28 October 2025

Dear Singers,

Energetic rehearsal - thank you all!

IMPORTANT NOTICES:

• Choral Clinic starting next week!! The 'drop in' will be available from 6.30 - 7.00. Just come and find a seat! This time will be devoted to singing through sections and movements that we already know quite well, giving you a chance to 'spot check' and build confidence. If more time is required we can extend the time in future, let's see how it goes.

• Seating layout  I hope you have found the arrangement of facing each other helpful for hearing other sections. Thank you for setting up and returning chairs - very helpful. We will continue this arrangement until the workshop (Saturday 15th), after which we will return to concert format. 

• ALERT FOR ALL TENORS! 
  Please see NN no. 2 (La Peregrinacion) In last week's rehearsal I asked you to change all B naturals to B flats. This was based on one recording, and further research has suggested I was wrong to do this!
  Please sing B naturals as written, in the following bars: 25, 32, 41, 48, 56, 81, 88, 97, 104, 112. With apologies. 

WHAT WE DID ON 28.10.25
Niño lindo - This beautiful lullaby began to take shape. The singing needs to be warm and legato (smooth), and the triplet rhythms should be languid and not rushed. In the verse section the alto and tenor 'rocking' should be sung with a continuous 'oooh' vowel, using the 'd' to gently articulate the rhythm (not rushing the triplets!)
Typo alert! Sopranos, bar 11, the words should be 'an-te ti me' 

Sing along with Niño lindo:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzngQruF4gU

MC Credo - The hard graft from last week really paid off and we sang to page 21 very confidently - Brave!  Bars 89 to 95 are tricky and took a while - we'll return to pages 23 to end next week. Please listen to this if you can.
https://open.spotify.com/track/016dR7BTCK06sYwqy9yWXT?si=637e6eb0a2564270

NN Movt 4 - We made a start on this. There were some note changes/additions. Here is a map of the sections - amend your scores 
if possible please:

Bars 1-5 Tutti (this happens 3 times)
Bar 7 (p43)  Solo top part & tenors lower part / basses bottom
Bar 12 (p44)  All sops / Altos split. Top altos sing GAB ABC / BBD CCC / BBB ABA / G#  Bottom altos sing EF#G F#GA / GGB AAA / GGG F#GF# / E
Bar 15 - Tenor solo takes the bass line (an octave higher)
Bar 25 (p49) - Tenor solo
Bar 30 - 32 repeat of bar 12....
Bar 33 - As written
Everything from here is a repeat of previous sections

This recording is a pretty close match to what we sing!
https://open.spotify.com/track/3275POXtJQb933hok5htvJ?si=bb3e67c0599341c4&nd=1&dlsi=71695a5ace0e427c

WHAT WE WILL DO ON  04.11.25
MC Credo - finish from page 23
NN no. 4 - Check note changes (listed above) and learn it
La Huayno (in separate booklet) Here is a recording, the piece begins at 2'18"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4smQwsQeR8

....and finally, a nice relaxed solo rendering of the lovely A la huella melody (NN no. 2)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZVXxTRp45k&list=PLloxRkIwt8TNNyAG6NXo2QO5e-yoqNgog&index=6

Happy singing and practising.
Peter Hunt