Elgar Festival Chorus - Rehearsal 2 - Feb 15th
Thank you to those who were able to attend last Saturdays rehearsal. I think we made great progress and I look forward to getting the final few pages that are left to cover of the Ireland under our belts.
For those who couldn’t attend last Saturday I include the markings you need next :
Page 24 – Bar 216 Altos take a quaver out of ‘homes’ and in 217, Sops do likewise.
Page 25 – Bar 228 there is a general lift off after ‘praise’
Page 26 – END of Bar 232 there will be a very slight gap before continuing on to the key change in Bar 233. The precise length will be determined by Ken Woods.
Bar 235, there is a quaver out of ‘pride’ for all parts. And in 236 a quaver out of ‘gardens’
Page 28 – Bar 250 the tied note on ‘wise’ is full length. The gap from Bar 250 into Bar 251 will probably be in time with only the printed quaver for a breath. Please watch KW here!
Bar 253, Sops have no breath after ‘arts’ – ATB have a quaver out of ‘mould’ in the same bar. Bar 254 please take a quaver out of ‘bloom’ (Sops) and ‘arts’ for ATB’
Page 29 – Bar 258 a quaver out of ‘skies’ for SATB. Bar 261 on ‘be’ Sops take out a quaver – ATB carry over here. Bar 265 please have a general lift after ‘paradise’
General comment on dynamics – Everything in this piece needs to be a few notches up from the printed dynamic. The reason for this is that we need you to carry your sound over the orchestra. The ability to maintain tonal momentum is particularly important when Ireland leaves the chorus on its own – for example Bars 270/1 on ‘When all the..’. These two bars of chorus alone comes after a sustained period of molto espressivo from choir and orchestra and may catch you out if you are not prepared for it.
Head out of copies – There are multiple points when a unified attack from the choir is important. These points require everyone to have eyes on the conductor and therefore you must have a familiarity of the score that enables you to do this.
Particular examples of this are:
Page 1 – ‘Say, heart..’
Page 5 – ‘Transcending all we gave upon’
Page 10 – Bar 101 ‘These things shall be’
Page – 13 – Bar 115 to 118 ‘a loftier race..’
Page – 14 – Bar 120 ‘With flames of freedom..’
Page – 16 – Bar 135 – 138 ‘They shall be gentle..’
Page – 20 – Bar 156, final crochet beat on ‘and..’ to 158 on ‘air’
Page 30 – Bar 270 ‘When all..’
Final thought – Both the music and your audience will benefit by having you in full communication mode! Sadly, this is a little known piece that most definitely needs to be better known. The John Ireland Trust have given the festival £5000 to help us put it on and we must convince all who attend that it deserves to be heard and appreciated.
I look forward to our continuing musical journey!
See you next time.
Stephen
For those who couldn’t attend last Saturday I include the markings you need next :
Page 24 – Bar 216 Altos take a quaver out of ‘homes’ and in 217, Sops do likewise.
Page 25 – Bar 228 there is a general lift off after ‘praise’
Page 26 – END of Bar 232 there will be a very slight gap before continuing on to the key change in Bar 233. The precise length will be determined by Ken Woods.
Bar 235, there is a quaver out of ‘pride’ for all parts. And in 236 a quaver out of ‘gardens’
Page 28 – Bar 250 the tied note on ‘wise’ is full length. The gap from Bar 250 into Bar 251 will probably be in time with only the printed quaver for a breath. Please watch KW here!
Bar 253, Sops have no breath after ‘arts’ – ATB have a quaver out of ‘mould’ in the same bar. Bar 254 please take a quaver out of ‘bloom’ (Sops) and ‘arts’ for ATB’
Page 29 – Bar 258 a quaver out of ‘skies’ for SATB. Bar 261 on ‘be’ Sops take out a quaver – ATB carry over here. Bar 265 please have a general lift after ‘paradise’
General comment on dynamics – Everything in this piece needs to be a few notches up from the printed dynamic. The reason for this is that we need you to carry your sound over the orchestra. The ability to maintain tonal momentum is particularly important when Ireland leaves the chorus on its own – for example Bars 270/1 on ‘When all the..’. These two bars of chorus alone comes after a sustained period of molto espressivo from choir and orchestra and may catch you out if you are not prepared for it.
Head out of copies – There are multiple points when a unified attack from the choir is important. These points require everyone to have eyes on the conductor and therefore you must have a familiarity of the score that enables you to do this.
Particular examples of this are:
Page 1 – ‘Say, heart..’
Page 5 – ‘Transcending all we gave upon’
Page 10 – Bar 101 ‘These things shall be’
Page – 13 – Bar 115 to 118 ‘a loftier race..’
Page – 14 – Bar 120 ‘With flames of freedom..’
Page – 16 – Bar 135 – 138 ‘They shall be gentle..’
Page – 20 – Bar 156, final crochet beat on ‘and..’ to 158 on ‘air’
Page 30 – Bar 270 ‘When all..’
Final thought – Both the music and your audience will benefit by having you in full communication mode! Sadly, this is a little known piece that most definitely needs to be better known. The John Ireland Trust have given the festival £5000 to help us put it on and we must convince all who attend that it deserves to be heard and appreciated.
I look forward to our continuing musical journey!
See you next time.
Stephen