choir, ornaments, Friday!

[electricland]

Choir was excellent. I met crankygrrl for a drink and (in my case) dinner at the Village Idiot beforehand, so was actually there early for a change and did the stretching part of the warmup. Which is good, because we did the whole two hours without a break. Mainly the Fauré (Cantique de Jean Racine), which is gorgeous but not easy. (He wrote it while still in school.) It's one of those pieces that's much easier to practice with the whole group -- you need the other parts to hear where yours fits in. At which point it's still discordant, but lovely. She wants us to memorize it (eep).

Also did the second verse of Since First I Saw Your Face, which I'm loving. Very Elizabethan. Sounds like a harpsichord. Again, you need all four parts for it to really sound kick-ass, because each voice has long notes on different words (and I have no musical theory so can't tell you the name for the effect).

This morning I sewed sequins on the streetcar. Let me rephrase that: this morning I sat on the streetcar and sewed sequins onto a piece of felt. Gradual progress shall be our watchword.

This evening I shall be volunteering at Planet in Focus. And it's Friday! Hurray!

Comments

[fairoriana.livejournal.com]

Since first I saw your face I resolved to honor and renown you. If now I be disdained I wish my heart had never known you. What I that loved and you that liked, shall we begin to wrangle? No, no, no my heart is fast and cannot disentangle!

The sun whose beams most glorious eye rejecteth no beholder...

[electricland.livejournal.com]

:)

That's the one! It's lovely.

Although in fact our score only has verses 1 and 3. No sun.

[mrs-cake.livejournal.com]

Aw man, can I join your choir? Not sure if I can make rehearsals, but you're singing "Since first I saw your face"! Envy. I love those songs. Is Your shining eyes part of your repertoire? That made me cry every time we sang it. The harmonies kill my brain.

[electricland.livejournal.com]

I don't know Your Shining Eyes! Must check that out.

You're more than welcome to join our choir! Come on over!

How much of a choir geek am I? MUCH

[lostvoice.livejournal.com]

OMG, how much do I loveloveLOVE singing the Fauré. Seriously, I get chills just thinking of it. The sounds are so lovely.

And she's right. You need to memorize it. You can totally do it. It's easier than you think. Really.


(Of course, this is coming from a brat who believes that ALL choral musica should be memorized, which is a product of spending years in a professional children's choir. However, I think it holds true for a lot of pieces - they're much better performed if you're able to focus on your sound production and the director only, and don't have to worry about what's on the page.)

Re: How much of a choir geek am I? MUCH

[electricland.livejournal.com]

:D

You're quite right -- it's better when we memorize stuff. (My last choir, most of the time our conductor didn't bother with sheet music in the first place -- he sang the parts to us, said "Pick the one you like and sing it, or make up your own," and off we went. Of course, that was mostly folk music from around the world, and not so long or quite so technically complex. We got some great harmonies though.) I'm just a wimp. We have until February, anyway!

Re: How much of a choir geek am I? MUCH

[raithen.livejournal.com]

oh, hey! Dec 9. I think you have a booking to go see my sister and her group perform! I've DECIDED you should go ;).

TUIAS

December, 9 2006 at Cameron House
408 Queen St West, Toronto,
Cost: $8

Tuias is honored to share the stage with Blue Venus on their first appearance in Toronto.

their myspace page, btw: http://myspace.com/tuias

Re: How much of a choir geek am I? MUCH

[lostvoice.livejournal.com]

Okay, so I hung onto this because I want to go but in the back of my mind KNEW there was a conflict....

And just confirmed it.

:(

Re: How much of a choir geek am I? MUCH

[raithen.livejournal.com]

:(.