomenon. He couldn't read music when he started college, but within a few years he was composing music that was performed and recorded by professional choirs around the world. He is that rare composer whose music is simultaneously deep and accessible, heavenly and earthy.

He is in demand all over the world, but Whitacre will be conducting VocalEssence, the St. Olaf Choir, and a Minnesota High School Honor choir at Orchestra Hall in a sold-out concert on March 21, 2009 at Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis.

Classical Minnesota Public Radio's John Birge talked with Eric Whitacre about his new world-premiere piece "Nox Aurumque," how Whitacre is energized by working with young students, and how Whitacre made the teenage transition from '80s hair band to choral superstar.

enjoyed the opera

Congrats to everyone on a fine performance last night!

The Back of the Napkin

Here's the book I mentioned today in Chamber Singers:

Adjustments

Because of opera, I'm canceling the next two rehearsals on Thursday/Friday at 2:00.

Extended rehearsal next Friday, March 27, 2:00 - 4:30.

UPDATE: google calendar updated.

Thanks!

great trips

I've had great times visiting Jeff State and Shelton State choirs this week. Superb choirs and wonderful students.

25 fb

Yes, as far as I know.

Yes, the service is still on as far as I know.

Watch this space for more information and we'll cancel if the weather gets worse.

Technology for 21st Century Choirs

Links to all the sites I referenced.

About the poet - Edmund Waller

Hilarious reading about Edmund Waller, poet of Go Lovely Rose. Source here.

Read it:

Waller was a 17th-century English country gentleman, a rentier and Member of Parliament, who lived through all the momentous events of the middle of that century, of which the most memorable were the Civil War between king and parliament through the 1640s, climaxing with the trial and execution of King Charles I in 1649. Waller seems to have been a royalist by inclination, but got along well enough with the parliamentarians until 1643, when he was involved in a plot against them. He escaped with his life by ratting on all his friends, but had to leave the country for several years. He was allowed back at last by Oliver Cromwell, to whom he was related through his mother's family. Waller repaid Cromwell with a gushing panegyric poem. Then, after the monarchy was restored in 1660, Waller wrote equally gushing verses in praise of Charles II.

Waller's attachments to women are described drily in Samuel Johnson's Lives of the Poets:

Rich as he was by inheritance, he took care early to grow richer, by marrying Mrs. Banks, a great heiress in the city... Having brought him a son, who died young, and a daughter, who was afterwards married to Mr. Dormer, of Oxfordshire, she died in childbed, and left him a widower of about five-and-twenty, gay and wealthy, to please himself with another marriage.

Being too young to resist beauty, and probably too vain to think himself resistible, he fixed his heart, perhaps half fondly and half ambitiously, upon the lady Dorothea Sidney, eldest daughter of the Earl of Leicester... His acquaintance with this high-born dame gave wit no opportunity of boasting its influence; she was not to be subdued by the powers of verse, but rejected his addresses, it is said, with disdain... She married in 1639 the Earl of Sunderland, who died at Newbury in the king's cause; and, in her old age, meeting somewhere with Waller, asked him, when he would again write such verses upon her. "When you are as young, Madam," said he, "and as handsome as you were then."

When he had lost all hope of [her], he looked round him for an easier conquest, and gained a lady of the family of Bresse, or Breaux. ... It has not been discovered that his wife was won by his poetry; nor is anything told of her, but that she brought him many children. He doubtless praised some whom he would have been afraid to marry, and perhaps married one whom he would have been ashamed to praise. Many qualities contribute to domestic happiness, upon which poetry has no colours to bestow; and many airs and sallies may delight imagination, which he who flatters them never can approve. There are charms made only for distant admiration. No spectacle is nobler than a blaze.

"Go, Lovely Rose" was written in the poet's youth, probably in the late 1620s. It was published in his first collection of poems in 1645. It is a perfect little lyric poem, which stands out the more for having been written when English poetry was going through something of a dry spell, when it seems that little could grow in the tremendous shadow of John Milton.

Go Lovely Rose

GO, lovely Rose—

Tell her that wastes her time and me,
That now she knows,
When I resemble her to thee,
How sweet and fair she seems to be.

Tell her that 's young,
And shuns to have her graces spied,
That hadst thou sprung
In deserts where no men abide,
Thou must have uncommended died.

Small is the worth
Of beauty from the light retired:
Bid her come forth,
Suffer herself to be desired,
And not blush so to be admired.

Then die—that she
The common fate of all things rare
May read in thee;
How small a part of time they share
That are so wondrous sweet and fair!

A nice interpretation found here:

The love lyric "Go Lovely Rose " by Edmund Waller (1606-87) is a fervent plea by the speaker to his extremely shy and withdrawn lover who "shuns to have her graces espied," to come out into the open so that he can praise her beauty.

