|
Hi all,
Nice work last Tuesday, everybody! I'm very pleased with where we are, at this point: the music is really beginning to take shape, especially the Bach. You can expect to work the "Gloria" every week, until it really sounds like you like it! As I keep telling you, the progressions are quite challenging, which is why so far you just sound a bit reluctant and scared. But soon (next Tuesday?) it will finally click, and those triplets will cascade down like waterfalls.
As for the Rutter, there are so many more movements in it that it still needs to feel more secure, especially on the last movements. On Tuesday it was almost comical how we sang confidently and well through the Bach and into the Rutter, until the end of "Fecit potentiam," and then you suddenly hit a wall and sounded like you were almost sightreading! Part of that could have been weariness, since I'm pushing hard to build your stamina (I believe it's called tough love), but in truth we haven't spent as much time on movements 4-7, so they lack the confidence that's really showing in all the rest of the music.
So those four movements of the Rutter will be our priority next week. The deceptively mystical segment from letter H on p.20 in "He Has Shown Strength" has tricky entrances, softly conveying calm and sweetness while absolutely keeping the fast inner tempo. The preceding segments of that movement are so jagged and combative that you're tempted to change the mood by going much more slowly; but Rutter's point here is that we remain calm in the eye of the storm. The storm hasn't gone away at all—we're just unaware of it!
In the interests of time last week we even had to skip "Esurientes," and that's a dangerous thing to do because we need to enjoy and exploit the cross rhythms of your duples against the constant triples in the accompaniment. It's going to be especially interesting combining with the soloist in this movement because I've asked her to sing in Latin throughout the work, enabling you to immediately translate for the audience.
The "Gloria Patri" is a long powerhouse, eventually returning to the rhythmic, energetic themes of the opening movement. And then the final pages are unbearably thrilling, demanding all of your remaining strength!
If there's time, I do want to run "Et misericordia" with its shifting tonalities. It feels especially long to me with the repetitive text, so we must keep the involvement alive by really observing dynamic and character shifts.
Expect to work on Rutter first next week, returning to a straigh-through run of the program the following week.
As always, I love your work ethic in rehearsals. It's fun for me, and will really pay off. Please stay healthy, OK? Lots of steak or the vegetarian equivalent.
With my love,
| 
