I was singing Christmas songs this week, and very fun it was too. Why Christmas songs in August? Well, I've wanted to record my band's Christmas set for several years, but Christmas itself is always insanely busy and there's never time... so last year I resolved that we were going to do it in the summer. We tried to do it in July, but two of the singers were unavailable, so we rescheduled for this week. Unfortunately there was a technical problem with the minidisc recorder (the rewritable discs refused to allow themselves to be rewritten and there were no blank ones) so we'll have to try again in September! But we sang the songs anyway, and because we love those songs, I don't think anyone really minded. And in any case, we forgot the coconuts (for the reindeer hooves in Sleigh Ride) so we would have had to do it again anyway :p
(You know, it always amuses me hugely to carry sleighbells round in my bag, because when they jingle, people can never quite work out whether or not they'd really heard what they thought they did. It turns out this is a million times funnier when it happens in August... and the best bit was that people in the office suddenly started talking about booking a Christmas do, for no apparent reason. I like to think that this was caused by someone subconsciously hearing my sleighbells!)
Anyway, today I've done something I meant to do last weekend, which is to create individual printable parts for Mahler 2 (to help with the memorising). You'll be able to find your own part somewhere in this index. When you've downloaded them, theoretically your printer should print each page at the correct size, however big it appears on the screen - if your printer doesn't do this, email me and I'll see if I can help. (I've also put the Sibelius file - with all the parts on - in the same index, in case anyone wants to fiddle with it.) EDIT (Tue 26th August, 7.40 p.m.): If you downloaded any of the parts (or the score) before now, please go and do it again - I noticed a mistake which I've now corrected! FURTHER EDIT (Fri 5th Sep, 11.10 p.m.): Couple of errors in Bass 2 part corrected; Bass 2 PDF and full score Sibelius file re-uploaded.
FURTHER EDIT: Because I was asked today how to pronounce all the German text, I've now added (to the same index page mentioned above) a file containing the text of the choir bits (with most of the repetitions removed, and there are some words that some parts don't get to sing), plus an mp3 of me speaking this text. I don't claim that my pronunciation is perfect by any means, but hopefully it's close enough that if you want to you can get it in your head before you start rehearsing it, at which point everyone's vowels will turn out to be not quite German enough anyway, so you'll be ready for the final language instructions!
What else? I'm a bit shocked at the latest results of Last Choir Standing. That means that all three of the choirs that I thought were the best are now out (Sense of Sound, Last Minute and ACM Gospel Choir). Of the three that are left, I do hope Only Men Aloud win, as I think they're much better than the other two. Although, much as I've enjoyed the programme, I do think it's a pity that it's reinforced the idea that choirs can only be good (and fun) if they're performing pop songs and dancing. It would have been lovely if there had been a choir that had stood still and wowed everyone with their SINGING... we know this is possible, but sadly the general public won't, at least not as a result of this! And surely they could have done SOME classical stuff? There's been a tiny bit - one choir last week did an edited version of O Fortuna, and one this week did a piece that was based on Beethoven 9. But that's been it. There haven't even been any opera choruses!
Some other random links: The Manchester Evening News has a preview of the new musical season in Manchester. And Manchester Confidential tells us that there are plans for a Royal Opera House North. The MEN also had an article about what it's like to sing as a twin. (Has anyone heard this group? I haven't, but I'm intrigued.)
David Griggs-Janower has some interesting thoughts on the state of choral music.
The Stage has some useful tips on preparing for an audition (the story is linked to the X Factor, but the advice is good in general, I think).
A friend of mine alerted me to the existence of some very clever music software (it also has an official website). Looks like it would take all the fun out of music-making, but I mention it here just to show you what can be done to fix mistakes on recordings these days!
There's a BBC Radio 3 Pianothon in Manchester (and other venues) in October. Ever wanted to play the piano in public but not had the opportunity? Here's your chance - and you might be on the radio! If nothing else, it would make you practise...
This band name generator may amuse some of you :-)
And finally, a few recent articles about conductors by Tom Service (he's the one who's writing the book): The Abbado effect; Wagner's dog whip; and Gergiev in South Ossetia. Also an article about West Side Story and why it's not performed more often; and an interesting interview with cellist Matthew Barley (yet another person I was at school with!)
Next time: some hints on how to memorise music, for those people who say they just can't do it...
Monday, August 25, 2008
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Citius, Altius, Fortius
Hmm, I seem to have not written here for a while - sorry about that! Been busy! But I received an email asking me whether I had any Mahler 2 mp3s to post, which reminded me that of course I meant to do that weeks ago! I'll be putting up pdfs of individual parts too (e.g. the whole of the alto part on a single page) because I've always found things easier to memorise that way, so maybe others do too. Not had time to do that yet, but hopefully this weekend.
