Birds flying high, you know how I feel

Great rehearsal this week. Quite different, in many ways, from any rehearsal we've had before, but I think it was really effective. I was most amused by the giant pencil that the bass section had placed on the conductor's stand, and even more so when he started conducting with it (because they STILL couldn't sing on the beat)... the memory is still making me giggle :-)

We started with a few bits of the St Matthew Passion, which we'll be doing with Mark on Monday. We did one of the more difficult fast choruses - ironically I've forgotten which one, and I can't check because I've lent my score to a friend who missed the rehearsal. (I say "ironically" because I'm pretty sure it was a chorus that consisted of one line repeated over and over again, and after we'd done it several times I was fairly sure that line was ingrained forever. And three days later I've no idea what it was! Must be getting old...) The first time we tried it, it was quite fast, and had lots of mistakes - so we did it again, faster. And then again, still faster. And then again, faster even than that. By the time we tried it for the fourth time, at the proper speed, it was just about perfect. A great technique, which I suspect some people hadn't experienced before, judging by the surprised looks I saw on some faces.

(My oboe teacher (a lovely lady called Sonia Wrangham), when I was at school, introduced me to a general technique of which this is a variation, and it's so effective that I've used it a lot when I've given instrumental lessons myself. The technique is this: if you have a difficult passage, or even one that's not that difficult but you're having trouble with anyway, you make it HARDER.... but you make it harder in a way that doesn't alter the basic issue, which is usually just the notes. So, you make it faster - or if it's a run of straight quavers, you change them all to dotted quaver/semiquaver pairs - or you put accents on every other note - or you play two (or three, or four) identical notes on every note - or you add an octave leap after every note - or... well, you get the idea. After you've tried two or three harder versions of your passage, the original version is usually pretty easy when you go back to it. Now, although all the above variations of the technique work brilliantly on any instrument other than the voice, some of them would be a bit TOO hard for a singer... but making a fast passage faster works very well!)

After that, we sight-read a chorale, but we did so in silence. We were given the starting chord, and then everyone spent several minutes looking through their own part in their head - then we sang it without the chord being sounded again. It was pretty good, and again I think some people were surprised at the fact that they could do this. Self-confidence is a wonderful thing, isn't it? And when a whole choir has it at once - as I think we did on Wednesday - it's almost like a drug.

(Annoyingly, when we were given a few minutes to look through another section in silence, someone decided it'd be OK if they hummed their part. Argh. SO offputting! But it did make me realise that I hadn't mentioned "not humming" in my "how to sight-read" guide, so I've now amended it (and the downloadable version).)

The second section that we looked through in silence wasn't sight-reading - it was the middle section of "Toward the Unknown Region". New technique again, though - we looked through it, then we sang it, then anyone who had a question about it was encouraged to ask it, and all the questions were dealt with, and the relevant sections rehearsed. Then we split ourselves into three groups more or less at random, and after the tea break the three groups each performed the section, with comments from the listeners after each performance. It was REALLY interesting - not just the comments (and the discussion that followed some of them), but also watching and listening the rest of the choir performing. And performing to an audience consisting of other members of the choir - who all know the thing we're singing really well - feels very different to performing to anyone else. All in all, a very enlightening experience.

We finished off by doing the start and the end of the Vaughan Williams, but those bits are easy compared to the middle section. It's a very satisfying ending, though, and it was a perfect end to a really great rehearsal. Can't wait to do it with Mark (on Monday), with the orchestra (on Tuesday), and in a packed Bridgewater Hall (on Wednesday). Plus it's being shown live on the big screen in Exchange Square! So any of you who are reading this but aren't in the choir... you can see the concert free! Of course it's bound to rain :-)

(Oh, and if you're wondering where the title of this post came from, it's the first line of "Feeling Good", which I was rehearsing last night - my group is singing it (amongst other things) at the wedding next week. Can't wait!)

Then we burst forth; we float in time and space

I'm sure I'm not the only alto who's had that line on the brain for the last few days!

Lots of singing since I last posted. We've learned "Toward the Unknown Region" pretty thoroughly (two rehearsals and a sectional) and made a start on the St Matthew Passion. Also I had a fabulous rehearsal with my band, at which we learned three newly-arranged a cappella songs for my boss's wedding next week. (I'm particularly excited that, since the groom is in the RAF, he is getting married in uniform and there is to be a sword party!)

