Soprano 2 Notes4/9/2026We covered some tricky spots in the extra…
Second Soprano Rehearsal Notes
Soprano 2 Notes
2/17/26
Please remember, if you are going to miss a rehearsal to let Susan Avery know. She has to account for everyone, so please make it easy on her.
Hope is the Thing
Go over the words, please. They go by so fast you have to be familiar with them.
m. 4 Light
m. 5 Quarter note quarter rest on “soul”
m. 8-11 Crescendo throughout.
m. 9 Change the last note to an A # (not a G#)
m. 11-12, etc. Make the E be the emphasis, not the pickup F#
So, “sweet” and “sore” and “could” (m. 16) get your focus.
m. 15 A good “mɘ” on “storm” and a good breath there.
In general – no Rs
m. 19 “aw”
m. 25 Breath after “sea”
m. 30 No breath
m. 32 etc. Again, emphasis on “sweet” “sore” “could”
m. 39 Turn early so you are ready for m. 41
m. 40 Take off the tie, so dotted half note, dotted quarter rest, take a good breath
m. 44 “soul” is a dotted quarter note and dotted quarter rest
m. 53 etc. Again, emphasis on the E: “nev”-er and “nev”-er
Note: If our cutoffs are exact and rhythmic, the following entrances will be easier.
I Started Out Singing
m. 10 “stah” Higher A. No breath.
m. 11-12 No breath
m. 12-20 Stagger breathe, careful not to breathe where it might be a normal break like after “singing” or “yes”
m. 18 Watch! tempo changes
m. 25 ITB (In the body) – but soft
m. 28 Breath after “riddle”
m. 29 No breath after “shadow”
m. 57 Ritard!
m. 59 Remember, slower
m. 66 ITB
m. 70 – 74 Go over these cutoffs and rhythms.
m. 70 Cut “yes” off on 3
m. 72 Change “yes” to an eighth tied to a quarter with a quarter rest – so cut off on 4
m. 74 Cut off on 3
m. 80 Faster! Maybe make a note of this before the page turn
The Treehouse
Cutoffs are important, be exact. She is creating effects with the overlapping, independent parts. Note – I have this comment written on both movements we worked on today.
Landfall
m. 23 “hwen”
m. 42 Cutoff with a quick “s” on beat 4 (or if you think in 2, on 2)
m. 72 Quick “bl” for each “blossom”
m. 78-79 No breath,
m. 79 Make the “s” of “Notice” quick
m. 81 Support! Long/tall “ee”.
m. 82 Mandatory lift
m. 86 “fehl”
Alder
Needs confidence, be fierce.
m. 3 mezzo piano – not too soft
m. 4 “wee”
m. 5 Flip the R
m. 6 Strong accents
m. 8 Cut off on beat 2
m. 10 Cut off on downbeat of m. 11
m. 12 – 24 The purpose of the alternating cutoffs is to show the drooping.
m. 17 Higher B flat (listen to firsts and match, Jane said seconds were flat). You can use the “f” of “fairy” as a springboard to pop up to the B flat.
m. 20 Cross off the tie and cut off “lungs' on the downbeat.
m. 21-22 No breath.
m. 23-24 Crescendo. Cut off on downbeat of 25 with a good “K”
m. 27, m. 31 Get quickly through the “squ”, get right to the “aw”
Also, don't overdo the “sts”, less is more here.
m. 33 Exact cutoff on the and of beat 3. As written.
m. 40 Cutoff on beat 2. The running “sts” through to parts need to be exact.
m. 44 Very little “sts” here. Breath after “mists”. Take a good breath cause –
m. 45 More support. “aw”
Where the Light Begins
Listen to the recording! I cannot say this strongly enough – if you have any question of the rhythms, this should clear them up.
Comment from Simon – When there are groupings with 16th notes, like m 7, if the short bar of the 16th note is to the right, it's on the beat. If it's on the left, it's off the beat.
m. 20 ITB Also, sing through “haps”, tie it to “it”, do not make it short
m. 20-26 Learn the rhythms here. See note above. Jane stopped rehearsing this until we all know the rhythms.
Have a great week.
Linde