Great Essay on Choral Singing

Dan Coren in the Broad Street Review

Hanukah Fantasy

http://jeffreybiegel.com/sounds/player-home.htm?Hanukah.Fantasy.mp3

Home Stretch

Thanks to all for your excellent work in rehearsal this week. It is heartening to see so many eyes out of the book and hear such engaged music making! Please help me and section leaders get us on and off stage efficiently by being on time and helping us keep track of everyone.
We will rehearse on 12/20 and 1/3 for our twelfth night concert (1/6). Then on to Mozart and SOUL!

Practice!

And, while I'm here, don't forget to practice Bach and Handel for Monday night.
And our holiday rep for Tuesday Orleans Club.
We will have a couple of rehearsals to polish that rep (and the stuff we haven't performed yet) for our Twelfth Night concert on January 6.

Vowels Control Your Brain

Of course, we singers already know this - why a passage sounds different when sung like vanilla ice cream or red velvet cake. But it's also the key to good singing (technique) and communicating with our listeners.

If you want to see the illustrations and some prettier formatting, go to:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/2011/12/07/143265882/vowels-control-your-brain?ft=3&f=111787346&sc=nl&cc=es-20111211

Vowels Control Your Brain

Here's something you should know about yourself. Vowels control your brain.


Robert Krulwich/NPR
"I"s make you see things differently than "O"s. Here's how. Say these words out loud:

Bean
Mint
Slim
These "I" and "E" vowels are formed by putting your tongue forward in the mouth.

That's why they're called "front" vowels.

Now, say:

Large
Pod
Or
Ought

Robert Krulwich/NPR
With these words, your tongue depresses and folds back a bit. So "O", "A" and "U" are called "back" of the throat vowels.

OK, here's the weird part.

When comparing words across language groups, says Stanford linguistics professor Dan Jurafsky, a curious pattern shows up: Words with front vowels ("I" and "E") tend to represent small, thin, light things.

Back vowels ("O" "U" and some "A"s ) show up in fat, heavy things.

It's not always true, but it's a tendency that you can see in any of the stressed vowels in words like little, teeny or itsy-bitsy (all front vowels) versus humongous or gargantuan (back vowels). Or the i vowel in Spanish chico (front vowel meaning small) versus gordo (back vowel meaning fat). Or French petit (front vowel) versus grand (back vowel).

Try this yourself.


Robert Krulwich/NPR
If I make up two words, "Frish" and "Frosh" and tell you each is about to become a new ice cream, which of the two seems richer, heavier?

For me, "Frosh," (with the back vowel "o") seems creamier. I don't know why. Just feels that way. And not just to me. A study in the Journal of Consumer Research found most people imagined Frosh creamier than Frish.

Here's another example. Richard Klink, a marketing professor at Loyola College in Maryland created a test using two sets of names. They were nonsense names, chosen at random:

Nidax vs. Nodax and Detal vs. Dutal

And then, slapping these names on various imaginary products, he asked a group of people:

Which brand of laptop seems bigger; Detal or Dutal?
Which brand of vacuum cleaner seems heavier, Keffi or Kuffi?
Which brand of ketchup seems thicker, Nellen or Nullen?
Which brand of beer seems darker, Esab or Usab?
"In each case," reports Professor Jurasky, "the participants in the study tended to choose the product named by back vowels (dutal, nodax) as the larger, heavier, thicker, darker product. Similar studies have been conducted in various other languages."

Jurasky then wondered, Do businesses know this about vowels?

For example, would an ice cream company (looking to create a rich, creamy and satisfying product,) and a cracker manufacturer, (looking to make something, thin, light and crackily) use different vowels?

He thought they might, so, on his blog, he writes:

To test the hypothesis I downloaded two lists of food names from the web. One was a list of 81 ice cream flavors that I constructed by including every flavor sold by either Haagen Dazs or Ben & Jerry's. The second was a list of 592 cracker brands from a dieting website. For each list, I counted the total number of front vowels and the total number of back vowels (details of the study are here). The result, shown in the table [below], is that ice creams names indeed have more back vowels and cracker names have more front vowels.


Ice cream companies mix in lots of "O"s and "A"s, says Jurasky, like...

Rocky Road, Jamoca Almond Fudge, Chocolate, Caramel, Cookie Dough, Coconut

But the cracker people stick pretty much to "E"s and "I"s.

