Christmas concert line up

Here is the program line up in chronological order of origin:
Christmas Through the Ages
Carols with origins from different time periods.
1100-1400’s
O Come, O Come Emmanuel – Darmon Meader

1400’s

Behold, the Great Creator – arr. Antony Baldwin

1500’s
Joseph Dearest, Joseph Mine – arr. Walter Ehret

1600’s

Fum, Fum, Fum – arr. Parker/Shaw

1700’s

Break Forth, O Beauteous Heavenly Light – J. S. Bach

Domine Fili Unigenite – Antonio Vivaldi

Gloria – Franz Joseph Haydn

1800’s

The White Dove – Johannes Brahms

It Came Upon the Midnight Clear – arr. Valerie Capers

1900’s

Jesus Christ, the Apple Tree – Elizabeth Poston

Nowell – Randall Thompson

The Twelve Days after Christmas – Frederick Silver

2000’s

Beautiful Night – Joe Utterback

In Excelsis Deo! – Greg Gilpin

New season of old and new

First, great concert on Sunday! In a perfect world, we would have more time to revel in what we accomplished on that program. We sang expressively, our words were understood, the audience was quite positive in their comments, and we all just enjoyed that time of music making and celebrating. Why else do we do this that we do? Thanks to all for your fruitful efforts and for putting yourself into the music.
That being said, onto Christmas! We have pieces with a variety of musical origins for this next concert as well as a good mix of styles and arrangements. I love those familiar carols and songs of the season with just a little twist to keep me interested and engaged year after year. To that end, I will soon finish assembling recording tracks of the music on the program. If any of you have any to share, please pass them along as well. For starters, go to my Dropbox folder for the rehearsal file for your voice part for the piece O Come, O Come, Emmanuel. This publisher offers these for free, so see how helpful it is for you. Remember to NOT drag the file out of the box but to COPY it to your computer for your use.
Thanks for all you do each week. See you next Monday!

One more Monday

That says it all. One more regular rehearsal until we make our season debut. I hope you are getting to the point where you can enjoy the music while you are singing. That kind of energy comes through in our sound and expression.  We are in a good place, and I am looking forward to bringing it together in a couple of weeks. The illustrious Emily Floyd will be leading next week's rehearsal in my absence, and we welcome her return. I have sent her some notes on the music that I hope will also guide you in your preparations this week. I have listed the comments in the program order we outlined last night as well, so organize your music accordingly.

Lover and Lass

Verse words – comfortability

Dynamics – pretty much as marked

Silver Swan

Staying together – ensemble – watching for beat

Call to Remembrance

Shaping phrases

Diction

Greensleeves

Dynamics

Rhythm/timing of ending “las”

Look Down

Diction

Amaryllis

Verse words – comfortability

Rhythms – fitting together – ensemble

Sumer

Rehearsing the form of the piece which is:

Accompaniment quartet sings their part twice and continues throughout.

Everyone else sings the entire melody once through in unison.

S-B-A-T sing the melody in four part canon.

The piece ends with two more times through the accompaniment by quartet.

Let Thy Merciful

Phrase shape

A few chromatic pitches – tuning

Psalm 1

Singing the text with better diction and more forward motion as a chant.

Dynamics are:

Verse 1 – forte

Verse 2 – Mezzo forte

Verse 3 – Mezzo piano

Verse 4 – Forte

Verse 5 – Mezzo forte

Verse 6 – Mezzo piano/forte

Ave Verum

Phrase shape – expression

If Ye Love Me

Expression

Entrance both times in measure 14-15

Come Ye Sons

Light/dance quality

Enjoy these pieces, especially the ones that don't seem to get sung as often. Have a great week, and I will talk with you once again before our dress rehearsal.

Attendance and Musicianship

Both were great last night. Maybe these two principles have something in common? I think so. We always hear, "showing up is half the battle," and I think that may be more than partially true for choral groups. We can't know how we will sound or what we are capable of if there are those of us missing. We also encourage each other to sing out or to sing more expressively or to simply sing better. Only with a real representation of our ensemble can we sing as a cohesive ensemble and listen for blend and balance. Not to mention that we were able to sing the entire program which at this point is critical so as to not lose ground on any of the music. Keep up the good work, enjoy this new month, and see you next week!