The lovely Elliot took us through our paces and we started with, All I have to do is Dream, which did sound a bit of nightmare at times! The underlying music is lively with the dreamlike quality in the singing which needs to sound delicate and not a painful dirge. It is a love song after all.
"What am I in the eyes of most people — a nonentity, an eccentric, or an unpleasant person — somebody who has no position in society and will never have; in short, the lowest of the low. All right, then — even if that were absolutely true, then I should one day like to show by my work what such an eccentric, such a nobody, has in his heart. That is my ambition, based less on resentment than on love in spite of everything, based more on a feeling of serenity than on passion. Though I am often in the depths of misery, there is still calmness, pure harmony and music inside me.”
― Vincent van Gogh
Vincent followed; a song full of pain and passion.
Look at it from the perspective of you singing to Vincent Van Gogh as if you are the one who understands his pain and passion.
Emphasise the words and show understanding which will give it expression as we tell the story.
Take a look at this clip from a Doctor Who series where Vincent is bought into the 21st century to see the impact his paintings have now on the public which he didn’t experience in his own lifetime.
After a short break we resumed to A Lovely Day.
Not a bad rendition considering we only learned it for the first time last week.
As usual the ‘Oohs’ are a challenge and the very long notes on ‘Day’ for tenors and sopranos. Elliot suggested practicing with a ‘SHHH’ instead of ‘Day’ as it takes more breathe to sustain it and it will build up our strength and control, then when we go back to singing ‘Day’ it will appear to be much easier.
Give it a try and see how you get on!
The final chorus of Lovely Day with the altos repeating relentlessly, the tenors and sopranos with intermittent ‘Lovely days’ and the lady tenors with their looooong notes all sounded magnificent.
Let’s put our pain and passion into practising during the week.
Only three weeks left and a lot of work to do!
DO NOT FORGET: next week we are not in the usual venue but across the other side of the car park in the green building on the right as you enter the car park. Eamonn will be back. See you there