I strongly encourage everyone to copy the translation (provided on the handout - see Chistina if you did not receive one) into your score. It will help a lot, if - as you are singing - you can look down and see what the words mean.
Choral Introit: Awake! Psaltery and Harp! I will rouse the dawn!
Mvmt 1: Psalm 100 - Make a joyful noise!
Mvmt 2: Psalm 23 The Lord is My Shepherd/Psalm 2 Why do the nations rage
("Spring will come again" from Skin of our Teeth vs "Mix! Make a mess of 'em. Make the sons of bitches pay!) Sharks & Jets from West Side Story)
Mvmt 3: Psalm 131 Lord, my heart is not haughty - let Israel hope in the Lord...
and, most important (from L.B. himself),
In this atmosphere of humility, there is a final Chorale Coda, a prayer for peace:
Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together. AMEN!
Embody the meaning of the text in our choral tone. If you are thinking about those words, how could you possible make anything but a beautiful, in-tune sound???
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3 comments:
I first absorb the music because that is were the feelings are then once internalized, then attach the literal meaning to it.This usually happens almost simultaneously because its like when someone says something but the way they say it says more than what the words are, that's what I mean.I pay strict attention to what is not being said,intuition.So whenever there is a sudden "tenderly" or "pianissimo" in a piece it is like the composer is the most vulnerable and therefore where I try and transcend all anxiety and fear. I know what the words mean but the emotion in changes of dynamic to the softer, is what appeals to me first.My way of saying I understand...
I don't mean that reading the text as you learn the music is not a better way or that learning the words first would be wrong its just that "words" speak to me only if the "music" speaks first and for that I go strictly on emotion.I don't think about it, its on its own.Like when I was thinking of the ...hemah..hemah part in the Chichester, well hearing it clearly then I heard a wrong note,yes in my head, and I had to "replay" and think of the right note.This was really crazy how the mind works.Well I knew it was wrong not because of the word that was attached but because it "felt" like the different note than what was supposed to be there and sure enough I corrected it.It surprised me that I could hear a wrong note in my head but I did. I realized I was saying the words to go with the music and messed up. I guess my right/left side were not communicating.hahaha(:>)
I am studying this score for a performance at Peabody Conservatory of Music and future gigs. This translations is a find! Thank you and all the best in your musical journey!
www.dianacantrelle.com
mezzo-soprano
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