Collected comments on music, first three rehearsals


General information – when our Fearless Leader calls for a break, he means that we should cut half a beat off of the note which the break follows. For example, in Measure 2 of Bashana Haba’ah, there is a break after ‘-ah’. In practice, this means that instead of singing ‘-ah’ as a dotted half note, it would be sung as a tied half note and eighth note.

Bashana Haba’ah – In the pronunciation guide inside the front cover, ‘ch’ is shown as sounding like ‘hh’; this should be pronounced somewhat like the German pronunciation of ‘ch’ in Bach, or the pronunciation of the Cyrillic letter ‘X’ [k’ha]. Also in the pronunciation guide, last line, ‘tir-e’ should sound like ‘teer-eh’. Measure 2, break after ‘-ah’. Measure 4, break after ‘-ah’. Measure 8, break after ‘oo’. Measure 9 break after ‘-ah’. Measure 12, break after ‘dot’. Measures 17 through 19, swell just before moving to a new note. Measure 20, men sing ‘ah’ like the women; break after last note of ‘-ah’. Measure 21, no break after either ‘tir-e’. Measure 22, break after ‘-ye’. Measures 28 through 31, the cresc. shown in Measure 28 actually extends all the way through Measure 31. Measure 31, cut off the ‘oh’ on beat four and a half so the sopranos don’t get drowned out. Measure 33, break after ‘-ah’. Measure 35, cut off ‘dot’ on beat three and a half. Measure 39, break after ‘dot’. Measure 50 to end, WTD for rit e dim and last note timing.

Carols Around (And a Round) – this starts out with women only and the men don’t come in until the bottom of Page 3. ‘Pacem’ is pronounced ‘pah – chim’. Measure 33, key change. Starting in Measure 34, other carols are being sung so those singing ‘dona nobis pacem’ should not overpower the other melodies. Measure 71, key change.

Christmas Lullaby – the layout of this music is user-apathetic at best, verging on user-hostile. The piece starts out with two verses using sort of a repeat. On the first verse, the women sing in unison [men are silent] from Measure 5 through Measure 12 and the men sing in unison [women are silent] from Measure 13 through Measure 20. In Measures 21 through 25, we split into four parts but on two lines – S & A and T & B. In Measures 26 through 35, we split into four lines, one each for S, A, T and B. Tenors should note that their part is written in the bass clef when the tenor and bass parts are shown on the same line, but the tenor part is written in the tenor clef when the tenor and bass parts are on different lines. Note that in Measure 26, ‘the’ should be pronounced ‘thee’. In Measures 36 through 40, we go back to two lines. At the end of Measure 40, we go back to what was originally Measure 5 for the second verse – in the second verse, the measure numbers are given in parentheses so what was Measure 5 is now Measure (41). On the second verse, the men sing in unison [women are silent] from Measure (41) through Measure (48). Also, there are some timing changes in Measures (46) and (47) as indicated by the smaller notes with the downward pointing stems. In Measures (49) through (56), the women sing in unison [men are silent]. Then we go back to shifting back and forth between four parts on two lines and four parts on four lines. From Measure (71) – end of top system on Page 5, we jump to the second ending at the top of Page 6. The third verse has some shifting between two lines and four lines, but nothing too complicated. In Measure 98, ‘the’ should be pronounced ‘thee’. In Measures 108 and 109, the B’s split into two parts.

Christmas Welcome – the measures are all numbered, but the numbers are shown below the piano music. You may want to add measure numbers in a more readily visible location. Throughout, the dotted slur marks indicate no break, connect the notes. Measure 19, connect ‘stars’ and ‘for’. Measure 30, note that ‘low-‘ is a quarter note; no break after ‘-ly’. Measure 36, ‘-ger’ is pronounced ‘-juhr’ with the ‘r’ sound de-emphasized. Measure 40, cut off on beat 3. Measure 47, cut off on beat 1 of the following measure. Measure 49, T have the upper note and B have the lower note on ‘-come’. Measure 64, cut off on beat 3. Measure 66, no break after ‘welcome’. Measure 68, cut off on beat 3. Measure 70, connect ‘candles’ and ‘shining’. Measure 72, cut off on beat 1 of the following measure. Measure 80, no break between ‘cheer and ‘welcome’. Measure 84, take the ending that is on the bottom of Page 7 and the top of Page 8. Measure 86, break after ‘hear’. Measure 88, break after ‘near’.

