Practice and then practice some more?

 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"