Cheese Nips, Cheez It, Wheat Thins, Pretzel thins, Ritz, Krispy, Triscuit, Thin Crisps, Cheese Crisps, Chicken in a Biskit, Snack sticks, Toasted chips, Ritz bits

But Why?

Why do we associate "front" vowels with small, thin light things and "back" vowels with big, solid, heavy things?


Robert Krulwich/NPR
Two linguists, John Ohala and Eugene Morton proposed that over evolutionary time, humans instinctively associate pitch with size. Lions, bears, seals make low sounds, canaries, mice, rabbits higher sounds. Not always, but enough of the time that when we hear a low frequency (even in an "O" or a "U") we may think big and heavy, whereas higher frequencies (even in "I's and "E"s) suggest small and light.

The Origin Of The Smile?

Dan Jurasky goes even further. Scholars have noticed, he says, that when people say "Boo!", they form an o-shape with their lips and mouth, and look aggressive and a little dangerous.

But use the "front" vowels, like "I" and "E", your mouth and lips will widen into a kind of smile. Why do we say "cheese" when it's time to take the picture? Why does the word smile contain an "I"? These front vowels, he says, are the "smile" vowels. One day they may even explain why we smile, but in the meantime, the big news is that it's old fashioned to think of vowels as just sounds.

They are more than that: they are little strings that pull on our brains and it turns out, "I"s pull us to different places than "O"s.

Who knew?

Thanks to blog reader and reporter Peter Smith of Good Magazine for suggesting this story.

Bach tempos and Sit/Stand cues (from CMP)

1 Magnificat quarter 94
4 omnes quarter 98
7 fecit quarter 92
11 sicut half (not quarter!) equal 76
12 Gloria always double dot Gloria bars 1 to 19 quarter 56, from 20 on quarter 94

Movements: 1,2,A,3,4,5,B,6,7,C,8,9,D,10,11,12

The chorus stand and sit:

Start standing
Sit after 1
SELU stand after 2, sit after A
All stand after 3
SCNO sit after 4 / SELU remain standing - B will attacca after 5
SELU sit after B
All stand after 6 remain standing thru C which is attacca after 7
All sit after C
All stand after 10 and stand until the end

Jerusalem of Gold

Some background on Jerusalem of Gold (one of the songs in the Hanukah Fantasy):

http://www.jerusalemofgold.co.il/

Audio and Video links for Christmas Rep - Enjoy! (and learn your part, too!)

Biegel Hanukah Fantasy
http://www.jwpepper.com/10070733.item#viewer-tab
Click the button for audio samples

Simeone 'Twas the Night before Christmas
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXPJDlixX58
Fred Waring!

Courtney Musicological Journey through the Twelve Days of Christmas
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryp8MTtznvU
(dumb video but excellent performance!)

Rehearsal this week:

Just a reminder, we will polish up "Glory to God" from Messiah and "Gloria in Excelsis" from Magnificat.
We will have (at least) one new piece: Craig Courtney's A Musicological Journey through the Twelve Days of Christmas.
We will, of course, also review some of the music we've already sung, too!

Recorded performances of Bach Magnificat

Here are some recommended performances of Bach’s Magnificat:

John Elliot Gardner on Philips:

http://www.amazon.com/Bach-Magnificat-Jauchzet-allen-Landen/dp/B0000040W4/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1315952714&sr=1-1

Robert Shaw on TelArc:

http://www.amazon.com/Vivaldi-Gloria-Magnificat-William-Stone/dp/B000003CVK/ref=sr_1_8?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1315953167&sr=1-8

Philip Herrewegghe on Harmonia Mundi:

http://www.amazon.com/J-S-Bach-Magnificat-Johann-Sebastian/dp/B000027O4P/ref=sr_1_20?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1315953446&sr=1-20

Keep in mind that many of these CDs are MUCH cheaper if you purchase them as audio downloads.

Wardell Quezergue passes

Sad news about the death of Wardell. He was a big part of the history of the chorus for many years. Symphony Chorus sang for the CD and DVD recording and for all performances of Creole Mass. Several SCNO members provided chorus for the recording of Wardell's soon to be released Passion. Rest in peace, friend, and thanks for the joy of your msuic!

