Hi all, another fantastic rehearsal on Tuesday, and a huge thanks to James for leading the S/A sectionals
What we did on Tuesday 22nd November
Very good work on A Spotless Rose, with a great amount of detail spent on ensemble and performance. T/B - Good work on Advent Moon and See amid with me, just ensure we're really happy with some of those intervals (such as bars 17 & 18, basses). S/A I heard very good things from your sectionals with James, and it all came together nicely in the tutti.
We ended the rehearsal with Advent Moon from bar 49, and See amid verses 1, 2 & 3.
Just a gentle reminder to please come with notes completely under your belt - the music isn't too difficult, there's just the odd passage which is fiddly. Please focus on those at home so rehearsal time can be spent putting it all together.
What we'll do on Tuesday 29th November
In our penultimate Tuesday rehearsal, I'd like to start off with Britten's Hymn to the Virgin, then run the Fantasia. If there's time in this half of the rehearsal we'll also go through O Little Town. After the break, we'll run Advent Moon, work on See amid, and finish with Jesus Christ the Apple Tree and The Three Kings.
Lots to get through, and we're in the final push, so please ensure we're putting in a few minutes of work a day, especially with the harder pieces. You can check it all out in the Spotify playlist below.
Marked Scores
These should all be in by now...!
Spotify Playlist
The Spotify Playlist, as always is HERE. I hope it all helps.
Concert Dress and Folders
A quick reminder about concert dress:
All black, so black shirts, trousers, jackets, jumpers, dresses, skirts, shoes and most importantly black socks or tights. We'll also have an optional splash of Christmas colour, so greens, reds, silvers, golds - think ties, scarves, cufflinks, etc.
Please see the very happy photo from last year's concert.
We use black folders for the concert. Normally I suggest supporting Blackwell's Music by getting them there, but if there aren't any, you can get them from:
Poster
Keep sharing this wonderful poster digitally far and wide, and pick up posters and fliers on Tuesday to place anywhere and everywhere!
Suggested Listening
A piece I recently rediscovered while programming a concert for my orchestra; Joan Tower's Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman, No. 1. The entire work - Fanfares for the Uncommon Woman - is a series of six short compositions, and are a tribute to "women who take risks and are adventurous", with each dedicated to an inspiring woman in music. Fanfare no. 1 was written in 1987 (with no. 6 written 29 years later in 2016) and was inspired by Aaron Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man. Fanfare no. 1 is dedicated to the conductor Marin Alsop.
You can watch Marin conduct this brilliant piece HERE.
(Quick aside, I actually went to this prom, and it was fantastic!)
Have a great weekend and see you on the 29th.
- Ben