All Things New

 A new year with a big welcome back to Eamonn who will be our guiding light and inspiration in this our 10^th anniversary year.

Welcome too, to lots of newbies who came along to give us a try and sign up for this exciting year.

As the new formation of lower voices in the middle was great success in the Winter concert, we are trialing this at rehearsals to see how it goes.  It is bound to seem strange at first, but please preserve and see how it goes.

We started with an old song (to some of us), The Impossible Dream, which really showcases the lower voices.

The Impossible Dream is a popular song composed by Mitch Leigh, with lyrics written by Joe Darion. It was written for the 1965 Broadway musical Man of La Mancha and is also featured in the 1972 film of the same name starring Peter O'Toole.

The complete song is first sung by Don Quixote as he stands vigil over his armor, in response to Aldonza (Dulcinea)'s question about what he means by "following the quest". It is reprised partially three more times – the last by prisoners in a dungeon as Miguel de Cervantes and his manservant mount the drawbridge-like prison staircase to face trial by the Spanish Inquisition.

This song is all about a quest so keep the sense of excitement and journeying on the adventure even though the piano is chugging away underneath the voices.

Altos & Sop 2s, keep your ‘Oohs’ bright and smiley.

Basses remember you are not on the tune when it comes to ‘this is my quest’

No one, without exception, is allowed to breathe after ‘hopeless’ on pain of death!  Take a big breath before singing, ‘No matter how hopeless, no matter how far’ and you will make Eamonn happy!

As you are singing the phrases, think of them in pairs, so don’t breathe after each phrase, but after each pair of phrases.

There is a rare occasion you are permitted to breathe which is just after, ‘That one man….’ So you can snatch a quick breath and really emphasise the word ‘scorned’

Watch out for Eamonn’s indulgence at the end.  He will direct you when to sing and when to leave a gap, so it is important to watch him closely.  And remember to put a short crisp ‘z’ sound on ‘Starz’

A new song for everyone was next.  You’re the Voice is a song recorded by Australian singer John Farnham released in 1986. In the United States, the song is perhaps best known for a charting version issued in 1991 by the band Heart.

You're the Voice was composed by British songwriters Chris Thompson, Andy Qunta and Maggie Ryder in response to an anti-nuclear demonstration in London's Hyde Park in 1985. More than 100,000 people attended the rally, but Thompson overslept. As an act of penance he decided to express his remorse by composing a song that emphasised the importance of invoking personal agency when it comes to effecting political change.

Keith Reid confirmed in June 2008 that You're the Voice started life with Thompson, who had the musical idea and wanted to have a lyricist involved. It was another of his projects where the music essentially preceded the words, which are all Reid's.

At the beginning, there are the dreaded ‘Oohs’ (well for Sops anyway!).  Make them swell with the sense of impending excitement and joy.

‘We have’ should be swung and make sure you sing the song with commitment that it is going to change the world.

Listen to the original song and get the feel of it and then listen to your individual parts on Dropbox.  We will be revisiting this next week, along with the other songs we were asked to bring.

It is such a great feeling to be back

Success Awaits

Next week is The Big One.

Just one more run through on Tuesday, followed by The Concert Day on Thursday.

Another reminder of how well we sing together.

We are now in concert formation with our new arrangement of the lower voices being in the middle to enable all the Altos to be in a block together. Although this may seem strange having different people and voices next to you, it worked very well, and we made an amazing sound as we worked our way through Act One and part of Act Two.

All the hard work of practising is paying off and now we need to concentrate on our performance.

Timing is critical and beginning confidently and finishing together at the ends of phrases and songs makes us sound professional. 

The only way to achieve this is to watch Martha.  Although her direction is different from Eamonn’s, you will have got used to her style from last night and will know what to look out for in the concert.

It is important we tell the story of the songs, so the words can be heard by our audience and we can take them on that journey with us.

We will be travelling along singing our songs, Side by Side.

Smile, keep it bright and sparkly; it is a Winter concert with some Christmas songs after all, so let the joy show in your face.

Let your faces be seen.  Position your folder in front of you in way you can hold your head up and let your eyes look down occasionally but keeping them on Martha most of the time.  This will ensure the timing is right and your voices will be heard clearly soaring out over the audience who will see you clearly having fun and your enthusiasm will be reflected in their response.

Coming together is a beginning: keeping together is progress; working together is success

And remember have FUN, perhaps a little too much

The Clock is Ticking Tick Tok Tick Tok

In not ideal circumstances with dim lighting and different acoustics, we could hear that our hard work is paying off. Even with less familiar songs we sang out and harmonised well.

The next two rehearsals will be in concert formation with a pianist and Martha will be able to give us her full attention and conduct us, so it will be critical that we know our words and music well enough to be able to look up a see the instructions and obey them!

Look out for an email from Martha with the running order and then have your music in that order so we can go through from start to finish and then maybe revisit anything that needs extra work.

Just a little reminder of how well we sing, Steal Away

There will also be an email with the choir formation.  The last concert was a great success with the tiered format enabling everyone to see and be heard as we are not singing into the back of someone’s head!  Please be patient and mindful that this is not an easy task placing over fifty singers and it is not always possible to satisfy everyone’s wishes. 

The aim is for everyone to see, be heard and enjoy the experience.

Going through the whole programme will help us build up our stamina as well as instil confidence so we can be heard, especially the Altos, who are quite considerable in number!

Ole Le Loyla – please learn this by heart (not hearth, which is a fireplace and features in couple of our songs).

And another favourite, The Rose

Everyone sings the Sop line all the way through to start

Sops sing on their own once then Altos join in the second time and Tenors and Basses join in the third time

The Sops keep going on their own with the first line and then the Altos join in with their first line then the Tenors and Basses join in with their first line. Then repeat once with Sops holding on their last note, altos holding on to their last note until the Tenors and Basses have finished and then we all raise it up to a loud ‘La’ and then go into another round all singing our harmony to finish.

If in doubt, watch Martha!

Other hints and tips:

Do not to hiss words with an ‘s’.  If you are unsure where the ‘s’ should be, don’t sing it!

If Sops are singing a rare harmony line, don’t sing too loudly so the words of the tune can be heard.

Enunciate your words so the audience will be able to hear them clearly. Some of these songs will be new to them.

Don’t rush the endings.  Watch Martha carefully and she will give you the right timing.

Never doubt you are good enough.  You are putting in the work and we will have a glorious evening of song.

To ensure we have a big audience to sing to and for them to sing along with us, keep selling the tickets!