Anyway, the very end of Mahler 2, in 3 chunks:
Langsam, mysterioso (first choir entry, figure 31)
Etwas bewegter (alto solo, figure 39)
Mit Aufschwung, aber nicht eilen (sop/alto duet, figure 44)
(I've always had it in my head that the choir sings for only the last 5 minutes of the symphony, so I was quite surprised to discover that these three tracks have a total length of almost 15 minutes!)
(If you prefer video, try this one and its continuation. I think the choir's a bit out of tune, but it's fun to watch anyway.)
While we're doing mp3s, I want to share two more with you, because I've had them on the brain for weeks. They're from the fabulous (but hard to find) album Simunye, by I Fagiolini (Anna's group). I've had the album for a few years, but I'd forgotten about it till I Fagiolini were featured artists on Radio 3 recently and both these tracks were played. If you get a chance to hear the whole album (or any of their others - sadly I only own this one)... do!
Ah Robin
Douce Dame Jolie
I have a load of random non-mp3 links to share too, so let's get them out of the way:
Someone is writing a book about conducting and wants help.
A really interesting selection of music you should try. I haven't heard all this stuff myself, but the stuff from the list that I have heard makes me want to hear the rest.
All sorts of arguments about vibrato: an Elgar performance that didn't please everyone; plans to do another one at the Last Night of the Proms; another viewpoint.
More arguments, this time about whether or not you need to be able to read music: Damon Albarn's view; a response; another response.
Reviews of the best Prom so far (although the Doctor Who prom came close!): from the Guardian; the Times; the Independent; and the FT. (The last one, indirectly, sort of mentions us!)
Article by Peter Phillis about conducting at the Proms.
I've recorded Maestro but I haven't had time to watch it yet. People have been raving about it though. In the meantime, here's a brief article by another of the competitors (I think I mentioned Alex James a post or two ago).
Did you know about the peregrine falcons nesting in Manchester city centre? No, neither did I. Have any of you actually seen them?
A new type of sportsperson: extreme cellists!
Courtesy of ChoralNet, a beautifully written post about a particularly moving choir rehearsal. I'd love to hear the piece she's talking about!
Brief article about singers who cancel gigs. I was about to say that it seems as if our curse in this area has been finally lifted, but that would be tempting fate!
Interesting article about being a professional 2nd oboist. When I got the chance to play in the orchestra at Chet's (which wasn't that often, as there were 4 oboists in my year alone) it was as a 2nd oboist, so it's nice to read about what life might have been like if I'd practised more :-)
Are you enjoying the Olympics? I've watched far more of it this time than I ever have before (albeit while doing other stuff at the same time), but my favourite bit so far was definitely the opening ceremony, and I don't really care how much of it was slightly faked! Anyway, here's a selection of someone's favourite national anthems. I must admit my favourite has always been La Marseillaise - so dramatic! And the Star-Spangled Banner often brings a tear to my eye, although that depends hugely on who's singing it... I *love* it when they sing it at the Superbowl and the World Series etc., and they somehow arrange for fighter planes from the US Air Force to fly overhead at exactly the perfect moment. But watch this performance, which I saw today: the blogger explains the context. Made me cry.
A test to see how many of the 100 most common English words you can guess in 5 minutes. I only managed 26 - I'm very ashamed! (ARGH! I don't think I even put "very"!)
Fantastic Contraption - an online physics game. You'll either love it or hate it. I loved it - I had to stop myself playing it or I would have got nothing done since I discovered it...
And finally, again, Last Choir Standing. I'm still loving this, much to my surprise. Classic FM have a special choir page which I'd never noticed before - has it always been there? Anyway, I think I found it from the Last Choir Standing page. There's also a page of choral links there that I must investigate more fully at some point. But in the meantime, here are thoughts about the competition by From the Front of the Choir; further thoughts from A Cappella News; and a report from The Stage, who attended the most recent show.
I must admit I'm quite surprised at some of the results now - at first I found myself in agreement with the judges most of the time, but this is no longer the case quite so much (although I haven't yet totally disagreed with them...) I was actually expecting Sense of Sound to win the whole thing, so I'm very surprised that they're out while choirs that are nowhere near as good (in my opinion) are still in. I was also shocked that Last Minute didn't make it, because I was extremely impressed with them. Plus, they had Justin Finch-Fletchley as their lead singer!
I have no quibble with the others that have gone. Of the ones who are left, even though they're not the five I would have kept... well, I would expect the final to be between ACM Gospel Choir and Only Men Aloud!, and I think the gospel choir will win. But I've been wrong so far, so let's see!
