Get Ready! A blast from the past 1960's style .
As you all know preparation is the key to any successful event. With the concert only six weeks away we need to get ready.
The In Flagrante Look
We will wear all black (think of the New Zealand rugby team and how smart they look!)
Gents in plain black shirts and trousers
Ladies in plain black dresses or plain black tops with plain black skirts or trousers
A colourful buttonhole or corsage will be lent to you on the night.
Get ready and check your wardrobe, the shops or charity shops etc
In Flagrante Music
Everyone should have a purple folder with a complete set of music.
Beware; it is rather heavy to hold all the way through the concert, unless you have arms as strong as Penny Mordaunt at the King’s Coronation!
I usually have two purple folders and split the first half and second half between them to make it manageable.
Just remember to take the right folder into the concert!
The In Flagrante Sound
Now we look the part, we just need to sound it too!
There is no easy way to do this; work hard and practice!
Each week we will go through the songs and fine tune them and work on the performance..
The last two weeks we will have a pianist and Eamonn will conduct so he can give us clear instructions with his hands and head, especially on the cut offs and dunce holes.
Warning: you do not want to fall in a dunce hole at a concert and get the Eamonn GLARE!
In Flagrante. From Medieval Latin, literally “while the crime is blazing”, from Latin in + flāgrō (“burn”) + dēlictō, form of dēlictum (“crime, misdeed”). Counterfeiters caught in flagrante delicto
Last night we were rather bottom heavy, with very few sopranos and lots of Tenors and Basses!
Hopefully on The Night we will be well balanced.
We started on Slow Train. Remember we are the journey flowing over the chugging music underneath.
Don’t let the words become ‘choppy’. Make it sound nostalgic and like a lost world.
Enjoy the short ‘cat’ on a seat and that the second time the ‘up and no down’ are equal notes. Don’t breathe before the phrase and it makes it easier to sing.
The mid-section is tricky as the underlying music changes, so the tenors and Sopranos need to keep the words moving along. A long ‘sleepers sleep’ (watch Eamonn) before easing back into the journey.
Little gaps after ‘Goole’ and ‘from St Erth’ and ‘to St Ives’; yes, you’ve guessed it – Watch Eamonn.
So, Mind the Gap.
This announcement now plays only at Embankment station. It's been replaced at all other stations, but his widow appealed to the council, and asked them to reinstate her husband's voice at Embankment as after he died, she liked to go there to listen to his voice.
Smile was next. Eamonn was surprised it was so good.
Just a couple of things to remember:
‘What’s the use of cry---ing’ elongated and notes the same length and then pull back and be very gentle to the end.
Blowing in the Wind needs to be lyrical with long lines – don’t make it choppy.
With ‘died’ the tenors have a moving note, so Sopranos, Altos and Basses hold on to their ‘died’ as it is a long note, until tenors have finished.
Bridge over Troubled Water is all about the Altos. It is syncopation and rhythm.
A tip for the Altos: at the beginning, ‘When you’re weary’ is followed by three shut ups and a long ‘feeling’
Everyone, please learn the last four bars, so you can watch Eamonn for the timings at the end.
Impossible Dream needed a little more work. Basses be ready for your first note. Smile on ‘bear’ in unbearable sorrow.
‘try’, ‘weary’, reach’ are all open sounds so smile as you sing them.
Altos keep your ‘Ooohs ‘an open sound. Practise as if they are ‘yeahs’ to feel the openness and then sing as an ‘Oooh’ (Don’t sing ‘yeahs’ in the concert!)
Tip of the Week
Get ready for the concert and make sure you hold your purple folder up in front of you, slightly away from your body. This way you can move your head up slightly to see Eamonn and keep your throat open at the same time.
Get ready for next week, and listen to the tracks at home, when we will go through Try to Remember and Make you Feel My Love as well as anything else.
And remember, 'When you weary is followed by
and a long feeling'
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