Autumn Rehearsal Recordings (September - December 2018)
Saturday 1st December : Tree Festival Concert
I recorded the concert on 1st December so that we could listen back and improve on our pieces for next Sunday's concert. Please make note of my notes below!
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The first verse harmonically was great; but you need to bring more focus to your sound. Sing like you know what you are doing (which you do!). Nice flow into the second verse - again, it lacked a little confidence, but musically it worked. The third verse, which is the trickiest, worked very well. Yes, there was a problem at the end of the verse BUT well-watched! The last verse wasn't very confident because you were thrown by a mistake in the piano part. Advice - try to ensure you know the words well enough that you don't have to look down... eyes up to me as much as you can; I'll help you best I can. A good first performance with plenty of scope for increased confidence next week.
The first thing to say is that the first verse is TUTTI by all and loud. Please drop down in volume just before the first chorus. The first chorus needs to be more confident and has to have more light and shade. Each chorus then needs to be a replication of the previous chorus and always sung with joy and confidence! Jerry is doing a grand job and we need to complement his efforts. FINALLY - the last verse needs to be REALLY LOUD (GLORIOUS!!) - but nice drop in dynamics on the second Alleluia - BUT the final chorus lacked something; the energy dropped substantially. The final chorus should be the most exciting of all them but, in this performance, it was rather like a wet fish....
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You know this piece really very well know and I was pleased to hear a really good attempt at including all the dynamics! Well done! Lovely lines, too, smoothly sung and with a warmth of tone..... some points - please don't breathe after "be" in the first verse. Add a proper "d" on the word "Sped" at the start of the second verse. Also please put ALL Ts throughout the whole piece. MEN - please get your solo bits more accurate and confident: "Hail Mary" and "God's" - it just doesn't maintain the high standard of the piece if these crucial words are not sung well. This piece has the potential to be brilliant with just a little more attention to detail.
The first note MUST be sung with confidence. Sung with surety and leading into the first phrase. Sopranos - "but it's December" - not too loud please, we're losing the harmonies underneath. I'd like the chorus to start more quietly, please. Less from the Sopranos - remember you outweigh the Men's part but 4 to 1! Generally, Sops, sing more gently, unless I tell your otherwise. I WANT ALL Ts please :) (white, bright). - overemphasise them please. Lovely four part harmony where I've added the 2nd soprano line - very well done! Watch me for the ending - no looking down (you don't need to check the words or your parts - you should know them!). I'll SLOW up to "be" then speed up for the underneath "aahs" and slow up for "be white". Altos and Basses you must watch me to get it sounding all together and controlled. This is a good piece for us and only needs attention to detail to make our performances of it more professional sounding.
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Recordings from our rehearsals will appear below (sometimes with comments!) chronologically - the most recent rehearsal will appear at the top.
Sunday 18th November - Joint Rehearsal @ Collier Row Methodist
Sunday 28th October
An interesting rehearsal today; it highlighted the issues left to resolve before our concerts in December. Below are the rehearsal recordings..
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The initial runthrough of this piece was slightly too fast but the good news is that the harmonies were known. The only thing the Sopranos must be sure of is the last chorus, which I went through at the end of this rehearsal recordings. Please do listen to that bit, especially, Sopranos. Thank you. THIS PIECE WILL BE FINE!
This piece needs zip and zing in it's delivery. Basses - you are singing the same as the 1st Sopranos - you should not be doing ANY harmony at all. Please make sure you sing the correct line. Listen carefully to the Soprano 1s. Sopranos 2s - mmmm - interesting harmonies. We will spend a little time on the harmonies next rehearsal, Sop 2s. HOWEVER please listen to the GUIDES to ensure that you are more confident with finding your notes. There are points in this recording where there should be only TWO notes being sung and there are SEVERAL.... ! Remember - SOP1s & BASSES sing PART 1 and ALTOS and SOPS2 sing Part 2! THIS NEEDS A LITTLE REFINING but will be FINE.