Glad Noel – this is another of those pieces that bounces back and forth so much that it should be printed on a Mobius strip. Tenors should note that their part is written in the bass clef when the tenor and bass parts are shown on the same line, but the tenor part is written in the tenor clef when the tenor and bass parts are on different lines. This begins with a staggered start. Altos sing Measures 2 and 3; altos and tenors sing Measures 4 and 5; and all sing starting at Measure 6. From the first ending at the bottom of Page 3, we go back to Measure 2 at the top of Page 2 [no page flipping] and stagger into the second verse. In the second ending at the bottom of Page 3, ‘el’ receives three beats, half the time it receives in the first ending. After the page turn, women only sing in Measure 14 and the first three beats of Measure 15. Tenors join in on the last beat of Measure 15, while basses remain silent. Basses only sing in Measure 18 and the first three beats of Measure 19; all voices sing the last beat of Measure 19 and Measures 20 and 21. Altos only sing Measures 22 and 23, altos and tenors sing Measures 24 and 25, and all parts sing starting in Measure 26. At Measure 33, on the page turn from Page 6 to Page 7, there are both key and time signature changes. Women only sing Measure 33, tenors join in on Measure 34, and basses remain silent for two pages. There is a key change on the page turn from Page 8 to Page 9. There is a time signature change in the middle of the bottom system on Page 9. After the page turn from Page 9 to Page 10,altos only sing in Measures 51 and 52, altos and tenors sing in Measures 53 and 54, and all sing starting in Measure 55. From the first ending on the bottom of Page 11, we go back to Measure 51 at the top of page 10 [no page flipping]. The second time through, ‘the’ should be pronounced ‘thee’ in Measures 52, 54 and 56. In the second ending at the bottom of Page 11, ‘el’ receives three beats, half the time it receives in the first ending. From the second ending at the bottom of page 11 we go back to Measure 14 at the top of Page 4. Once again, women only sing in Measure 14 and the first three beats of Measure 15. Tenors join in on the last beat of Measure 15, while basses remain silent. We sing to the last measure on Page 5 and then go to the Coda, which begins at the top of the last page.

Let It Snow – all men sing Part III; where ‘baby’ notes are shown, sing them. Measure 17, decresc. Measure 20, cut off on beat 3.

Peace Has Come Down Tonight – throughout, ‘gloria’ is pronounced ‘glaw-rdree-ah’; ‘rdr’ is a ‘flipped r’, produced by quickly touching the tip of your tongue to the top of your mouth [‘d’ sound] while saying ‘r’; if you can’t make the ‘flipped r’ sound, say ‘d’ instead. Measure 30, connect ‘hills’ and ‘the’. Measure 32, break after ‘abiding’. Measure 36, break after ‘fall’. Measure 37, use a lighter tone. In Measure 37, “heaven’s” should have a minimal ‘n’ sound, almost ‘heh-vuhs’. Measure 38, ‘angel’ should be pronounced ‘ain-juhl’; don’t gel it. Measure 40, break after ‘tidings’. Measure 42, ‘comfort’ should be pronounced ‘com-fert’. Measure 59, ‘behold’ should be pronounced ‘bih-hold’. Measure 60, the dim extends all the way through Measure 62. Measure 99, no break after ‘will’. Measure 108, break after ‘kneeling’. Measure 120, connect ‘down’ and ‘to’.

Perfect Christmas Night – Measures 13 through 28 are repeated with different words the second time. The different words also include eighth rests in places where there are eighth notes the first time. This occurs in Measures 14, 18, 22, 24 and 25. Measure 23, first time through, 'log' should be singular.  Measure 37, B sing the T part on “I’ve got the” and then go into the scat continuo part. In the B scat continuo part, our Fearless Leader suggests circling each instance of ‘shoobie’ to help keep the lyrics straight – this is very useful when there are quick reiterations of ‘shoobie’.

Sing For Joy – throughout, use your diaphragm to separate sixteenth notes to give the proper Baroque sound; ‘forevermore’ should be pronounced ‘for-ev-eh-more’. SILTMS.

Throw Open Your Shutters – Measure 4, slide on beat 3.

Winter Wind – Measure 6, expand and then dim on ‘roam’. Measure 25, basses will probably NOT sing the low note, but will instead sing the high note. Measure 52, WTD for the fermata and break. Measure 53, our Fearless Leader is strongly considering the idea of everyone singing an A on ‘home’.