The second and third stanzas do not contain any similes which compare the lover and the rose. However, the speaker personifies the rose as his messenger to advocate and plead his cause to his bashful lover. He instructs the rose to tell his lover that if he (the rose) had bloomed in a desert where there are no people, then it would have withered and died without anyone praising its beauty. So, he asks the rose to tell her to come out into the open so that he can admire and praise her beauty, because beauty which is hidden from the eyes of men has very little or no value at all, "Small is the worth/Of beauty from the light retired."

The poet exploits two characteristics of the rose to drive home his argument: the rose is a beautiful flower, but at the same time its beauty will last only for a short period of time ("How small a part of time") before it withers and dies. Similarly, the beauty of his lover, like that of the rose's is only temporary and there is no point in keeping it hidden. She must come out into the open so that her beauty can be admired and enjoyed.

Wow what a night

You were fabulous tonight.

Dr. Staheli said he wanted to stand and applaud after Os Justi . . . I think we embraced what he told us today!

He's quite a guy, isn't he?

NATS Congratulations to Jessica and Charles

I heard Jessica and Charles sing in the NATS finals held at Samford University last night. They both represented us very well and came away with awards:

Jessica Johnson, 2nd Place, Freshmen Women
Charles Daniel, 3rd Place, Freshmen Men

I hope more of our students get involved in the NATS competition next year. We've got tons of talent here at UAB and it's time everyone else knew about it.

more bass, please

Sweater Vest Alert

Attention:

I am wearing a sweater vest today and claim the privilege as exclusive only to me.

I'd hate for this to happen again:

stars . . .

Consecrate this place and day

Consecrate the place and day,
To music and Cecilia.
Let no rough winds approach, nor dare
Invade the hallowed bounds,
Nor rudely shake the tuneful air,

Nor spoil the fleeting sounds.
Nor mournful sigh nor groan be heard,
But gladness dwell on every tongue ;
Whilst all, with voice and strings prepared,
Keep up the loud harmonious song,
And imitate the blest above,
In joy, and harmony, and love.

--Joseph Addison (1672-1719)

Program for South Highland, March 1

Here's what I anticipate us doing for the South Highland Concert on Sunday, March 1 (late afternoon performance)

UAB Concert Choir:

Consecrate the place and day
(Lloyd Pfautsch) (1921-2003)
NOTE: We'll probably start this one tomorrow.

Os Justi
(Anton Bruckner)

Glory be to God
Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943)

Alleluia
József Karai (b. 1927)
Kiyoshi Scissum, tenor

O sacrum convivium
Vytautas Miskinis (b. 1954)

Beautiful River
William Hawley (b. 1950)

Little David Play
Ken Berg

Memory Tests

Here's the schedule I announced in class yesterday:

Thursday, February 12: Os Justi, m. 17-42
Friday, February 13: Os Justi - all

Wednesday, February 18: Roses Nod
Friday, February 20: If I Had

Recordings on Blackboard

Choir,

Four recordings of Os Justi are on Blackboard to assist you in memorization. Different choirs, different tempos.

Link to blackboard here. Sign in with your Blazer ID and look for the class.

Look here for "Three Choral Ballads". I think we'll be doing all three this semester but here they are all together. Will get "Roses" by itself soon.

UPDATE: Roses nod
UPDATE2: If I Had
UPDATE3: September

No choir today

Neither choir meets today . . . but will resume tomorrow! Enjoy your rare break.

cool

email from g. luboff

Dear Ken, dear Philip,

Just wanted you to know that my morning aerobics are being re-instituted! And y'all helped....

This morning I took your recording of 'Little David, Play!' to the stereo with good speakers to played the find out which of the tracks to pick. I am still not sure, but think that Track 1 is a touch 'crisper' especially in the transition to the brassy section. Any input is welcome from either or both of you.

But my email is also about that nobody born by woman can sit still and listen to this track! It rocks and swings and had me going for 4 x 2'25" - a good 9 minute warm up. So from now on you both have contributed substantially to my well-being and JOY! (Don't forget your are dealing with an old big band jazz fan here...- the whole thing reminds me of the annual touring concerts in Stockholm in the 50's with Basie, Ellington, Kenton, MJQ, Dizzie, Miles Ella, Sarah and more. I heard them all, year after year!)

Actually, I can not be the only one to react like this, there must be a new generation for big band swing - which poses two questions:

Ken, do you have any interest in finding other public domain songs and give them the 'big band twist'? I would certainly be interested.

Philip, this would be the given follow up for recordings, since you have now definitely warmed up your choir to this great sound. The bending of the notes is just sweet... good job.

I look forward to seeing you both soon in OKC, but perhaps you two would want to talk for a minute about this before then, to see if you think there is any life in this proposal?

Whatever happens, you have made me a happy girl and, as I said, my morning aerobics are now in full swing. Have a nice weekend and let me know what you think, separately of together!

Gunilla

Rigor redefined

An article I want to study later . . .