Good positive start, I'd like it a little more majestic. Don't delay going into the chorus. ALTOS I don't feel you know your part in the chorus very well. Please go over it using the guides. BASSES - you need to be more sure of your part. JEREMY - good effort on the verses. I'll spend time with you going through the part with you at the extra session this weekend. DESCANT AT THE END - I'll teach to you next rehearsal. THIS WILL BE ABSOLUTELY FINE: especially if your choruses are exciting and sung with lots of enjoyment.
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The first thing that strikes me here is that the BASS part is not confident; I was having to sing loudly to keep it going. We did work on little bits so please do listen to that part of the rehearsal, Basses. Even after the rehearsal the Basses were unsure. SOPRANOS - make sure you do not overpower the harmony parts. And remember, 2nd Sopranos, the changes we made at the end, to stop you needing to hit the top G! SOPS & ALTOS - this will be fine. BASSES - we need to go through your part more carefully.
BASSES - we need to go through your part! The entries were not good and your pitching was approximate in the chorus. I don't think you know your part well enough. WE WILL FIX THIS NEXT REHEARSAL. SOPS & ALTOS - well done, but do remember that the Sopranos do not need to "belt" it out or you'll over balance the other parts. ALL of you need to know the words better. You should be able to look up from your books for ALL of the CHORUSES! This would save you faffing around page turning :) THIS PIECE IS FINE BUT IS NOT AS GOOD AS IT WAS LAST YEAR - YET! I think the words a little more attack, zip and zing. It will sound better when the BASSES know there part better.
VERY LOUD!! This is a soft, gentle piece. However, in terms of bringing out the harmonies, this volume was fine for rehearsal. SOPRANOS - please remember that you have got the main melody and there are lots of you! Please sing quieter and balance yourselves with the harmony parts. BASSES - we need to check through your parts. OVERALL - a good rendition. DYNAMICALLY too loud - but we'll get there.
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This is the second runthrough of the rehearsal. Good bright start by all. It may be a smidging slower. BASSES - you need to know the THIRD verse really well. I would also like the BASSES to know the harmony verse much better. SOPRANOS - you are overpowering again here; but I can hear the Altos know what they're doing. 1st SOPRANOS - I will go over the descant with you during our next rehearsal. THIS IS NOT BAD - IT NEEDS A LITTLE MORE REFINING... but'll it will be FINE. Please make sure you know the words a little better, everyone.
A good positive start. Strong Soprano and Alto lines, as far as I could pick out. Basses - we need to go through this part. Some of the pitching was very approximate! I was concentrating very much on your line throughout. You've got the gist but it needs strengthening to make it work effectively. We need more dynamic contrast in this piece. Don't forget that the tune must be prominent throughout. THIS PIECE IS GENERALLY WELL KNOWN, with the exception of the Bass Part. Needs to refine with dynamics to improve.
MORE ALTOS please at the start. Slightly less BASS. Basses I think you roughly know where you're going throughout this piece BUT it needs more confidence. Be careful of some of the rhythms that was highlighted in this and previous rehearsals. Chorus might be a little slower but there were good phrases. We could be even MORE legato. The NEW parts in the Second Sops worked - it wasn't exactly right - but you used your ears sensibly and kept it going. Well done. Sopranos - watch at the end - no gap between "Christmasses" and "be". We need to work on the LAST PHRASE in terms of the notes. We'll sort this out next rehearsal.
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This is our hardest piece this season. You have worked really hard on it to get it "under your belts".
First Verse - This is absolutely fine. Second Sopranos: you need more confidence in your "tune". It is there but nervous. The LINK between verse 1 & verse 2 needs work and strengthening. Basses - well done, again, needs a little more confidence (and probably less volume at the moment to balance with the altos).
Second Verse - all the elements were there but not necessarily in a concordant fashion. It is the timing that is the issue. Each part needs to be counting and confident in their own tune. We will have to spend serious time on this next rehearsal.
Third Verse - again, the notes were there but the timing was not. This was disappointing as LAST week we spent AGES sorting it out. PLEASE LISTEN to the rehearsal recordings. SEE BELOW!! It is imperative.
