I'm so sad that I had to miss choir! I've had a terrible flu, and even today can hardly speak, let alone sing. I'm tired and cranky and I'm very much looking forward to being myself again.
We're so lucky to have Lauren, who can take over when necessary. And, we're lucky to have Tab, who took over for Donna this week, as Donna took a well-deserved vacation to visit family in Ottawa. I think we both should have a night off once in a while. You probably enjoyed the change of pace and different perspective on things.
Lauren sent me a detailed summary of what she did, so I can catch up, and you can too.
The small group that met at 6:30 was My Heart Will Go On, made famous by our Canadian superstar, Celine Dion. The song represents our need to sing to support us in difficult times. Good progress was made. There are only a couple of tricky bits to learn, and that will be easy. Please review your music if you are in this group.
1. Here's To Song: Excellent progress! You did the choruses and the ending. You also did the a capella part and it went well! Lauren identified a couple of places that need work, and one of them is "Kings have riches widely lain" where there's dissonance. That's always an issue, but we'll get it.
2. Thank You for the Music: Lauren says you really worked hard on the oohs under the solo third verse. That part is difficult in many ways. The end of the solo is particularly challenging and I don't really like the way it's done, so we'll need to work on simplifying it. You reviewed the chorus, and did the ending!? Wow. The coda is not crazy, but I'm impressed. Something Lauren mentioned was messy is at the top of page 4, "all I want is to sing it out loud". Take some time to listen to the recordings on the website, and/or on YouTube if you're finding that challenging, but we'll work on it together some more. We'll have it perfect by May.
3. One Voice: Skipping the solos, you sang through a couple of times. Let's keep on top of this one. It's good, but we can't lose it. And, we'll work on the solos with Melodie, Lorraine, and Stanley too. Something you might want to review with the recordings is going from page 5 to 6 and into the key change. We'll do it together again, of course, but if you have a chance to work on your own, it will help us all.
4. Hallelujah: Sounds like you had fun! I love to do something new with an old song (just look at all the pencil notes on some of your music!). Melinda suggested that all the baritone voices sing the solo, then 4 altos and 3 sopranos join them to sing the first verse and first hallelujah, then, all women sing the second solo, and finally everyone comes in at "blaze of light". Sounds good. It's much more dramatic when you start off softer, and grow bigger toward the end. There were other suggestions that Lauren noted, and we can certainly try some.
5. Why We Sing: This one too is most powerful when you start of soft and sweet and save the strength for later. That's one reason that I've given the beginning to solos and small groups in the past. And, there's some turn taking between sections in the beginning to keep things softer. I'm thinking about having solos in the beginning again. Anyone interested? Let me know.
Next week: Tuesday, February 24th
Small Group 6:30 My Heart Will Go On
- Here's to Song
- Grand Night for Singing
- O Canada
- Song for Canada
- We Rise Again
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