We had a wonderful time getting to know one another a bit better at breaktime! Lorraine set up the coffee and tea even though she couldn't stay to enjoy it (sick) and Winston, Kim (alto), and Helene brought some really yummy treats! (Thank you!) The extra-long break was well-deserved. We worked hard.
We started the evening with a warm-up to Lovely Day, by Bill Withers. It has a lovely chorus for testing your stamina. It was especially useful on a day when the tenors had several very long notes to hold. (and yes, tenors plural, there were two! Stanley and Mona came back).
I talked about a protest song I heard being sung by a crowd of people in a demonstration in the US (Minneapolis) that was posted on Instagram. It was as a real example of "One Voice, all it takes is one voice, and everyone will sing." About 30 people were expected to come to learn a few songs to sing, but 300 people filled the church where they met. Then, in the streets, the singing crowd led by a woman with a microphone, grew to over 600 and they sang in harmony in both senses of the word. The good people of America sang, "Hold on! Hold on, my dear ones, here comes the dawn." I was moved to tears.
1. O Canada: Take a look at your sheet music. Somehow we got a couple different versions in our binders. If you have a Cypress Press copy, please hand it back to Peggy. We're using the one from Mayfair Music. We started with accompaniment, but then sang without. It's really powerful with just voices. We went over the whole song for the altos. At the end, there's a thing that we usually ignore on page 4 at the end. (see screenshot below) There's an extra note, an eighth note that isn't tied to the one before it, and it has no words. We've been interpreting that as tied. We're going to sing it this time. We're going to give the word "for" two syllables on the same note. So we get: We stand on guard fo-or thee. We're not going to have a big high note at the end. A good solid ending, not flashy. I'm so happy and proud to be a Canadian!
2. Song for Canada: We walked/sang through what we're doing with this piece this year and we learned the ahs in verse 2. You will want to mark your music with an arrow or a star to remind you where you're singing. The first verse is simple. We're all singing the melody in unison, and that first line of music is for either a soloist or small group, or "tutti", meaning "all". In the second verse, a small group of sopranos and altos will sing the French words, in the line shown as Voice(s) 2/ Tutti, and the rest will sing the ahs in the choir bracket SATB. Several people have expressed an interest in singing the French. We do need a good number of people to sing the ahs. We'll see. There is a key change just before the last verse, and it means that the alto and bass parts will be very high and/or very low. The altos feel that it will be fine if some of them join the tenors when it's too high. They could also join the tenors and go soprano for the low parts. Bass can do the same kind of back-and forth with the melody another octave down when it's too high or join the tenors when two octaves down is too low. The last verse looks a bit busy, because a new line at the top shows up. It's got words, in case that part is sung. But, it can also be played by a C instrument, and we happen to have one. Robyn will play that on her flute. Ignore that top line. (It's parts of O Canada, which we're all singing by itself, right?) Ignore the choir bracket from bar 89 to 112. We're all in the Voices 1 and 2 line, with the words of the third verse. Big ending: at bar 112 on the last page, we all move into the choir bracket. We sing "Land of tomorrow, your time has come, ah-ah-ah-ah!" in parts SATB. Ignore the top two lines of both systems on the last page. We will not divide the tenors nor the basses. Sopranos will divide and altos may divide. We won't have 12-part harmony on the last note, as written, but it will be big.
3. Hymn to Freedom: We learned from the beginning to the top of page 6. Last Tuesday, we looked at the ending. It's going to take some effort to learn this. Luckily, there are a number of us who have sung it before, even though it was quite some years ago. And, luckily, we have parts recorded! Not only do we have the parts for the whole song, but we have recordings for the tricky, jazzy ahs so you can listen to them again and again. You'll see. (see screenshot below)
4. One Voice: We learned parts from the pick-up to bar 47 to the end. It's a big ending, lots of drama. At 47, we're singing softly right after a very loud part, a big drop in volume. Then we get a little louder and louder until we're very loud at the end. The rests on the last page are very dramatic. On the last note, the first sopranos divide. Only one or two to up to the A so it's not squeaky. The other firsts take the F and the second sopranos stay on the C. Basses can do that whole phrase an octave down and end on the C or F the octave down (I want you to try the A, two octaves down too). Cathy, Stanley, and Lauren sang the solos at the beginning for us today. Let me know if you would like to try any of those three solos. I like to hear new people, or different people trying solos.
Next week: Tuesday, January 27th
6:30 Altos' Sectional Practice, just altos getting extra practice
- Hymn to Freedom
- One Voice
- Song for Canada
- Thank You for the Music
- Hallelujah
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| on our website (don't know what those numbers are) |
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| Extra note in O Canada. |
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