I don't have time to write properly about anything right now, but I have a load of links to post so I thought I'd get them out of the way.

Firstly, Bach mp3s (because I suspect we'll need a lot of practice!) I've decided to split these into categories rather than post them in order. The Passion Chorales, since you ask, are the five chorales that have the same tune (which is listed in hymn books as "Passion Chorale"). The first two have the same harmony (but in different keys) but the others are all totally different. I find it fascinating to compare them, which is why I've listed them together. Try playing the mp3s one after another and see how freaky the harmony gets!

Passion Chorales:

Passion Chorale 1: "Receive me, my Redeemer" - page 51
Passion Chorale 2: "Here would I stand beside Thee" - page 52
Passion Chorale 3: "Commit thy way to Jesus" - page 155
Passion Chorale 4: "O Sacred Head surrounded" - page 182
Passion Chorale 5: "Be near me, Lord, when dying" - page 211

Other chorales:

Chorale: "O blessed Jesu" - page 24
Chorale: "Tis I, whose sin hath bound thee" - page 43
Chorale: "O Father, let thy will be done" - page 75
Chorale: "How falsely doth the world accuse!" - page 122
Chorale: "O Lord, who dares to smite Thee?" - page 136
Chorale: "Lamb of God, I fall before Thee" - page 145
Chorale: "O wondrous love, this sacrifice to offer" - page 161

Choruses:

Chorus: "Come ye daughters" - page 1
Chorus: "Not upon the Feast" - page 26
Chorus: "To what purpose is this waste?" - page 28
Chorus: "Where wilt thou?" - page 39
Chorus: "O man, thy heavy sin lament" - page 99 (the difficult one at the end of part 1)
Chorus: "We bow our heads in tears and sorrow" - page 235

Solo movements with chorus bits:

Recitative with Chorus: "He said, go to such a man in the city" ("Lord, is it I?") - page 40
Tenor Recitative with Chorus: "O grief! how throbs His heavy-laden breast" ("O Saviour, why must all this ill befall Thee?") - page 54
Tenor Aria with Chorus: "I would beside my Lord be watching" ("And so our sin will fall asleep") - page 59
Soprano & Alto Duet with Chorus: "Behold, my Saviour now is taken" ("Loose Him!") - page 79
Alto Aria with Chorus: "Ah! now is my Saviour gone" (Whither is thy loved one gone?") - page 114
Recitative with Chorus: "And the High Priest answered and said unto him" ("He guilty is of death") - page 129
Recitative with Chorus: "And then with one accord did they spit on HIm" ("Now tell us") - page 132
Recitative with Chorus: "Simon Peter sat outside in the court" ("Surely thou also") - page 136
Recitative with Chorus: "Now when the morning came" ("But what is that to us?") - page 145
Recitative with Chorus: "Now, at that feast" ("Barrabas!") - page 156
Recitative with Chorus: "But they all cried out the more" ("Let Him be crucified") - page 166
Recitative with Chorus: "And then did the soldiers of the governor" ("Hail, hail, King") - page 179
Recitative with Chorus: "When they were come unto a place that is called Golgotha" ("Thou that destroyest") - page 189
Alto Aria with Chorus: "See Him! See the Saviour's outstretched arm!" ("Come where?") - page 202
Recitative with Chorus: "Now from the sixth hour" ("He calleth for Elias") - page 207
Recitative with Chorus: "And then, behold, the veil of the temple was rent" ("Truly this was the Son of God") - page 211
Recitative with Chorus: "And Joseph took the body" ("Sir, we remember") - page 223
Quartet with Chorus: "And now the Lord to rest is laid" ("Lord Jesu, fare Thee well") - page 231

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Other links, not in any particular order:

I watched a fascinating programme on BBC4 last night about the voice. If you missed it, it's repeated on Friday at 7.30pm. Nothing earthshatteringly new to anyone in the choir, but I think you'll find it interesting anyway. (There was another great programme on in the same slot last week, and I'm annoyed because I meant to post to tell you to watch the repeat of that too, but I didn't get round to it. But no doubt it will turn up again eventually - it was called "Soweto Strings", and not only was it interesting, it also very unexpectedly featured Mark Elder and the Hallé! It was all about the Buskaid charity. You'll remember that this is the fabulous group that performed with John Eliot Gardiner in my second-favourite Prom.)