Making a difference through the power and beauty of choral singing

From Orchestralist:

Va Pensiero: Muti & Berlusconi
Posted by: "Peter Perret"
Wed Jul 13, 2011 8:20 am (PDT)

[Translation: PP]
A superb performance-moment and a cultural revolt! Take the time to
read the translation from Italian and watch the YouTube Video
from the Rome Opera. Last March 12th, Silvio Berlusconi was forced
to face an unusual reality during the celebration of the 150th
anniversary of the Republic, at the performance of the work which
most symbolizes the unification of Italy: Nabucco by Giuseppe Verdi,
conducted by Riccardo Muti. Nabucco is a political work as well as a
musical one, evoking the enslavement of the Jews in Babylon, and the
famous song "Va pensiero" is the chorus of the oppressed slaves. In
Italy, this song is symbolic of the quest for freedom, which in the
1840 (when the opera was composed) was oppressed by the Hapsburg
Empire. This quest grew until the creation of a unified
Italy. Before this particular performance, the mayor of Rome, Gianni
Alemanno, had addressed the audience denouncing cuts in the Cultural
Arts budget, this despite his membership in the ruling party and his
being a former Minister in the Berlusconi government. This political
intervention, in a symbolic moment of Italian culture had unexpected
consequences - all the more so because Sylvio Berlusconi himself was
present at the performance...

As told by the Times, Riccardo Muti, the conductor, said: "Before
the curtain there was a huge ovation in the audience. Then we began
the opera and all was going well. But when we came to the famous
song Va pensiero, I immediately sensed that the atmosphere had become
tense in the audience. There are things you can't describe, but can
feel. Before, silence reigned, but at the moment that the audience
realized that Va pensiero was about to start, that silence became
charged with fervor. One could feel the visceral reaction of the
audience to the slaves singing "Oh, my Fatherland, so beautiful [but] lost!"

When the Chorus came to an end, some members of the audience shouted
for an encore ["Bis!"]. Others shouted "Long live Italy" and others
"Long live Verdi!" From the "peanut gallery" patriotic messages
came fluttering down, some asking for "Muti, life-time
senator." Although he had once done so, at La Scala, in 1986, Muti
hesitated to repeat Va pensiero. For him, an opera must progress
from start to finish, without interruption, "unless there is
particular intent." But the audience's patriotic fervor had been
aroused. In a theatrical gesture, Muti faced the audience and
Berluconi and waited, hand outstretched to calm the clamor. When the
calls for an encore had subsided, someone shouted "Viva l'Italia."

Muti: "I agree, long live Italy" [Applause]
Muti: "I'm no longer 30 and I've lived my life, but as an
Italian who has circled the globe, I am ashamed of what is happening
in my country. So I accept your request to repeat Va pensiero. Not
only for the patriotic reasons, but also because this evening while I
was conducting the chorus singing "Oh, my Fatherland, so beautiful
[but] lost," I thought that if we continue as we are, we will kill
the culture that Italy's history is based upon. In that case, our
fatherland will be truly "beautiful [but] lost!" [Applause.]
Muti: "Since the reign of an 'Italian climate' [Forza
Italia?], I, Muti, have been silent for too many long years. I would
now like... We should give meaning to this song - since we're at home
here, the capital's theater, and with a chorus which sang
magnificently and an orchestra which accompanied magnificently - if
you will, I propose that you all join us to sing - all
together... But in tempo!"

Then the maestro invited the audience to sing with the Chorus of
Slaves: "I saw groups stand up, then the whole Rome Opera stood
up. And the chorus stood up. It was a moment of magic in the
opera. Not only was it a presentation of Nabucco, but a declaration
to politicians by the opera house of the capital."

YouTube Video

Peter Perret
Conductor Emeritus
Winston-Salem Symphony

Vocal Solos for June Concert

Vocal Solos for June Concerts

World Beloved

I. Ballad: Refrain (p. 3) soprano or alto (folk style)
III. Ballad: First Verse (p. 18) alto or soprano (folk style)
V. Ballad: Second Verse (p. 33-34) alto or soprano
VI. Credo: Tenor (p. 36) and soprano (p. 38)
VII. Ballad: Tenor and Soprano (p. 64 – 67)
XI. Benediction: Soprano, Alto, Tenor Trio (p. 76)
XII. Conlusion: Soprano or Alto (p. 84) same as I


Stephen Foster

Camptown Races: Tenor (p. 6-7, 10-11) Bass (p. 10) Alto (p. 12)
Kentucky Home: Soprano (p. 11) Tenor (p. 14)
Beautiful Dreamer: Mezzo (p. 16-18)
Susanna: SATB (p. 19-21), tenor (p. 22)


Ragtime

New Music: Soprano or Alto (p. 6-7)
Make Them Hear You: Woman and/or Man (p. 18-19)
Success: Man (p. 21) female duet (p. 21)