Compiling sessions

I've been working on compiling some recordings for us lately for a possible CD and thought I would share a few here:

So . . . here it is . . . the good, the great, and the occasional oops.

Just added:
Nunc dimittis No. 2 (Miskinis)
Nunc dimittis (Holst) (December 2007)
Ave Maria (Busto)
When I Bring-1 (Miskinis)
When I Sing (Miskinis)
When I Bring-2 (Miskinis)
Mate Saule (Vasks)
Water Night (Eric Whitacre)

February 2009
Little David - Take 1
Little David - Take 2

December 2008:
Weihnachten 1
Weihnachten 2
Es ist ein Ros' entsprungen 1
Es ist ein Ros' entsprungen 2
Glory be to God 1
Glory be to God 2
Tooma Laulukoor 1
Tooma Laulukoor 2

November 2008:
O sacrum convivium (Miskinis)
O sacrum convivium (Miskinis) take 2
Alleluia (Karai)
Garota de Ipanema (Pereira)
Lobet den Herrn
Lobet den Herrn take 2

April 2007:
Ave Maris Stella - Trond Kverno
Flower of Beauty - John Clements
Si ch’io vorrei morire - Claudio Monteverdi
Rise Up My Love - Healy Willan
Beautiful River - William Hawley

October 2007:
Song of Triumph (Grotenhuis)
Justorum Animae (Stanford)
Regina Coeli (Twardowski)
Silence of Time (Meador)
O Sacrum (Miskinis)

December 2006:
The Three Kings
Ave Maria (Busto)
Joshua

May 2005:
(not sure what the popping is from this year)
Alleluja (Karai)
Mate Saule
Salmo
He's Got the Whole World
I Thank You Jesus

Little David

I'll have more of the recording session soon, but for now:

Little David - Take 1

Little David - Take 2

Soloist: Anthony Concepcion
Diva quartet: Meredith Foster, Jackie Roche, Madison Holler, Erin Fledderman

Note to visitors of this blog . . . this is a recording done for Walton Music of a piece by Ken Berg that will appear on their upcoming 2009-2010 CD, catalog, and website.

The Hot Tamale

Leigh and the girls gave me my birthday present this morning:

My other Ipod was falling apart. A fantastic (fabulous) birthday present from my wife and family. We named it the Hot Tamale.

Other names considered: Strawberry, Cherry, Family, Red Devil, Firecracker, Dynamite

Chamber Singers: O Schone Nacht

Chamber Singers:

Look under UAB's Blackboard system for help in learning Brahms' O Schone Nacht.

Link to blackboard here. Sign in with your Blazer ID and look for the class.

What does creativity mean?

Daniel Pink points to research done by the AASA and Americans for the Arts, about how employers and school superintendents define "creativity." We, as choral directors and music educators, have to be interested in any educational movement that promotes creativity as a necessary work skill for the new century.

Here's the chart that Pink found on the Christian Science Monitor site:

It shows that educators (school superintendents) and business employers differ in what creative skills are important.

How does that impact choral directors? I don't know, I'm not that smart.

Despite my dimness, I am heartened by the top three ranked aspects of what business employers value most:

1. Problem identification
2. Identification of new behavior/actions
3. Integration of knowledge across disciplines

Hallelujah! I do that in my choir rehearsal every day! I identify problems . . and I get my students to help me identify problems. Problem solving is at the core of every rehearsal.

I deal with behavior and actions and changes of behavior. In fact, I am educating towards new behaviors and habits.

Choral directing fails without the integration of knowledge from art, music, poetry, geography, language, science, biology, pedagogy, and a host of other issues and disciplines.

Take heart, musicians. Eventually, they'll realize how important our art is to the success of our society and our salaries will rise to the level of college coaches and business executives. Or, maybe, more people will come to our concerts.

Redz Kur Translation

Spreading information on the internet:

Redz Kur
Jānis Kalniņš (1904-2000)

Redz’, kur jā-ja div’ bajāri ē, ē zīda pušķi zemi slauka, ē zemi slauk’!
Dažu sētu tie izjāja ē, ē tie izjāja dažus suņus lādināja ē lādināj’.
Dažu nakti tie baroja ē, ē tie baroja izjājamus kumeliņus, ē kumeliņs.

Esneietu to celiņu ē, ē kur bajāra dēliņš jāja
ē dēliņš jāj’.

Purvu bridu, niedras lauzu, niedras lauzu, no bajāra vairījosi, ē vairījos.

Lo, two fine fellows come riding, their silken tassels sweeping the ground!
They rode through many a farmstead yard, set many dogs a-barking
and spent several nights feeding up good horses for riding.

To avoid meeting these fellows, the orphan girl doesn’t go by the path that they will take, but takes the long way round through the marshes.

Magnificent Vivaldi

O schone nacht

For Chamber Singers:

Bass
Tenor
Alto
Soprano

No Choir on Monday

You've earned a day off. Enjoy.

There WILL be Chamber Choir.

