Wow! How is half term already over?! I hope you’ve all had a lovely break, and also weren’t too affected by the storm last weekend. It’s been a very odd week not seeing you all, so I’m very much looking forward to Wednesday.
What we did on 23.02.22
Nothing! Well... I hope you all did some practice, or at least looked or listened to the music, haha! I’ve had a few emails from people saying how helpful the Choralia links are, so I’ll keep them up here for you all to use.
What we will do on 02.03.22
This week is exciting as we’ll be welcoming our first potential new accompanist to the piano, and they’ll be working with us during the rehearsal as part of the selection process. The schedule for the rehearsal will be:
19:30-19:45 – Ben and Bernard will do a warm up and quick sing of thee Kyrie to get everyone going.
19:45-20:15 – Our first candidate will accompany the Kyrie.
20:20-20:35 – Our first candidate will lead the Sopranos and Altos in a sectional on the Gloria, beginning to page 16.
Bernard will take the Tenors and Basses through the fugue in the Gloria, page 33 to 43.
20:40-20:55 – Our first candidate will lead the Tenors and Basses in a sectional on the Gloria, beginning to page 16.
Bernard will take the Sopranos and Altos through the fugue in the Gloria, page 33 to 43.
21:00-21:30 – Ben and Bernard rehearse the full choir through the opening of the Gloria and Kyrie in preparation for
Saturday’s Music Festival.
I hope this is all okay, and we’re very grateful to you all for your help in finding our new accompanist.
Here’s a link to the Choralia site. As I said in last week’s Notes, it’s a very crude audio quality, but it allows you to hear your own part, slow it down, and loop it for detailed learning. I highly recommend at least checking them out to help your learning specific parts – please don’t rely on it though... I worry you may all come to the next rehearsal sounding like computers!
Piece of the Week
My piece of the week this week is inspired by a chat I had with Eric, about our favourite pieces and recordings, and we both agreed that Brahms’s First Symphony is a work of true beauty.
Inspired by – yet in the shadow of – Beethoven’s monumental Ninth Symphony, Brahms spent well over a decade writing his first symphony, always doubting himself and his work as a symphonic composer. I hope you all agree with us that this is one of the greatest symphonies written in the Romantic era.
Marked Scores
As always, the marked scores are here. If you haven’t yet put the markings in, I’d greatly appreciate it if you would.
Chipping Norton Music Festival
Just a reminder of our involvement in the Music Festival on Saturday 5th March, beginning at 4pm. We’re on at 4pm exactly, so Eric and Sarah will let us know on Wednesday about where we need to be and when, ready to perform! I hope you can all make it!
See you all on Wednesday.
– Ben