- Trills on a Tuesday
- Oct 23, 2025
- 2 min read
With only three weeks of learning time left, it is more important than ever we all do our homework and ensure we know our parts for each song as well as familiarise ourselves with the Christmas songs that we haven’t covered yet that the audience will be joining in with.
If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself.
The last two weeks of rehearsals will be with the pianist so he can get to know the music and Martha can gives us her full attention to conduct us and polish up our performance. These two weeks are when things really start to come together if everyone has done their homework and played their part.
We sang through six songs from start to finish and Martha will email the parts she feels we need to concentrate on to add to your homework list!
There seemed to be some confusion with who sings what and when with with Ole Le Loyla.
It is simple for the Sops as they just start singing and keep going until told to stop!
To start: Everyone sings the Sop line once
Next: Sops sing their part three times
Altos join with their part after Sops finish their first part and sing twice
Tenors and Basses join with their part after the Sops and Altos and sing once.
Next: Sops continue and sing their first line by themselves
Altos join in with their first line as Sops sing their second line
Tenors and Basses join in after Altos sing their second line and keep going singing this canon twice The Sops will finish first and hold onto their last note until the Altos finish and hold their last note and finally the Tenors and Basses finish and we all sing a high ‘la’ at the end
Harbour we sing three verses and choruses and repeat the chorus again at the end from ‘Our door is always open ……’ The end slows down and gets quieter.
Gabriel’s Message needs to be quiet and very quiet before the louder verse so there is a greater contrast in sound.
Walking in the Air – beware of coming in quickly and not singing the first words of the phrases. Enunciate all the words so they can be clearly heard. At the end the last ‘fly’ fades away into nothing.
Diamonds are Forever is the most dramatic song of the concert, so enjoy the drama! The song is sung until page 6 and then goes back to page 2 for the second verse and then is sung through until the end.
Downtown – Altos, Tenors and Basses start with ‘Doo doos’ and then the Sops join in with the verses. Imagine you are spreading your arms wide open when singing ‘Down-town’ but don’t actually do this in the concert!
Remember upon the conduct of each depends the fate of all
See you all next week Downstairs (not Downtown!) Or as the amazing Maggie Smith might say, "'Downton"
- Trills on a Tuesday
- Oct 15, 2025
- 2 min read
Keep Jaws relaxed!
Generally, our songs seem to need us to keep our jaws relaxed and loose to enable us to make the vowels more elongated in sound and to hit the high notes. Keep this in mind when practising at home and singing together.
The Circle Game will probably have different voice parts singing the verses so we will all get a turn at a verse, but we concentrated on the chorus. Make ‘round and round’ with an ‘ow’ sound.
The chorus builds up to ‘where we came’ with the harmonies and then gets quieter at the end. The very last time slows right down so watch for timing.
Downtown; Sops have very high notes, so it is essential you relax into them.
‘Down’ is slightly longer than ‘town’ and is syncopated.
Tenors have an extra ‘downtown’ so make sure you can be heard. Altos be brave and sing louder. You know it and can do it!
Listen the voice parts and learn the ‘doo doo’ section.
Diamonds are Forever; basses you get to sign the ‘oohs’ in the James Bond style, so make sure they swell up and can be heard.
Snow is very slow and controlled, so watch where you take a breath, which would be after ‘prayer’, ‘air’ and ‘slow’. It starts very quietly and gradually builds up with a crescendo on ‘might’ and ‘white’ bringing the climax to ‘Heaven blessing us ….’
It slows down even more at the end with a long ‘prayer’ and ‘snow’ which fades down gently.
The sops have the highest part.
“Popoli di Tessaglia… Io non chiedo, eterni dei” (K. 316 / K. 300b) — a recitative and aria for soprano and orchestra composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1779.
Mozart wrote it for Aloysia Weber, one of the most celebrated sopranos of his time (and the sister of Constanze Weber, whom Mozart later married).
And for those who understand and can read music, this piece is indeed famous for its extreme vocal range, particularly the two written G6 notes — the G in altissimo above high C (C6), which is about 1568 Hz in modern concert pitch. According to the Guinness Book of Records, this is the highest note ever scored for the human voice in classical repertoire.
We only have a few weeks left to rehearse, so please listen to the tracks and practice at home so we can concentrate on singing the songs and not keep going over individual parts. Believe in yourself and you will succeed.
Just imagine singing with your younger self or not!
- Trills on a Tuesday
- Oct 12, 2025
- 2 min read
We gathered in our dark downstairs room, but that didn’t deter our enthusiasm and with many sat with their extra lights we did our warm up and began with Walking in the Air.
With phrases ending with an ‘s’ or ‘z’ sound, put this on the next word to prevent hissing.
‘Eyes’ is very short in …’believe their eyes’ and the Sops come in quickly with ‘We’re surfing in the air….’
For the Basses and Tenor, …’Mountains floating by’ is like the notes of Three Blind Mice.
Not Three Blind Mice but The Three Tenors
Ole le Loyla is in good shape. It is easier to sing from memory and not look at the music. Sing it like a cannon with a one bar difference.
Hold the last note until we all slide into the final note.
Harbour needs to feel like a warm hug. Keep the jaw relaxed on the high notes.
Peace on Earth needs a slightly shorter note on ‘me’ and ‘soft’ to allow a quick breath.
With ‘Down on me’ put the ‘n’ of ‘down’ on to ‘on’ so it goes ‘dow -non me….’
Similarly, with ‘Christmas’; make it ‘Chri-smas’ so there is no hissing.
Be ready for the high note on ‘air’ and ‘past’
Check the rhythm of bar 19/20
Fairytale of New York – ‘Mountain dew’ should sound like ‘Mountain due’
‘The rare old …..’ starts on the off beat, so don’t come in too early.
Sops remember your harmony with ‘A lucky one …..’
With only a few more weeks left until the concert, we have a lot of work to do. There is no time to keep going over the things we have done before, so please listen to the tracks before you come to rehearsal and after rehearsals to keep it fresh in your minds.
We all need to listen and learn so we can be ready for the concert.
See you next week in good voice with all the right notes in the right order!