Tough to put in words

I wish I could easily sum up thoughts about the performance today.

I'll just list things at random . . . you feel free to add comments.

1. great job to KS and TH tonight.  excellent recital.
2. wasn't that a generous and wonderful expression from Dr. John Ratledge today?  Heartfelt, sincere, and very complimentary of your singing.
3. Alleluia was probably the best we've sung it.  Thank, you, G# major and your remarkable tuning abilities.  not just loud, not just energized, but nuanced.
4. i'm not sure about Glory be to God.  i think it was fine . . . a great crescendo on p. 3 and very fine last page.  i knew we were in fine form all morning but i wasn't positive until the end of Alleluia.
5. o sacrum . . . rich and musical . . . i think we found everything we've found in that work before and more.
6. Lily = Fire and Beauty.  on the last measure of the penultimate page . . INSIDE MY . . . .  .WOW!! Tenors or Baritones or SOMEONE gave more than they've ever given and sounded brilliant.  it really lit a fire.
7. i'm reminded of the applause after Alleluia . . . i made a mistake and started the next piece too early . . the audience wanted to show more appreciation and i moved too soon.
8. River . . . well tuned.  Thank you, Ab Major.  Wonderful refrain, beautiful ending.
9. In the silence of time . . . was magical.  As i think about the whole performance I think that what I'm most happy about is the overall performance . . . we were excellent on everything and reigned supreme on a couple.  Alleluia=supreme.  Lily=Supreme.  Others=Excellent.  Am I wrong?
10. excellent dynamic contrast.  we sang as soft as we've ever sung in Sacrum and Silence.  no . . . we were softer than we've ever sung.
11. were your faces good?  i don't know . . . i was into the music and your wonderful sounds.
12. had many comments from teachers and friends after the concert.  would like to hear your thoughts and reactions from the audience.
    

Directions to AMEA Conference

To drive to the School of Music via Interstate 20/59:

1. Take exit 73 McFarland Blvd. North (US 82 W)
2. Travel on McFarland Boulevard for 2.5 miles, past University Mall on the right.
3. 2 blocks after the mall, take the exit ramp in the right lane for University Boulevard (AL 215)
4. At the end of the ramp, turn right to head west on University Boulevard.
5. At the fourth traffic light, the Moody Music Building will be on the left.
6. There is public parking in the lot directly across from the front of the building.

50 miles total
1:15 driving time.

Google directions.

No Rene Clausen event for March 28

Choir,

We had on the original schedule an event with Rene Clausen on March 28. That's now been canceled. Maybe next time!

The Netflix of Textbooks: Chegg.com

A pretty great idea. Rent your books, don't buy them.

Example:
Bennet Reimer: Philosophy of Music Education : Advancing the Vision
Amazon price: 77.22
Chegg rental: 50.72 for the semester

Get your questions answered here.

Found out about it here.

MMmmmmmm

Hannah and Sami will be thrilled to read this.

login page for blackboard

here it is.

Program for UAB Honor Choir 2009

Plan for Saturday:

1:45 Arrive at Alys Stephens, Jeminson
2:00 On stage
2:30 Off stage
3:00 Concert begins

Concert Order:

• Jr. High Honor Choir
• UAB Concert Choir
• Sr. High Honor Choir
• Combined: For Spacious Skies

Our program:

Glory be to God
KJOS 6528
Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943)

Alleluia
EMC 198163
József Karai (b. 1927)
Kiyoshi Scissum, tenor

O sacrum convivium
Edition Ferrimontana
EF 2558
Vytautas Mi¶kinis (b. 1954)

With A Lily In Your Hand
SBMP 431
Eric Whitacre (b.1970)
Santa Barbara Music Publishing

Beautiful River
PDW-1005
William Hawley (b. 1950)

Garota de Ipanema
Manuscript
Arr. Clovis Pereira (b. 1932)

Songsmith

Read more here about Microsoft Songsmith.

Songsmith generates musical accompaniment to match a singer's voice. Just
choose a musical style, sing into your PC's microphone, and Songsmith will
create backing music for you. Then share your songs with your friends and
family, post your songs online, or create your own music videos.

You can get the free trial here.

AirTurn

You'll never need a page turner again:



See more at AirTurn.

Do you see what I see?

I dare you to click the picture.

The Morning After

You might find this interesting . . . a conductor talks about what it feels like the morning after a great rehearsal:

David Griggs-Janower gives us this wonderful summation of "the morning after" a great evening rehearsal or a long teaching day:

A conductor, like a teacher in a classroom, is always "on" in rehearsal. Up, vibrant, alive, enthusiastic, making people glad to be there, making them work hard. Making them appreciate the repertory, from the large-scale greatness to the extraordinary subtleties. From the beauty to the intellectual conception. The greater the piece (like Bach’s St. John Passion), the greater the sheer amount of wonderful things to discover.

