First Soprano rehearsal notes

Rehearsal Notes for February

Please note for next rehearsal: first sopranos sit in front.

OK, here are my notes from today's rehearsal.

Where the Light Begins (page 9 [measure 37] to end)

I Started Out Singing (page 5 to end)

Mm. 58-61: Watch Jane for tempo changes
Starting measure 66: Energy and rhythm!; don't let “singing” sound girlie–give it drive
Page 6, top staff: Keep pitches high
Measure 72: 1/8 out for a breath; watch Jane for the cutoff
Measure 76: Vowel of “voice” is a round “oh, and sing through the note on the vowel
Mm. 86-87: Vowel of the “-ing” of “singing” is “eeeee”; also absolutely no vibrato!
Next week: Start on page 3, pick-up to measure 39

Shadow River (page 12 to end)

Measure 46: Note the 1/8 rest
Measure 51: No vibrato!
Measure 52: No breath (despite the comma)
Measure 60: Don't sing the “tw” of “twilight”–come in on a pure tone, on pitch
Measure 62: Cut off on beat 3 (not the 1/8 rest); be aware that the S2s move before we do–don't be thrown off
Page 15, bottom brace: Similarly, don't be thrown off by the S2s taking breaths at different places than we do
Measure 68: Observe the 1/8 rest
Measure 71: Vowel of the “-ing” of “dreaming” is “eeeee”; also, lift before the next measure
Mm. 76-77: No breath
Universal: Vowel of (a-)”lone” is “oh”
Next week: Start on page 10, measure 32–note the key change; also, in mm. 34 & 36, cut off on beat 3 (tied note)

Birds of Passage (page 10 to end)

Mm. 66-71: A cappella section–watch Jane and keep the pitch high; listen to each other and the other voice parts
Measure 67: Watch Jane for the cutoff from the fermata
Measure 71: Keep the F# high
Measure 73: Watch Jane for the tempo change
Measure 91: No high B
Measure 95: Watch Jane for the upcoming tempo change
Page 15: Vowel of “clime,” “flight,” “light,” and “night” is “aw”
Universal, beginning page 12: Pick a(n appropriate) phrase in any language
Next week: Start on page 7–note that the vowel of “cry” is “aw,” and “delight” is “dih-lawt”

Hope Is the Thing with Feathers (whole piece)

Runthrough: No notes, but those of us for whom it's not familiar should work on it this week
Next week: Top of page 5 to the end (with repeat)

Always Something Sings (page 9 to end)

Universal for the whole piece: Note which top lines are solo and which ones we sing
Universal: For 3-part harmonies on a single staff, there's some tricky voicing for S2s and As, but we just stick to the top line
Measure 82 on: Watch Jane
Measure 83: Vowel of “will” is “ih”; don't close to the “l” too soon
Measure 85: Vowel of “still” is “ih”; don't close to the “l” too soon
Measure 93 to end: Vowel of “sings” is “eeeee,” and sing on the vowel to the end
Next week: Page 7 to the end

The Tree House: Landfall (whole movement)