25 March 2025
Dear Singers,
Thank you for responding so positively to the new seating arrangements this week. For you - Being able to hear the other voices contributes so much to improved ensemble singing, and the tenors and bases are now part of the action! For me - I am equidistant from each voice part and can 'get at you'. I was passed an alto comment that "they can now hear the sopranos better and they sound lovely and ‘bell-like’" This is a most heart-warming compliment which proves the sopranos are working hard on their sound, and being noticed! Well done.
WHAT WE DID THIS WEEK
Hummel: Sanctus & Pleni sunt (p52) - This is a simple and rather jolly chorus which we got our heads around quickly.
Take care with the rhythm for the opening 'Sanctus' - The rhythm must be double dotted, ie matching what the orchestra plays on the 2nd beat of bar 2, very short and snapped second note.
You might be wondering why so? Sometimes editors make decisions like this based on contemporary performing practices using evidence from scores and instrument parts. This is certainly the case from anything from the 15th century to the late 18th, and even into early 19th. Beyond that, there is more chance of the original manuscripts surviving, leaving less to guess-work! Conductors also have preferences, and my inclination is to make the double-dotted rhythms match for the whole of the Sanctus section. The Dominus & Sabaoth rhythms risk sounding rather untidy if sung as written ; if we 'double-dot' - they match, and the ensemble is tidier! To be consistent, we'll treat the three Santuses (Sancti?!) the same.
Credo (from page 36) We attempted some work on the Crucifixus and will start with this again next week.
The CUT SECTION (bars 241 to 332 - pages 45 to 51) works fine - please make sure you have these pages clipped together for a quick turn.
Mozart: Requiem & Cum sanctis (p77) to the end - Good progress. If we hit the right tempo, the semiquaver passages bounce along nicely.
LISTENING AND WATCHING
We are making good progress, and I know you are practising at home. Please keep this up, particularly eradicating your personal gremlins.
As we approach the concert, and there is still much to learn, we must start focusing on our ENSEMBLE (our 'togetherness'). This means every aspect of our singing - right notes & word, tuning, articulation and phrasing, dynamics.
To continue our improvement I am now expecting careful listening to others, and watching me. We do not have a 100% success rate here, yet.......
WHAT WE WILL DO ON 01.04.25
Mozart:
Sanctus and Hostias (p62)
Lux aeterna - link to Requiem (p76)
Domine (p45)
Hummel:
Crucifixus (p37 to end - incorporating CUT)
Quoniam (p19 including CUT)
Thank you everyone, enjoy turning your clocks forward.....
Best wishes,
Peter