And every second on the podium you are doing at least three things at once in three different time zones: preparing by your gestures what’s coming next; showing in your hands, face and body what you want the sound to be like as it happens; and listening and reacting to what you just heard. And also planning ahead as you hear it how to fix what wasn't right. And deciding which things to fix, and whether to stop or not and fix now, as opposed to later, while you are doing all those other things. Because music happens in time, time is intrinsically involved all the, uh, time.

You never get to stop and breathe while conducting. If you do breathe, there are 70 people sitting there waiting for you to say something. And if you let them relax, some momentum is lost, some edge. You also have to plan your stops, to allow the relaxation when it's necessary, but avoid it when rehearsal momentum is needed.

And so on Wednesday mornings I wake up absolutely exhausted.

Fortunately there are some heavy-duty drugs available: I drink two cups of coffee!

Read the whole post here.

Carmina Burana

If you are interested in singing Carmina Burana, attend Birmingham Concert Chorale rehearsal Monday night, January 5, 7-9.

Briarwood Presbyterian Choir Room.

Directions here.

See you there!

A work of art: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Highest recommendation for this movie . . . . very special.

One word thoughts: Inspiring, beautiful, artistic, moving, compelling, understated, southern..

I loved it.

Favorite moments:

1. Sunsets for loved ones.
2. Lightning strikes.
3. Sequence of scenes that begin with Benjamin taking his father to the lake and ending with Daisy performing ballet to "Some enchanted evening . . ."
4. Inspiration to read more F. Scott Fitzgerald, see more of the world, and have the courage to change situations if you don't like the way they are going. (no deep meaning there).

Go see it. Or leave your comments here if you've seen it.

Positive reviews here, here, here, and here.

On Christmas Day

I heard the bells on Christmas day

Their old familiar carols play

And mild and sweet the words repeat,

Of peace on earth, good will to men.

I thought how as the day had come,

The belfries of all Christendom

Had roll'd along th' unbroken song

Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And in despair I bow'd my head:

"There is no peace on earth," I said,

"For hate is strong, and mocks the song

Of peace on earth, good will to men."

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:

"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;

The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,

With peace on earth, good will to men."

'Til ringing, singing on its way,

The world revolved from night to day,

A voice, a chime, a chant sublime,

Of peace on earth, good will to men!

--Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Christmas Eve

Laurel Masse gives us this beautiful impression of Christmas Eve:

Every Christmas Eve I listen to the BBC Radio broadcast of "Lessons and Carols". In years past, especially while I was living in the Adirondacks, this was my only Christmas experience of the lovely sound of Anglican choral singing. It is fairly deep in my personal history; in 1962 my family moved to England, and there were hymns sung at chapel every morning at the school I attended. Since I started singing at the Cathedral (St. John the Divine, in Manhattan), I have heard (and sung) a lot more of that style, and under the cathedral's new music director, Bruce Neswick, there will be much more to come. And a lot of that is coming tonight.

The Cathedral, newly rededicated after a seven-year restoration triggered by the smoke and water damage incurred in the fire of December, 2001, will no doubt be full tonight. It is quietly thrilling to stand with my fellow singers in the choir and, looking down the whole length of that beautiful structure, see the seats - all the seats! - filled by the devoted, the devout, the curious, the skeptical, the travelers, the fans of music, the fans of architecture, the tourists, the sad, the lonely, the joyous, on and on. I look at this, and think "Here comes everybody", as James Joyce (I think) said when describing the Church.

Here we are, in need of the "tidings of comfort and joy" now perhaps more than ever, when it seems that light cannot possibly overcome the darkness. But look out the window tonight: trees are alight, menorahs glowing. Families are gathering together if they can. I come from a family of singers, and even though we are not all together this year, I know that, wherever we are, we are gathering to sing, and sing, and be reminded of why we are singing.

Thanks for sharing, Laurel.

More YouTube Greatness

9.5 million views and a recording contract

Wow . . . . the power of one performance. Two videos, watch them both.

Newstime: UAB and coffee news

Interesting article and comments here about the UAB basketball team.

Birmingham coffee news here.

Spring 2009 Exam Times (Recording Sessions)

I'm looking ahead to the end of next semester and have discovered this for the choirs:

Chamber Singers
Exam time: Monday, May 4 4:15-6:45 p.m.

Concert Choir
Exam time 1: Thursday, April 30 1:30-4:00 p.m.
Exam time 2: Friday, May 1 1:30-4:00 p.m.

Please put it on your calendars.

Final exam schedule here.

Decent quotes, horrible picture

Don't miss my brilliance and beauty here.

Or my eloquence here. As I listened, I prayed that the interview would end before I would say something incredibly stupid.

And now for some real advice . . .

10 Life Lessons From Star Trek

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: trek star)

Considerations: Weigh In!

I'm thinking about the AMEA Concert in January and I'm having these thoughts listed below. Now is your time to weigh in on the decision and I'm not offended at positive/negative feedback on any of it. Just sign your name.

