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Hello all,
Last week we had yet another turning point in this term's work! Milestones seem to have become a habit with this group.
We opened the rehearsal with a checkup on the progress of the first eight Liebeslieder Waltzes, with one of the goals being the movement from one to the next with confidence, especially into the waltzes with no piano introduction. Bingo! Not only did you accomplish that, but all of a sudden you simply caught fire, stylistically. You sure love the fast ones (especially the angry ones, which is a bit concerning...). As I see it, one of the biggest needs remaining is for the tenors to move into their role as soloists. Have you noticed how often that section gets solo lines? It's far more than other sections. Not fair, but there you are. Please bracket or otherwise signal those places in your scores, tenors, and prepare to sing forth!
As a result, I feel confident in letting the Brahms rest over the next two rehearsals while we focus on gaining knowledge and confidence in the other pieces on our program. [NOTE: I had planned to work on the Brahms waltzes for sopranos and altos after the tenors and basses left, but since two of those movements were in the group we had just worked on, and they had sounded really good, so I saw no reason to revisit them. I know that several of you altos asked Trudy about that, so here's your answer!]
For the next two rehearsals we'll rehearse the rest of our selections in what I believe will be program order:
Log Driver's Waltz: We've hardly touched this piece, so it's high time we got to know it. Nicole Lewey Peldyack will be our guest soloist, and I want her to join us in a couple of weeks, so I'd like to make some real headway first. Basses, your part really leads out by defining the key and the rhythmic strength here, so be sure to eat your Wheaties!
Down in the Valley: The tenors and basses learned this during their time alone in rehearsal, but we'll need to keep it warm. You'll sing this for the sopranos and altos on Tuesday.
Loch Lomond: Another one we've barely touched, except to try the characteristic rhythmic lines each section has. Sopranos, you do get to sing the melody at G, softly and then with more strength with the repeat, so please check that out, especially the tricky text underlay at measure 60. Will Velez will be our soloist on this piece, and he'll be out of town for work next week, so let's surprise him by getting it ready for him! Well…we'll make a good start.
Amor de mi Alma: Wow, you knocked me over last week with how quickly you adapted to the Spanish text! As we know, there are regional variants of the language, and it was clear that many of you know the different ways to pronounce some Spanish words. Rather than getting bogged down deciding among us which version is “right”, I'm going to ask you to follow what Will was teaching us last week. He grew up in the Dominican Republic and has those regional variants, but overall it's the beauty of his vowel color that I'd like us to adopt. Yes, if in listening to the recommended recordings of this piece we hear an example that's wildly different, we MAY change, but that would have to be pretty drastic. After all, consider how differently our common language is spoken by Americans in Maine, North Dakota, and Georgia!
Wedding Cantata: We'll review the first movement and learn the second, the canon.
We have a busy night ahead of us next Tuesday! Get lots of sleep, please.
Cheers,
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