All sorts of things in the press recently about the Hallé, what with the 150th anniversary fast approaching... MEN article, feature in the Telegraph, another one in the Independent, and the current issue of the BBC Music Magazine, which has Mark on the cover. Oh, and another Telegraph article which is not directly about the Hallé but mentions them in a great light.

Also, the choral administrator job has now been advertised.

News of an attack chorus in Portland, Oregon. This amuses me a lot! (Thanks to a cappella news for the link.)

A vegetable orchestra. No, I haven't heard it.

A lovely sentiment about being in a choir (scroll down to the bit about Haydn). (Thanks to ChoralBlog for the link.)

Someone raving about Beethoven's 7th Symphony (specifically the 2nd movement) being the best music ever.

Some programme notes for Toward the Unknown Region, (Thanks, Graham.)

A video of "We Saw The Sea", which was sung in this week's ladies' sectional. I just wish I could remember why!

And finally, just to be a bit cryptic, the answer to the question I keep being asked by members of the choir is "yes, of course I will, but I very much doubt anything will come of it." (If you have no idea what I'm talking about, don't worry, you're not missing much!)

Walk out with me toward the unknown region

Sorry for the long delay. It's all very well to have 10 concerts in a month, but all that singing doesn't leave much time for writing about it! And although it's true that it's a week and a half since the last concert, I seem to have spent most of that time either asleep or grumpy. I may still rant about choir-related stuff at some point, but not today - I want to get caught up with all the positive stuff!

First, before I forget, let me give you a couple of mp3s:

Vaughan Williams - Toward the Unknown Region
Shostakovich - Festive Overture

(and, since I haven't mentioned it for a while: if you still don't know how to save mp3s to your own computer, you need to right-click on the link (i.e. the underlined bit) and select "Save Target As..." (or "Download Linked File As..." or something else similar - depends which operating system you have) and then navigate to wherever on your computer you want to save it (in just the same way as you would save a word processing file).) (If you have a Mac with only one mouse button, you can right-click by holding down the "ctrl" key while clicking.)

Oh, and in other topical news, my online choir schedule is up to date. (Email me for the link if you don't have it.) Don't know whether the official one is - I haven't looked for ages.

I include the Shostakovich because it was such a fantastic intro to each of the carol concerts. I also have the Dance of the Tumblers but I need to convert the file before I can post it. But does anyone have an mp3 of the Walton "Winter Journey"?

As for the Vaughan Williams, that's what we'll be singing in our next concert, and I can't wait - we sang it briefly (but never performed it) during the last-but-one set of chorus master auditions (can that really be more than 10 years ago?!?), and I've been dying to do it properly ever since. Roll on next Wednesday! But first, back to Messiah....

The concert went well and there were a few bits I did really enjoy (I do invariably enjoy the *performances* of Messiah, it's the rehearsal period I can't stand). My highlight was of course "Hallelujah", which has always been my favourite bit, and this year (the first in a while) I was thrilled that the conductor DID allow the audience to choose for themselves whether to stand up, resulting in me being unable to sing the first couple of pages because of the lump in my throat. I also loved (as usual) all the trumpet bits, particularly Gareth's extra twiddles in the top octave, which I don't remember him doing before. Wow.

After Messiah we were into carols. A great programme this year, and I was particularly pleased that only *one* of the carols that always makes me angry was included, and it was the very last thing in each concert so I didn't spend much concert time being grumpy as a result. (Somewhat predictably, the bits of "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" that are wrong every year were STILL wrong, but it's unlikely they'll ever be right while the people who are singing the wrong notes do so from memory... If you're an alto who would like to get it right next year, though, please compare bars 13-16 with bars 45-48. They're not the same... but most people sing them as if they are! Argh!)

