|
OK, we're off and running, folks! From a rather tentative beginning to our first rehearsal, after about an hour we were starting to sound like a choir! That unison T/B opening to "Sure On This Shining Night" was truly impressive. For every one of our many years together I'm reminded that each term's singers are a completely new unit: that particular group has never sung together, and following the concert those exact people will never sing together again. Thinking of it that way, and with the massive challenges we've signed on for in the resumption of masks for others' safety in light of the trifecta of viruses present in our midst right now, this whole preparation period will be nothing short of miraculous.
I want to congratulate and thank each one of you for signing on to the challenge. A large number of our regulars are sitting this one out for varied reasons, so I'm calling you The Warriors—the intrepid ones who will persevere in order to experience this music's deep meaning. Our numbers and our balance are quite challenging.
I'll be experimenting with an adjusted seating arrangement next week, so please stay flexible: We're going to go completely against recognized practice and seat the basses and baritones in front of the tenors! With the addition of our new Super Warrior 1st tenors, now the section with the fewest number of 1sts and 2nds are the Baritones and Basses (longtime regulars Jim Rutledge and Phil Nyegaard have both moved out of state, and others find it impossible to sing masked), so I'd like to try putting our lowest section where they'll be heard without having to shout. We'll know by the end of rehearsal whether the arrangement is a go or not.
Here's the rehearsal schedule: We'll begin by actually getting to know the first part of the first section of Alzheimer's Stories (hereafter referred to as Stories for obvious reasons), actually singing the notes now. I'm not sure that the text reading was as helpful an introduction as I thought it might be, so this will probably be more satisfying. We'll focus on the portion before the entrance of the doctor and his patient, and go over that German phrase enough to project every consonant and to make every facet of the phrase sound natural.
Then after the break we'll work some more on "Sure On This Shining Night," clarifying and securing your vocal lines. That's the music that has been my earworm this week, and I'm not a bit sorry. Finally, we'll turn our attention to the "Serenade to Music" in order to settle your part assignments for those passages when each section is divided not just into two, but three parts! You could already tell how very luscious this piece is. I said to someone that if you're diabetic you probably shouldn't sing that piece.
Now I must make a Public Service Announcement on behalf of our librarian, since I unwittingly made her job far more difficult last Tuesday: I hope you have noticed that every octavo (short piece) in your packet has been assigned the same number. That's because, though Stories is yours to keep, the rest of the music has been borrowed and absolutely must be returned. The numbering system makes you more accountable in that regard. But when we found that "Sure On This Shining Night" had been left out of some packets, I encouraged those of you without scores to rob some of the unused packets! Of course, our doing that totally messed up Rebekah's numbering system, and she had spent the entire day getting all that music organized. That frenzied work load explains how some packets could have been missed for that piece.
Here's what we're going to do: if you have one of the borrowed copies of "Sure On This Shining Night", i.e. one with a number different from all the other scores in your packet, be prepared to give that one back. In exchange you'll get an all-new one, which you will give the number matching all your other music. Please, please, be very diligent about this, so that Rebekah will speak to me again!
By the way, in this instruction I am of course assuming that each of you has a pencil with you at all rehearsals, right? Please make it so.
Please take care of yourselves, and I can't wait for next Tuesday. By the way, didn't you think your work on "Sing Me To Heaven" was amazing? It'll be memorized before long.
Solveig
| 
