From The Blog

[soprano 1] First Soprano Rehearsal Notes

September 23

Grown Wild (whole piece):
Notes:
  • First note: put a little “h” before the “oo”
  • Universal: Drop the “r” in “conjured,” “girl,” “her,” “years,” “hear,” etc.
  • Mm 17-24: Keep “and gave her to me” rhythmic and bring out that text when you have it; back off a bit when you don't
  • Measure 37: first sopranos (and only first sopranos) drop the “spr” in “springtime”; keep the tone pure–don't wobble
  • Measure 38: Keep the pitch high on beat 4 (C)
  • Measure 45 and wherever it occurs: Watch Jane on “Months, years”
  • Measure 53: Keep the pitch high
  • Mm 61 & 63: Stress the “will” of “willingness”–but don't slow down
  • Measure 74: Be careful not to bash “the” on beat 4
 
Breaths: 
  • Obviously, anywhere a breath is written into the score
  • Measure 30: Quarter out after beat 1 (“me”)
  • Measure 52: Take out the dot on beat 1 (so it's a held-over beat, quarter rest, two-beat triplet)
  • Measure 56: “touch” is a half note followed by a quarter rest; don't bash beat 4 (“and”)
  • Measure 63: Take out the quarter rest (hold the full three beats, like the other two parts)
  • Measure 80: Quarter out after beat 1 (“I”)
  • Measure 83: Not really a breath, but a lift between “sky” and “like”
  • Measure 86: Not really a breath, but a lift between “sky” and “we”
  • Measure 89: Quarter out after beat 1 (“up”), but NO BREATH in measure 90
  • Measure 91: Quarter out after beat 1 (“up”), but NO BREATH in measure 92
  • Measure 93: Quarter out after beat 1 (“up”), but NO BREATH in measure 94
  • Measure 95: Quarter out after beat 1 (“up”)
  • Measure 96: Breath between “wild” and “grown” (make it a big one)
 
O Come, Emmanuel (measure 69-end)
  • Universal: Good initial K on “come” followed by a tall vowel (aw)
  • Measure 69: Remember that the entrance is pp
  • Crescendo over the long held notes in this section
  • Measure 13: Watch Jane
  • Measure 16: Watch Jane
 
What Child? (beginning-measure 60)
  • Remember the beginning is soft
  • Re the “bums”: give all quarter notes their full value, but close immediately to the “m”; keep light!
  • When singing the melody, sing the line, but keep it in the body, supported–don't go Minnie Mouse
  • Listen for vertical cleanliness, while still maintaining the forward motion–don't drag
  • Measures 16 (and wherever this pattern occurs): Observe the 1/8-note rest, then get into the legato line
  • Measure 51: Watch Jane
 
Stars I Shall Find (measure 22-end)
  • Jane is conducting in 2
  • Keep it in the body, supported–no pretty and mediocre
  • Where applicable, breathe ahead of the downbeat–don't slow it down
  • Universal: “Stars I shall find”–keep all those vowels tall (aw) 
  • Mm. 37-38: A reminder to sing the “aw” of “find”
  • Mm. 49-50: Practice keeping the “eh” of “rest” stable
  • Measure 56 into 57: No breath
  • Measure 58: No ritard!
 
Siyahamba (measure 47-end)
  • Keep the tone long and in the body
  • ENERGY!
  • Don't jump the syncopations
  • A reminder: no Julie Andrews finals “t”s (e.g., “light”)–make them more of a dentalized “d”
  • “We” is ooo-eee (with the eee on the beat)
  • Measure 63: Don't scoop the repeated Ds
  • Measures 72 & 76: Big crescendo into “Siyahamba”
 
Lux, Movement IV: Gloria in Excelsis (Letter E [page 9]-end)
  • Keep it in the body, supported–don't go all Up with People
  • Stress the “De-” and lighten up on the “o” of “Deo”
  • Learn the pitches cold!
September 16

Elaine Hagenberg, O Come, Emanuel (mm 88-end):
  • Universal throughout the piece: make sure the vowel in “Come” is tall and narrow (caw-m)
  • Measure 88: watch Jane
  • There is a lift after the 2nd beat in measures 104, 106, and 108
  • Crescendo on the held note in measures 101, 103, and 105
Ruth Morris Gray, Stars I Shall Find:
Coda–pages 11 & 12:
  • Maintain a soft, warm, velvet tone
  • Measure 64 (poco rit.): watch Jane

Universal:

  • Check the roadmap for the whole piece (repeat page 10 to page 4; skip to coda on page 7)
  • Jane was conducting in 2, FYI
  • Flip the “r” in “rest”
Ruth Morris Gray, What Child? (beginning-m. 52):
  • “Bum”: sing the held notes on “m”
  • Don't rush (or drag)
  • Sing the line, especially when singing the melody–don't be “note-y” (note-y is naughty!)
  • Measure 40: observe the 1/8 rest after “raise” (and everywhere it occurs)
  • Watch cut-offs in general
Ruth Morris Gray, Siyahamba (measure 47-end):
  • Please note that this needs to be performance-ready by October 26
  • Universal: round the “e” in “We”
  • Universal: don't sing a bright “t” on “light”; make it more of a dentalized “d”
  • Universal: put a good “d” on “God”
  • Universal: stress the second syllable of “siyahamba”–don't bash out the “ba”
  • Mm 72-73: no breath, crescendo, and absolutely no vibrato
  • Learn the pitch (A) at the beginning of measure 80
  • No ritard to the end
Dan Forrest, I. Illuminarre (beginning-m. 35):
  • Come in right on pitch at the beginning, but with a soft, breathy, round “oooo” 
  • Absolutely no vibrato throughout the opening section
  • Watch Jane: she is showing clearly when to move on the notes with fermatas
  • Keep kissing that “ooo” sound–don't let it spread as the pitch goes higher
  • 3/2 and 4/4 bars: the quarter note stays the same
  • Mm. 33-35: Alto and S2 have the stems-down notes; we have the stems-up notes (i.e., we split on all but the first note)



Related Posts

Back To Top