Highlight of the carol concerts was probably the Holst "Ave Maria", at least for me. I got quite angry at the 1st sops in choir 2 who seemed totally unable to get their last lead right. It wasn't the fact that they got it wrong that annoyed me so much as the fact that they got it wrong *so many times* - it wasn't exactly hard, and it just seemed that none of them cared enough to spend 2 minutes at home practising it. But they did get it in the end, and it was lovely by the last concert. My favorite bit, though, was a couple of bars later when the sops in choir 1 came in on a C and Eb... mmmmmmm. (Lots of the men said nice things about the Ave Maria - I wish I'd heard it as well as sung it!)

I did manage to make it to both Sunday concerts *and* go to the match at Old Trafford that finished at 1.55. I did have to miss the choir photo as a result, but it'll probably be more photogenic without me on it! I had to miss the warmup too - I'd thought I could get there for most of it, but that's before it was moved half an hour earlier. I felt quite warm enough after speed-walking from the ground to the hall, though, especially as I did a few tractors while walking along :-)

But I've missed a bit... the week before the carol concerts, we had a couple of Pleiades gigs, the highlight of which (for me) was when we sang Slade's "Merry Xmas Everybody" in the Henry Watson Music Library, and I got to shout "IT'S CHRISTMAS!" at the top of my voice. I always do that bit, but it was only just before we got to it on that occasion that I realised I was going to have to shout in a library. This amused me far more than it should have! The previous day, we'd sung in the RNID offices, and we witnessed the sign language for both "ringa linga linga ding dong ding" and "you scumbag, you maggot, you cheap lousy faggot" - both of which were funny, but neither of which came close to shouting in a library :p



(Oh, and that reminds me - did you all remember to check isitchristmas.com on Christmas day? Because I did, and I wasn't disappointed!)

Also, a few days before the carol concerts, I went back to Halifax to attend the carol service of the school I left at Easter. They have it in Halifax Parish Church, and it's a lovely occasion. I hadn't been back since I left, so this seemed like a good opportunity. (I'm annoyed now that I didn't get round to blogging at the time, because the concert was recorded by BBC Radio Leeds and broadcast on Christmas Eve, but it's a bit late to tell you that now!) I had a good sing - always satisfying to sing very confidently from the middle of a large congregation (don't worry, I was very well-behaved and didn't overdo it - in particular, I didn't attempt any of the descants, which is probably just as well considering the looks I got from the people in front of me when I gave into temptation at the end of the last carol concert and turned into a soprano for "Sing Choirs of Angels"!) But the most interesting part was their version of "The First Nowell". When it started, it sounded remarkably like Pachelbel's Canon, and it soon became apparent that we were to be treated to a 4/4 version of more or less the usual tune of "The First Nowell", amended very slightly so that it fitted the Pachelbel harmony. I groaned inwardly - but by the end I was totally sold. Not so much by the tune itself, but by the arrangement, which built very convincingly until all 4 parts were singing different tunes and the two solo violins were still playing the canon. It was lovely, and I'm cross that I totally missed my chance to record it from the radio.

They did at least sing all the proper descants - I wouldn't have sung them even if I'd known they were going to do that (this post is quite correct to warn of the dangers of singing descants if you're not in the choir) - but I'm glad they did. I really can't see the point of reinventing descants - they just sound wrong, and I have yet to hear one that was an improvement on the "traditional" one. That's the one feature of the King's College Service that I'd change. And, for that matter, does anyone know why the version they show on TV is never quite the same as the live version they play on the radio? As in, most of the readings and several of the carols are different? I don't get it. My highlight this year, though, was in both versions - John Rutter's "Dormi Jesu". I don't think I'd heard it before, and it was lovely. (Does anyone have an mp3 of it? EDIT: Terry sent me one - thanks, Terry!)

Anyway, I think that's all the Christmas-related comments for now. So, to finish, a few links I've been meaning to post:

Weird stories from the classical music world from 2007.

Wii Music is coming! If you've not tried a Wii, I do recommend it, it's great fun. But I'm not sure how this will work!

Reasons to sing - from The Sun of all places (via A Cappella News, though).

A plea to let people other than choirs sing carols.

Notes on Messiah from Harry Christophers (who was part of a recent Radio 4 programme in which he said many of the same things). Interesting.

Story of a row between two classical music groups.

And, non-musically: an addictive geography game. I could only get to level 10 but I was restrained and only tried once!