Eamonn was looking a little anxious and the scowls were slightly showing his disapproval with all the work we had ahead of us and a lot of chatter was ongoing, but he soon had us quietened down and warmed up. Then we forensically went through some more songs picking them apart and rebuilding them step by step to a harmonious sounding choir!
The Logical Song, a maniacal upbeat sound with lovely syncopation. Lots of words to fit in, but if the Doos and Bahs do not sound casual and full of enjoyment will be DOOMED!!!!
This is the last song of the first half and the then the audience will be heading for the bar. The Logical Song is a song by English rock group Supertramp that was released as the lead single from their album Breakfast in America in March 1979. It was written primarily by the band's Roger Hodgson, who based the lyrics on his experiences being sent away to boarding school for ten years.
Fields of Gold needs to sound luxurious and big breaths required to hold on to the long golds and watching Eamonn for the cut offs, as in all of the songs! In Lyrics By Sting, the singer described the view from his 16th-century Wiltshire manor house:
'In England, our house is surrounded by barley fields, and in the summer it's fascinating to watch the wind moving over the shimmering surface, like waves on an ocean of gold. There's something inherently sexy about the sight, something primal, as if the wind were making love to the barley. Lovers have made promises here, I'm sure, their bonds strengthened by the comforting cycle of the seasons.' The Irish Blessing is another song that should be a lush and lovely sound with the second verse, when everyone joins in, feeling like a warm hug
You’ll Never Walk Alone is challenging not only from the high notes to reach with accuracy and brightness, but the long phrases where no one is allowed to breathe!
We only have two more rehearsals and when Jenny, our pianist, joins us, Eamonn will have both hands, as well as his head to conduct us and give us the cut offs, highs and lows etc. The key to this synchronisation is we have to keep our eyes on him and not have our heads buried in the music. Especially on the endings when we all know the words and tune by then!
Sing Out is our gift to the audience for returning from the bar to listen to the second half of our performance. As such, it needs to be crisp and concise with good annunciation. This is an old favourite of ours that we sang in a pop up at St Pancras Station with Eamonn accompanying us on an old battered piano. It was well received there and it will be even better here.
Eamonn does think we are in a good place and we will definitely sing through all of the first half of the concert next week. If we have all done our homework, we might surprise him and get through some of the second half too!
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