Fourth Verse - The timing was much better here as were the confidence in the harmonies. STILL full of nervousness, though.
THIS PIECE NEEDS THE MOST WORK BY FAR. At the moment it is nowhere near concert standard. Frankly, it is very messy. I know that everyone has worked hard on the piece but I have to make this point very clear: it is not because of individual work that the piece is not working.
It is because this term we have had not ONE rehearsal with everybody in attendance. There are some singers who are not aware of how all the parts fit together; there are some singers who have missed key rehearsals. It is hugely frustrating from my point of view. This Christmas we are singing more pieces than we ever have in our choir and yet we have had a bout of record low attendance throughout this term.
I am sure you will raise the bar and push yourselves to deliver two good concerts but I'd rather feel more confident at this stage of the term.....
First Verse - This is absolutely fine. Second Sopranos: you need more confidence in your "tune". It is there but nervous. The LINK between verse 1 & verse 2 needs work and strengthening. Basses - well done, again, needs a little more confidence (and probably less volume at the moment to balance with the altos).
Second Verse - all the elements were there but not necessarily in a concordant fashion. It is the timing that is the issue. Each part needs to be counting and confident in their own tune. We will have to spend serious time on this next rehearsal.
Third Verse - again, the notes were there but the timing was not. This was disappointing as LAST week we spent AGES sorting it out. PLEASE LISTEN to the rehearsal recordings. SEE BELOW!! It is imperative.
Fourth Verse - The timing was much better here as were the confidence in the harmonies. STILL full of nervousness, though.
THIS PIECE NEEDS THE MOST WORK BY FAR. At the moment it is nowhere near concert standard. Frankly, it is very messy. I know that everyone has worked hard on the piece but I have to make this point very clear: it is not because of individual work that the piece is not working.
It is because this term we have had not ONE rehearsal with everybody in attendance. There are some singers who are not aware of how all the parts fit together; there are some singers who have missed key rehearsals. It is hugely frustrating from my point of view. This Christmas we are singing more pieces than we ever have in our choir and yet we have had a bout of record low attendance throughout this term.
I am sure you will raise the bar and push yourselves to deliver two good concerts but I'd rather feel more confident at this stage of the term.....
Sunday 14th October
Today we concentrated upon "O Christmas Tree" for the entirety of the first half. I've split the practice of the piece into three parts for you. It was hard work but it is now getting there. You all need to make sure you go over this for it's timings. Listen to these rehearsal recordings which will help you more, I think, than the guidetracks in this respect. Mezzo Sopranos - you need to ensure your tunes are really solid in your heads. We also broke the back of the new bit of White Christmas - I will record the extra parts for the Mezzos this week. The other pieces are a little rough around the edges but will be OK. We've only two more rehearsals before our joint rehearsals - it is really important to get as much home learning done as possible so our next two rehearsals are really productive. AND PLEASE make sure you are ALL at the next rehearsals if possible. We have been missing many of our members so far this term - I have not seen a full choir in attendance yet.
Sunday 30th September
A better rehearsal today and I feel we broke the back of the pieces we looked at; O Christmas Tree still needs work but we went over the first couple of verses and worked on the getting the parts more confident. We have three rehearsals to really get it nailed. Please spend time with the guidetracks and the recordings below for this particular piece. All other pieces came together really well today. Good job.
Sunday 16th September
Today's rehearsal was more hard work than the first rehearsal. However we got a lot done and covered things that will help you in your home practise. Please spend time listening to the recording of the rehearsal where we focussed on "O Christmas Tree". This is probably our trickiest piece this year - please ensure you learn your tunes so we can focus on timings in our rehearsals. Thank you ..... and an especial thanks for those singing "Dear Lord I Thank Thee" on the 23/09. I love this piece and always have an emotional reaction to it. To say I'm proud of it is an understatement :)
Sunday 2nd September
What a cracking rehearsal - well done to all! We got through lots of the pieces and (probably) surprised ourselves with how much we remembered from last year! Let's keep this up for the rest of term....! - Tom.
