Dear friends,
During Wednesday's rehearsal we took a giant leap forward with Brahms. Your individual preparation and practice were evident, and my confidence in how far we could come in these next several weeks was uplifted! As you continue your work, I want to remind you of what we've most recently done and what we will cover next:
Wednesday:
p. 34-42-- we studied this under the microscope in sectionals on Wednesday in four parts: continue to practice rhythms, notes, and try to memorize the tonalities and progressions on p. 36 during the largamente transition material. We have not added text yet, but we will add text on Sunday, so consider giving it a look.
p. 71-81: this is close to being performance-ready: continue to work on projecting text details; become aware of which parts have the important material as the fugue unfolds; be rhythmic, lean, and clear at all times.
p. 59-62: continue to be aware of shapings of the phrase, dynamic indications, and unanimous declamation and enunciation of text.
p. 6-8: be aware of sonorities-- listening to the color of all the beautiful harmonies here. Sing into your dissonances (study annotations which have crescendos and circled notes to find these). There must be a quiet rhythmic confidence in this movement-- always feeling inner eighth note pulse, even though we never sing eighth notes. Take careful note of expression markings and when and how they transpire-- for example, see the difference between 120, 122 as compared to 124-126. We have not done text with this movement yet-- continue to enjoy singing on vowels.
Sunday:
p. 34-42-- work kinks out and begin to add text and interpretation to the challenging notes and rhythms
p. 27-33-- begin with the text and rhythm and try to build unity in communicating it clearly and expressively-- gradually work on notes.
p. 12-14-- learn new notes and rhythms in this middle section of movement two: new material-- no text yet
p. 1-8-- review and add text.
p. 15-25-- run through and review
p. 82-92-- begin work on notes and ensemble with neutral syllables and count singing-- do not worry about text yet.
After Sunday, we will have two weeks of sabbatical from our immersion in Brahms as it is time to focus on Holy Week and Easter-- HOWEVER, it is ESSENTIAL that we individually continue our study and improve on ALL movements we have covered to date (1,2,3,6,and 7). Movement 6 (pgs. 59-70) will be covered in Plymouth Choir rehearsals the next two Wednesdays as we will sing that excerpt for Easter. (Abendmusik friends are most welcome to join us for these even though it is not on your schedule.) Movements 4 and 5 will be covered in detail at our next Brahms only rehearsal on Wednesday, April 7, and you will note that we have saved the simplest and most familiar movements for last-- and you have the markings now available, so these should fall into place beautifully and efficiently.
CAUTION: If we do not keep working with Brahms on our own during these two weeks away from Brahmsing together, we will have serious limitations on what we can achieve together on April 18. If we continue to practice and focus during this alone time, we will manage to reach extraordinary heights. It is a choice we all make individually that impacts how we fare together. I am confident in each of you and trust that we will all make the right choice! : )
Thank you for offering your time and talent to the Abendmusik Chorus for this amazing encounter with Brahms. I look so forward to continuing our work together over the next month... and many, many more!
Grace and peace,
TT