Anyway, the very end of Mahler 2, in 3 chunks:
Langsam, mysterioso (first choir entry, figure 31)
Etwas bewegter (alto solo, figure 39)
Mit Aufschwung, aber nicht eilen (sop/alto duet, figure 44)
(I've always had it in my head that the choir sings for only the last 5 minutes of the symphony, so I was quite surprised to discover that these three tracks have a total length of almost 15 minutes!)
(If you prefer video, try this one and its continuation. I think the choir's a bit out of tune, but it's fun to watch anyway.)
While we're doing mp3s, I want to share two more with you, because I've had them on the brain for weeks. They're from the fabulous (but hard to find) album Simunye, by I Fagiolini (Anna's group). I've had the album for a few years, but I'd forgotten about it till I Fagiolini were featured artists on Radio 3 recently and both these tracks were played. If you get a chance to hear the whole album (or any of their others - sadly I only own this one)... do!
Ah Robin
Douce Dame Jolie
I have a load of random non-mp3 links to share too, so let's get them out of the way:
Someone is writing a book about conducting and wants help.
A really interesting selection of music you should try. I haven't heard all this stuff myself, but the stuff from the list that I have heard makes me want to hear the rest.
All sorts of arguments about vibrato: an Elgar performance that didn't please everyone; plans to do another one at the Last Night of the Proms; another viewpoint.
More arguments, this time about whether or not you need to be able to read music: Damon Albarn's view; a response; another response.
Reviews of the best Prom so far (although the Doctor Who prom came close!): from the Guardian; the Times; the Independent; and the FT. (The last one, indirectly, sort of mentions us!)
Article by Peter Phillis about conducting at the Proms.
I've recorded Maestro but I haven't had time to watch it yet. People have been raving about it though. In the meantime, here's a brief article by another of the competitors (I think I mentioned Alex James a post or two ago).
Did you know about the peregrine falcons nesting in Manchester city centre? No, neither did I. Have any of you actually seen them?
A new type of sportsperson: extreme cellists!
Courtesy of ChoralNet, a beautifully written post about a particularly moving choir rehearsal. I'd love to hear the piece she's talking about!
Brief article about singers who cancel gigs. I was about to say that it seems as if our curse in this area has been finally lifted, but that would be tempting fate!
Interesting article about being a professional 2nd oboist. When I got the chance to play in the orchestra at Chet's (which wasn't that often, as there were 4 oboists in my year alone) it was as a 2nd oboist, so it's nice to read about what life might have been like if I'd practised more :-)
Are you enjoying the Olympics? I've watched far more of it this time than I ever have before (albeit while doing other stuff at the same time), but my favourite bit so far was definitely the opening ceremony, and I don't really care how much of it was slightly faked! Anyway, here's a selection of someone's favourite national anthems. I must admit my favourite has always been La Marseillaise - so dramatic! And the Star-Spangled Banner often brings a tear to my eye, although that depends hugely on who's singing it... I *love* it when they sing it at the Superbowl and the World Series etc., and they somehow arrange for fighter planes from the US Air Force to fly overhead at exactly the perfect moment. But watch this performance, which I saw today: the blogger explains the context. Made me cry.
A test to see how many of the 100 most common English words you can guess in 5 minutes. I only managed 26 - I'm very ashamed! (ARGH! I don't think I even put "very"!)
Fantastic Contraption - an online physics game. You'll either love it or hate it. I loved it - I had to stop myself playing it or I would have got nothing done since I discovered it...
And finally, again, Last Choir Standing. I'm still loving this, much to my surprise. Classic FM have a special choir page which I'd never noticed before - has it always been there? Anyway, I think I found it from the Last Choir Standing page. There's also a page of choral links there that I must investigate more fully at some point. But in the meantime, here are thoughts about the competition by From the Front of the Choir; further thoughts from A Cappella News; and a report from The Stage, who attended the most recent show.
I must admit I'm quite surprised at some of the results now - at first I found myself in agreement with the judges most of the time, but this is no longer the case quite so much (although I haven't yet totally disagreed with them...) I was actually expecting Sense of Sound to win the whole thing, so I'm very surprised that they're out while choirs that are nowhere near as good (in my opinion) are still in. I was also shocked that Last Minute didn't make it, because I was extremely impressed with them. Plus, they had Justin Finch-Fletchley as their lead singer!
I have no quibble with the others that have gone. Of the ones who are left, even though they're not the five I would have kept... well, I would expect the final to be between ACM Gospel Choir and Only Men Aloud!, and I think the gospel choir will win. But I've been wrong so far, so let's see!
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