Fly Away

Opening Trio (could be SAT or SSA)

Amazon link for World Beloved; additional audio examples

The World Beloved: A Bluegrass Mass. Here is a link to the mp3 download at Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/World-Beloved-Bluegrass-Mass/dp/B003YNXTAS/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1305750960&sr=8-4

(it’s also available in CD format)

You can listen to Jon Washburn’s Stephen Foster Medley here:

http://www.jwpepper.com/10008777.item

You can listen to Mark Haye’s Fly Away Medley here:

http://www.jwpepper.com/8059561.item

Hark, I Hear the Harps Eternal on YouTube (Lots of other performances, too):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mye2uk_nJYQ

David’s Lamentation
Accurate, Expressionless performance (lots of other performances, too):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7wieBCD-s8

Easter Anthem (note soprano and tenor doublings, slightly different version, and repeat of second half – click around for additional performances):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRowRuPuvtA

Google Calendar is updated and correct.

(please let me know if you see errors or have any questions - is there anything I could do to make this calendar more useful to you?)

To "R" is human; to flip, divine

There are three kinds of "R"

American "R" (tongue moves toward, but does not touch gum ridge - can impact vowel)
Flipped "R" (tongue actually quickly touches the gum ridge once, and only once - no impact on vowel)
Rolled or trilled "R" (generally not used, except in especially dramatic context, or need to project)

Rules for Sounding or Omitting "R"
1. Never sing "R" before a consonant sound (no exceptions) applies within words, and in adjoining words.
2. Do not sing "R" before a pause (*one exception) Pause can be a notated rest, or articulation.
3. Always sing "R" before a vowel sound (no exceptions) applies within words, and in adjoining words.
(*When a diphthong dear or triphthong fire is followed by a pause on a high note, it is more effect to use flipped "R")

Which "R" to sing before a vowel?
Use flipped "R" between vowels.
Use American "R" in "" true and "dr" dream combinations (except on high notes)
For Gilbert & Sullivan choruses use flipped "R" most of the rest of the time (exceptions as noted in rehearsal)
This last is at variance with Madeleine Marshall's prescription of Art Song rules for G&S, but is born out by the special needs of chorus to project (and by listening to historical recordings)

HMS Pinafore Homepage

Here is a page with tons of links to Pinafore stuff: MIDI files and performances, historical recordings, essays, pictures, etc.

http://math.boisestate.edu/gas/pinafore/html/index.html

Enjoy (and practice!)

Practice (and enjoy!)

Thursdays at Twilight and Trinity Artist Series Program and Schedule

Symphony Chorus of New Orleans
Trinity Artists Series • Thursdays at Twilight
June 26 & June 30, 2011

SCHEDULE:
7:00 – 9:30 PM, Tuesday, May 17: Regular Rehearsal Loyola CM230
7:00 – 9:30 PM, Tuesday, May 24: Regular Rehearsal Loyola CM230
7:00 – 9:30 PM, Tuesday, May 31: Regular Rehearsal Loyola CM230
7:00 – 9:30 PM, Tuesday, June 7: Regular Rehearsal Loyola CM230
7:00 – 9:30 PM, Tuesday, June 14: Regular Rehearsal Loyola CM230
7:00 – 9:30 PM, Tuesday, June 21: Regular Rehearsal Loyola CM230

?Wednesday-Saturday, June 22 – 25: Combined Rehearsal(s) TBA??

5 – 6 PM, Sunday, June 26 Performance at Trinity Episcopal Church

?Tuesday, June 28? Hold for Rehearsal Loyola CM230?

Thursday, June 30 6 PM Performance at Thursdays at Twilight


•• PROGRAM ••

The World Beloved: A Bluegrass Mass by Carol Barnet
Mixed Chorus, SATB solos, String Band (fiddle, mandolin, banjo, guitar, string bass)

• Intermission •

Three Unaccompanied Anthems:
Hark! I Hear the Harps Eternal Alice Parker, arr.
David’s Lamentation Wlm. Billings
Easter Anthem Wlm. Billings

A Stephen Foster Medley Jon Washburn, arr.
SATB, piano

Selections from RAGTIME Ahrens & Flaherty (arr. Funk)
SATB, piano

(String Band Selection TBA)

?(Hard Times Come Again No More Stephen Foster)?
SATB, solos, string band, piano

Fly Away Medley Mark Hayes, arr.
SATB, string band, piano

Tongue Twisters

Here are some tongue twisters that show up on lists of vocal warmups for actors:


You Need New York, Unique New York, you Need Unique New York
Red Leather Yellow Leather
Toy Boat
Lemon liniment
A box of biscuits, a box of mixed biscuits and a biscuit mixer
Choose orange shoes
Eleven benevolent elephants
Minimal animal
Girl gargoyle, guy gargoyle
The Leith police dismisseth us
Irish wristwatch
Bug's black blood, Black bug's blood
A proper cup of coffee from a proper copper coffee pot.
A quick witted cricket critic.
The cat crept into the crypt, crapped and crept out.
The sixth sick sheik's sixth sheep's sick.
I saw Susie sitting in a shoe shine shop.
Where she sits she shines, and where she shines she sits.
If two witches would watch two watches, which witch would watch which watch?

Practice these and then practice speaking the words to G&S Pinafore!

Rehearsal Schedule for performance week

Karl Jenkens The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace
Rehearsal Schedule for performance week
(all services in Holy Name Church)

7:00 - 9:30 PM, Monday, March 21 Choral Rehearsal
7:00 - 9:30 PM, Tuesday, March 22 Conductor's Piano Rehearsal
7:00 - 9:30 PM, Wednesday, March 23 Instrumental Rehearsal (chorus does NOT rehearse tonight; vocal soloists, if available?)
*7:30 - 10:00 PM, Thursday, March 24 "Dress" Rehearsal

*3:30 PM, Sunday, March 27 (concert is just over an hour - we will be out of the church by 5:00 PM)

CALL for setup, warmup etc. is 2:45 PM


* This is half an hour later than originally published to accommodate other activities in the church.

(At the moment I cannot access the Gmail Calendar for the chorus - sorry
Update 3/18 Google Calendar now accurate)

Karl Jenkins VOCAL SOLOS (repost)

VOCAL SOLOS Karl Jenkins The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace

1. The Armed Man: SATB tutti

2. Call to Prayer: [muezzin]

3. Kyrie: [S solo (optional)]

4. Save Me from Bloody Men: TB tutti

5. Sanctus: SATB tutti

6. Hymn before Action: SATB tutti

7. Charge!: SATB tutti

8. Angry Flames: SATB tutti; SATB solos

9. Torches: SATB tutti

10. Agnus Dei: SATB tutti

11. Now the Guns have Stopped: S or A solo (b-c2)

12. Benedictus: SATB tutti (cello solo)

13. Better is Peace: SATB tutti; "Lancelot" T or B solo, "Guinevere" S or A solo, L'homme armé SATB solos

SOUL Interview WWNO

Interview with Diane Mack on WWNO Inside the Arts (2/24/2011)

Interview with singer Lainie Diamond

Lainie sang with us while a student at Loyola. She returned in December 2005 to sing the mezzo solos in our post Katrina performance of Messiah. Here is a link to an interview.

Book Recommendation

Charles Jessold, Considered as a Murderer by Wesley Stace is a wonderful novel. It's about a fictitious composer set in early twentieth century England. Lots of great stuff about music - plus it's a murder mystery, too! (Click the title to go to the Amazon Product page)

Karl Jenkins Armed Man

Scroll down for stories about this piece:

http://www.boosey.com/pages/cr/catalogue/cat_detail.asp?musicid=3561

SOUL rep

Just for the record, these links are just for reference - I expect us to do BETTER than all these recordings (and we are doing lots of stuff different - get your rehearsal pencils out!)

Audio Links for SOUL stuff

We’ve already posted a link to River of Love at www.symphonychorus.org go to Singers and Practice, etc. scroll down til you find it.

Here is a link to the Caldwell & Ivory concert opener:
http://www.caldwellandivory.com/music/index.php?page=works

Here is a partial performance of Ah! Si mon Moine voulait dansait:
http://www.earthsongschoralmusic.com/catitem.php?seqnum=100300

Here is Bonse Aba:
http://www.jwpepper.com/10089711.item

Here is Juego:
http://www.jwpepper.com/10048861.item

There are probably performances on YouTube, too. Feel free to post additional links as you find them!

GOOGLE CALENDAR UPDATED!

Please note that the Google Calendar embedded in this blog now includes our rehearsals and performances for the second half of the season (January through June). Be sure to click on the events for location and descriptive information.
Items where all details are not certain are described in the notes, too.
I'll try to add board meetings, etc. as soon as possible.
This calendar is, of course, subject to change. Watch this blog, check your email, and be responsible for information announced at rehearsal.