We started with some stretches and some vocal exercises.

We practised the following pieces: there were a lot of new notes to learn!

Praise to the Lord

This is a new song written for us by Paul.  Unfortunately, the printed copies hadn’t arrived, so we listened while Paul played it through for us.  It sounds lovely.

Goodbye

• We practised from letter A on page 4 through to letter B on page 5, taking each part separately.
• Sopranos have the tune; at bar 26 they are f; other parts mf
• We then practised from letter C on page 6 through to the end of the piece.
• Basses take care with notes in bar 46
• Altos look out for bar 46 where come in with “ffoooff” (unpitched wind sound)
• Tenors take care with notes in bar 48
• Last 5 bars are performed at half speed
• At the beginning, basses and tenors note unpitched sounds imitating the wind.

Over the Rainbow

Mary warned us to expect the unexpected!

• We practised from A on page 4 through to C on page 7
• Bar 24, basses and tenors look out for G natural; and in bar 26 for F natural.
• Bar 30, sopranos look out for F natural.
• Bar 30, altos all the notes are sung to the word “the”.
• Bar 46 → basses and tenors look out for B sharps.
• Bar 52 note slight rit.

For the beauty of the earth (p12 in John Rutter Anthems)

We sang through from the beginning.

• Bar 102, basses all sing lower part
• Bar 112, slow down from here to the end of the piece
• Bar 113, altos, tenors and basses note one beat rest at beginning of the bar.

West Side Story

We sang through the section from bar 34 on page 25 through to the end of the piece on page 29 (“Make of our hands”).

• Bar 67, don’t breathe after “death”

Apologies for anything I might have missed!