The thoughts:

1. Bring back "With a Lily in Your Hand" (Whitacre). We only performed that piece in Alabama one time, I think. And I'm not satisfied with any recording that we have except for the Spring Concert, and that was not in the best acoustic. And it didn't have a very good beginning.

2. Early part of the program works this way:
First piece: Glory be to God (Rachmaninoff)
Second piece, without a break for applause: Alleluia. Kiyoshi's opening chant solo begins on the same note that the sopranos end the Rachmaninoff.

3. Bring back Shall We Gather at the River. It's a great piece, well known, and I'm not satisfied with the recording. (side note: this isn't the place to criticize recordings)

4. Bring back Silence of Time. One of the best pieces we did last year. December 2007 recording of it here. I think we have a better recording in us and this is always a crowd pleaser.

Potential program:

Glory to God
Alleluia
Lobet den Herrn
O Sacrum
With a Lily
Shall We Gather at the River (Beautiful River)
Silence of Time
Garota de Ipanema

Classes start: Wednesday, January 7
UAB Honor Choir Performance: Saturday, January 17
AMEA Performance: Friday, January 23

Most people will need "Beautiful River" and some will need "With a Lily" and "Silence of Time". Check your email.

Sleeping Marimbas

You Eric Whitacre fans will enjoy this:



Here's what he said about it:

Never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine myself writing the following words, but here they are: I just heard an exquisite performance of Sleep as transcribed for marimba quartet.

I found this on youtube this morning and was just knocked out, not so much by the novelty of the whole thing (roving, voyeuristic steady-cam shots of a marimba quartet), but by their nuanced music-making; their sense of line and phrase; and their deep, deep understanding of the underlying structure of the piece. Really blew my mind.

Kind words from Gunilla Luboff

Received some very kind words from Gunilla Luboff of Walton Music on the recording (G.L. is one of my favorite people in the world).

Here's what she said to me and Mr. Berg:

Philip!! Just downloaded the recording and it is WONDERFUL - the choir sounds just great and the text even comes through when I play it on the computer. You have done a wonderful job and I hope Ken is as pleased as I am. The performance really moves me back to the type of choral singing that I have heard in the traditional repertoire. It has the same vocal glow as the ones that we did in the Ole Miss series... Just great. Many thanks again, both to you and the choir! I look forward to the next track with Little David Play!

Gunilla

Dear Ken,

Thank you so very much for this lovely piece! As you know it is the first time I really hear it sung - it is so rich and sweet and has that Baltic singing depth that is so beautiful, that Philip's choir really brought out. The variations in the verses are lovely and the ending makes me smile. Thank you so much - I think this will be sung by MANY choirs!! Warmest regards and thanks.

Gunilla

5 December 2008 Recording Session

Weihnachten 1
Weihnachten 2

Es ist ein Ros' entsprungen 1
Es ist ein Ros' entsprungen 2

Glory be to God 1
Glory be to God 2

Tooma Laulukoor 1
Tooma Laulukoor 2

Congratulations, Erin!

Erin Pair is the new music teacher at two schools:

Hillview Elementary
Adamsville Elementary

She interviewed for the jobs today--she starts Monday.

Congratulations, Erin!

Yes--choir tomorrow.

Yes, we are in choir on Wednesday.

UPDATED: ACTUAL RECORDING TIME: Friday, 2:30. Arrive at 2:15.

Ending Fall 2008

Originally posted May 24, 2008.

Dec. 6, 2008 Christmas at the Alys Dress Rehearsal
Jemison 7:00 - 10:00 pm

Dec. 7, 2008 Christmas at the Alys
Jemison 3:00 pm

Dec. 5-11, 2008 Final Exams

FINAL EXAM TIME FOR CHOIR: (updated 5/27/2008)
1g: Friday, December 5, 1:30 - 4:00
2E: Thursday, December 11, 1:30 - 4:00

Wow. Birmingham News Today

Birmingham mayor arrested.

Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford was arrested this morning on federal charges and is being held at the federal courthouse, the FBI and other federal officials confirm.

UPDATE:  This is national news.  Saw it on the Drudge Report.  Click picture to go to Drudge.

http://www.drudgereport.com/

UAB probably will build steam plant . . . at 85 or 95 million.
UAB is still weighing options for building a new $85 million to $95 million steam system to replace one Alabama Power is closing, according to university officials.
The school is debating whether to construct its own steam plant internally or outsource the project, according to Brooks Baker, associate vice president for facilities for the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He recently updated the University of Alabama System Board of Trustees on the project, and said the school plans to come back to the board in February with a concrete proposal.
The exact budget has yet to be determined, he said, but estimates put the cost of building a new plant and constructing new underground lines around $90 million.
UAB depends on steam for heating, hot water and sterilization in its hospital buildings and laboratories.

