Rehearsal notes 31/01/22

We continue to sing with masks on, socially distanced and ask that everyone takes a lateral flow test before the rehearsal.

After a vocal warm up, we looked at the following pieces:

We practised the phrase at Bars 23, 58 and 91 – the same notation and rhythm for sops. but look out for the differences in other parts
Bars 99-100, crescendo through the whole phrase
Throughout, keep ‘s’ sound as late as possible at the end of words such as minister(s), promise(s), glorie(s), heroe(s) to avoid ‘ssss’.
Observe the dynamics carefully – often different in each of the 4 parts

Watch out for triplet rhythms when they come eg Bars 48-57
For sops. in Bar 56, slur ‘e/ver’ unlike other parts
We learned notes and rhythms of Bars 59-69, concentrating on how the 4 parts fit together
We learned notes and rhythms of Bars 91- 105, note triplets and dynamics.

Mark up: A at Bar 22, B at Bar 35, C at Bar 44, D at bar 56, E at Bar 66, F at Bar 78.
We sang through the piece sight reading.

We spent time practising the rhythms for the clapping and singing sections – to be performed from memory eventually. Mary provided ‘word rhythms’ to help accuracy and memory – see below. Practise before next week!
Note also how easy it is to lose pitch eg Bar 13/14 – be aware, and ‘smile’ to aid intonation.
Observe the many changes of dynamics throughout the piece.

We revised the sections at B and E for sop/altos and at D for tenor/basses and the final section from Bar 86-end

Celebrate – Blue book p 34

Mary’s ‘word rhythms’ for clapping,

Introduction

“Clapping

Yes, clapping

We are all clapping,

All clapping

We just start clapping

Just start clapping,

Yes, that’s how we start this piece!”

Ending

“It’s

A Bullard

It’s by Alan Bullard

Alan Bullard

Joyful piece

It’s a joyful piece

It’s a tricky little piece

And he wrote it” [Celebrate]