6 October 2026

Dear Singers,

This was an excellent rehearsal, well done everyone. Sectional work on No 6 from bar 208 to the end, the great fugue, really paid off and our tutti run through was very creditable. The sopranos deserved high praise for their high notes - it is tiring to sustain an hour's work up there. I am confident that with regular singing, and help from Ghislaine at the workshop, this will become easier and enjoyable. Over the next few weeks we will have further intensive sectionals followed by sings throughs, returning to previous movements regularly to keep them 'warm'.   

TEXT CHALLENGES
Accuracy with the German words is making steady progress and we will always do some exercises to practise this. Elke is putting together a very detailed and clear pronunciation guide for each movement. Thank you Elke.

Here they are for movements 1, 4 & 6. Click HERE.

CHORAL WORKSHOP – 07.11.26 – ST DAVID’S
Flyers are now available, please distribute widely. Our pianist is Peter Adcock who is playing at the concert, and taking the half term rehearsal. Our vocal coach Ghislaine Morgan will help with technique and support for the run up to the concert. The workshop is an opportunity to sing as many choruses as we can, so bring any friends who know the piece!  

WHAT WE DID ON 06.10.26
Before starting sectionals on Movt 6 from bar 208, we plotted the course of the opening fugue subject, which provides useful ‘anchor points’ throughout this section.  A notable feature of this section, which is reflected across the whole work, is Brahms' delight in changing key quite radically and suddenly! Whenever you see accidentals approaching (# & b) you know the music is departing from the established key. This is what defines Brahms as a late Romantic composer, challenging the classical patterns of key relationships.
Reassuringly, some of the 'awkward' phrases make much more sense when you hear the other parts around you, hence the right balance between sectionals and tutti work to learn the piece.

Movement 1: We ran this one following intensive work last week - it sounded confident. This must be very legato, and obey the dynamics to be expressive. Fig. B is an excellent example of a sudden key change. We are expecting a perfect cadence back into F major (the home key), but the music changes to D flat major - a long way around the 'circle of fifths' of key relationships. Quite legitimately it explains why the basses might find this entry tricky. Just one glance at the number of flats (inc a 'double flat' for the tenors) indicates a tonal journey ahead! This needs more work, to which we shall return.

Movement 4: We hastily ran through this as time allowed, so not much to report at this stage.

WHAT WE WILL DO ON 13.10.26
Movt 3, bars 173 to the end. This is the other great fugue, but shorter than movt 6. Sectional and tutti work again
Movt 7 - Revisiting the very legato sound we need (tutti, no sectional)
Movt 6 14 bars after C - Sing through and top/tail in readiness for sectionals the next week

It's always a pleasure working with you, thank you.
Peter