Living Creativity

If you follow this blog, you are pointed to occasional TED talks. ACDA Executive Director Tim Sharp pointed me to this incredible resource and I now visit it often.

In this TED talk, fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi talk about things that inspire him, "from '50s pinups to a fleeting glimpse of a hole in a shirt that makes him shout 'Stop the cab!'."

He's a guy who is into everything--his mind makes transfers from one thing to the next . . and he might help you find a little inspiration regarding your next interpretation of choral perfection:

Happy Thanksgiving, Choir

Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it . . .
Prone to leave the God I love . . .
Here's my heart, oh, take and seal it for Thy courts above.

Here's one of my favorite choral/orchestral scenes of Thanksgiving. What a moment:

MusicGeek Utopia

Inspired by an anonymous commenter in the earlier post, I give you this (I first posted it here on the ChoralNet Blog)

UPDATE: Ryan Reese has identified himself as the music geek. We welcome you to be blog, Ryan, even if you aren't yet a student at UAB.

What would you say if I told you there was a place on this earth...

- Where children 4 months old start with music classes with parents;
- Where music education at various institutions provides tutoring to infant music groups;
- Where three and four year olds attend music class once or twice a week;
- Where children ages 4 and 5 have specialized music classes;
- Where six year olds start to play many different songs, and learn music by playing games with instruments;
- Where EVERY schools give general classes of music;
- Where music schools in every community provide basic level music instruction connected to the conservatories who provide further studies;
- Where adult education centers are available for those who want to continue or even for those who want to start studying music;
- Where people are able to enroll at a center each year to receive tutoring at all different levels, in everything from classical to pop music;
- Where every community has a school of music and anyone of any age can jump right in and without any cost start to play;
- Where there is an ongoing National campaign to encourage children to love music;

- And where the government covers all expenses?

Would you call this a musical utopia of someone's runaway imagination?

No!

You would call it.... Finland!

See here for more.

Advice for Starting a Music Education Career

I'm spending today prepping for a class I teach in the Spring. I ran across this video that some of you may enjoy.

Another Awesome Slideshow

I read Dan Pink's other book . . . this one looks great:

Career Advice '08

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: advice career)

NO MLK 2009

In case you missed it today, we are NOT doing the MLK concert in January 2009. We'll see what that means for us at the AMEA concert soon.

The Art of Teaching

Found this tonight:

The Art of Teaching

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: teaching quotes)

Is this right? Chamber Singers?

UAB Chamber Singers

Soprano
Crooks, Katie N.
Daniel, Kelsey E.
Foster, Meredith L.
Moore, Brianna L.
Nelson, Terri R.
Pace, Samantha L.
Palmore, Dana E.
Pender, Kristen H.
Prime, Keisha T.
Reeves, Leah E.
Roche, Jacquelyn M.

Alto
Cummins, Whitney S.
Devasure, Audrey R.
Fisher, Jennifer J.
Guthrie, Rebekah G.
Hoang, Thy T.
Holler, Madison C.
Johnson, Jessica E.
Whatley, Crystal L.
Williams, Jasmine M.
Wittkop, Caitlin E.
Smith, Catherine E.
Putt, Staci D.

Tenor
Byars, Nathan P.
Cruce, Michael K.
Daniel, Charles E.
Dees, Michael
Denton, Brian K.
Kunkel, Mark T.
Lightfoot, Robert W.
Lingerfelt, Lindsey H.

Bass
Barbee, Christopher M.
Baxter, Ronald D.
Beatty, Justin H.
Evans, Adam R.
Goodwin, Charles G.
Henderson, Tyler D.
Hyde, Andrew J.
Sutton, Christian

Update complete.

Madi demands an update.  I have now updated.

Developing Resource List

Beginning a resource list . . .

Link to our class discussion tonight.
Programming criteria notes

Kansas State Music List - Required Music for Large Ensembles
PDF List

Chorus Teacher Resource Site: curriculum, more

Florida Music List (being revamped for next year)

Great list. Includes Band and Orchestra.

Alabama vs. Mississippi State 1980

I was at this game in 1980 . . . the last time Alabama was ranked #1 in a contest with MSU:

Mississippi State 6, Alabama 3, Nov. 1, 1980: Bear Bryant’s Crimson Tide were ranked No. 1 and, like this year’s Trojans, were shooting for an unprecedented third straight national title. That dream ended in Jackson, Miss., against a Bulldogs team that had lost to Southern Miss, 42-12, earlier in the season. Alabama had a chance to win it late, but fumbled inside the Mississippi State 5-yard line with 15 seconds left. The Bulldogs recovered with six seconds remaining, but amazingly fumbled on the very next play. MSU fullback Donald Ray King won the furious scramble for the ball on the one-half yard line to preserve the victory.
(source)

Fantastic performance today

Great performance today.

We have choir rehearsal tomorrow and we can talk in detail about it then.

Don't miss tomorrow's rehearsal.

Bizarre Update to Previous News Post

This struck me as bizarre to read about it one day and see it disappear the next.

The story is here.

University of Alabama at Birmingham pulls plans to buy hotel


The University of Alabama at Birmingham withdrew a proposal today to buy a hotel on University Boulevard near Interstate 65, which it had planned to demolish along with an adjoining Waffle House.

UAB had put its request to buy the Medical Center Inn on the agenda for the University of Alabama Board of Trustees meeting. But during a meeting today of the committee that would have approved it, it withdrew the request.

The $3.2 million plan would have allowed UAB, which already owns the land the hotel is built on, to buy and tear down the building, possibly to make room for more athletic fields. UAB spokesman Gary Mans said only that the school was not ready to move forward.

---

UAB news

See here:

The University of Alabama at Birmingham plans to buy a hotel next to Interstate 65 for $3.2 million, according to documents submitted to the University of Alabama System Board of Trustees.


The building that now houses the Medical Center Inn would be demolished and could be used for athletic fields. The board of trustees plans to hear the proposal Thursday.

UAB already owns the land on University Boulevard and is leasing the land to the hotel and adjacent Waffle House.

The school could get the property for free when the 50-year ground lease ends in 2039, but UAB has decided it does not want to wait that long to use the property, according to the documents submitted to the board.

Chamber Singers - Amahl Memo

Amahl memo here

Update: dates corrected.

testing twitterfeed.

This should send my blog to TwitterFeed.

bob dylan on creativity

Bob Dylan on Creativity

From: chrislandry, 7 hours ago ago

Bob Dylan on Creativity

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: presentations slides)

Assorted things Bob Dyland has said about the creative process.


SlideShare Link

Recordings from Friday

From Friday's recording session:

O sacrum convivium (Miskinis)
O sacrum convivium (Miskinis) take 2

Alleluia (Karai)

Garota de Ipanema (Pereira)

Lobet den Herrn
Lobet den Herrn take 2

These are good recordings, but we have better recordings of this literature in us. Come rested and ready to make great music this coming Monday.

Presentation for Birmingham Organ Guild

Here are some notes and files from my presentation on November 11, 2008.

PDF of presentation "Eight ways to make your choir sound better."
powerpoint of 8 ways

tech presentation pdf
tech presentation powerpoint

All about RSS:

I use bloglines.

Weihnachten

Weihnachten
Frohlocket, ihr Völker auf Erden
No. 1 of Sechs Sprüche, Op. 79
Composed by Felix Mendelssohn

Frohlocket, ihr Völker auf Erden und preiset Gott!
Der Heiland ist erschienen, den der Herr verheißen.
Er hat seine Gerechtigkeit der Welt offenbaret, Halleluja!
Frohlocket, ihr Völker auf Erden, Halleluja! (source)

Rejoice, give praise to the heavens and give thanks to God! The Savior has been sent, as was promised by the Lord! He has revealed his righteousness to the world. Alleluia! (translation source here)

Looking ahead: Spring 2010

What I'd love to do:

Sing at the Southern Regional ACDA Convention in Memphis
Memphis, TN - March 10-13, 2010

Perform and compete at the 2010 Florilege vocal de Tours competition May 28-30.

Check out the new requirements for the Florilege competition . . . looks quite challenging. I'm up for it . . . are you?

UPDATE: For those who can't read French, click on the "ENGLISH VERSION" link at the top of the page.

SECOND UPDATE: We have to submit an audition recording and be invited to sing at ACDA - and the French festival as well. Don't think that just because "I'd love to do it" that we actually GET the opportunity to do it. It's just what I'd love to do . . .

Bianca strikes again

Garota on YouTube

I'm impressed with Bianca's ability to find our literature on YouTube.

This is certainly the arrangement we have, and likely the choir that originally sang the work that Dr. Jordan heard . . . we got the music from them.

Hillary plots Sean's demise: uPdaTed

Sean has no idea what kind of danger he's in.

The trip home

Wow what a trip.

And a fun ride home. Madi showed me a crazy video on the way home--I couldn't remember many of the words that might reference it, but I did remember "bun" and "goat".

That was enough to bring it up on google!

Beautiful in Louisville, Excited in Cincinnati

Some good news on the choir tour trail:

1. A fantastic concert in Louisville, KY. The choir sang with excitement, beauty, and warmth. Many friends, former professors, and former choir members were in the audience. Lindy Ebbs, a friend of mine from SBTS, said "they are incredible...so glad i got to hear them and to see you."

We were complimented on our German as well as our Portuguese. We were complimented on our passion and our difficult program.

I was very pleased.

2. We heard three choirs last night: Eastman, Lamar University, and North Texas State. Jerry McCoy's bunch from Texas was the clear favorite of the choir. They sang with incredible power and richness.

We're excited about performing our program this afternoon. We are looking forward to singing a memorized program, performing with emotion, and making great music.

And we'll be home very late tonight.