Click the link to sign up for the potluck on 5/19/25 at 6pm at the United Women's Club.

​https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70A0D4EAEAB2AAA8-56172051-spring

Great rehearsal tonight!  We went through all of the Gospel Mass to find the areas that need more work.
Starting in April, we will be rehearsing until 9:00pm every Monday to be prepared for our Spring concert.
 
Here are the section notes from rehearsal:

Soprano
American Tapestry
Wartime

• Break between the words shoes & and, hand & and on the bottom of pg 32

• No break between the words lips & when on top of pg 33

Bring Me Little Water

• Reminder Soprano 2 sings the written Soprano line instead of the melody. 

 
 
Alto
Gospel Mass
Credo

• Watch for 4th jump at beginning

• Practice meas 6 + 7; chromatics A2;

 
Acclamation

• Watch for cut-offs; "ought to praise him" 

• Mark repeats and codas in music

 
American Tapestry
Wartime

• Practice transition from page 31 + 32
• Don't breathe after "shoes" at meas. 27 (pg. 32)

• Watch for rit. at top of 33

 
Tenor
No notes submitted
 
Bass
Gospel Mass
Kyrie

• m. 52-53 on the Kyrie song, use a sforzando piano, then crescendo.

• m. 51-53, each note is a fermata.

 
Credo

• m. 1-4 use your head voice when singing and breathe on the "ah" vowel.

 
Gloria

• Make sure the pitches on m. 1-4 sound solid!

 
American Tapestry
Wartime

• Beat 2 of m. 17 to m. 18, don't forget the ritardando.
• m. 37, watch out for the cut time tempo.
• Beat 2 of m. 83, ritardando.

• Beat 2 of m. 104, molto ritardando.

There will be NO REHEARSAL next week for Spring Break.  During the time off, please become a lot more familiar with all of the pieces so you can look up from your music from time to time.   We will run Gospel Mass all the way through at the next rehearsal.
 
We started a new song, "I Hear America Singing" by Andre Thomas.  Here's the official Youtube video for the song, where you can follow along with the music:

Here are the section notes for this week:

​Soprano
I Hear America Singing

• Pay attention to the syncopated rhythms

 
Gospel Mass
V. Sanctus 

• Pay attention to all cutoffs

 
Alto
I Hear America Singing:

• "Don't you" NOT “don’t chew”
• Alto 2s sing with tenor 2s at meas. 30 (middle note)
• Alto 1s sing with tenor 1s at meas. 30 (top note)

 
Gloria Mass:
Sanctus and Angus Dei

• Watch for vowels and changing dynamics
• Pay attention to repeats 

 
American Tapestry:
IV: Expansion West

• Annunciate the words
• “Old yeller dog” not “old yellow dog” on meas. 20
• Be careful of notes of meas. 23; “…evening quite early they…” the “ly” on early goes down.
• Meas. 79 speeds up; watch Michelle

 
Tenor:
I Hear America Singing

• Whenever the men split into three parts
• Tenor 1 takes top, Tenor 2 takes middle

 
American Tapestry
IV: Expansion West

• Measure 20- old yel - ler dog, not old ‘yellow’ dog

 
Gospel Mass

• We are going to try and run it our next rehearsal on the 24th.
• Solos are due by next Monday
• There’s lots of solos throughout Gospel Mass & American Tapestry.

 
Bass
I Hear America Singing

• Say "A-me-ri-cah", not "A-me-ri-cuh"
• When you see the words "don't you", don't say "don't chew".
• Anytime there's a 3-part division, go bass/baritone, tenor 2, and tenor 1 (from bottom to top)
• Examples: Pickup of m. 34 to m. 44 and m. 69-72
• Sforzando piano and crescendo m. 45-48
• Rit. at beat 3 of m. 71

 
Gospel Mass
Sanctus

• M. 44 bring the letter "d" of "Lord" to beat three 

Agnus Dei

• Pickup to m. 6-25, sing only on the 2nd time
• M. 49 on the "men" of the word "amen", sing "men", then sing just on the consonant "n".

 
American Tapestry
IV: Expansion West

• M. 20, sing "old yellow dog" as "old 'yeller' dog".
• M. 34-end, sing with a more traditional choral tone.
• M. 37 and m. 62, watch out for the eighth note rest on beat 4.

• Don’t forget to memorize “Bring Me Little Water, Silvy”
• If you are interested in a solo, send it in two weeks to Michelle through text message, email, or YouTube as a private video.
• Form for Gospel Mass IV. Acclamation
  • M. 1-20
  • M. 1-16, then go m. 21-42
  • Go to the D.S. al Coda to m. 5-16
  • Take the Coda to m. 43
  • Repeat m. 43-50 (as many times as Michelle desires), then go to m. 51 to the end of the song

 
 
Soprano
Gospel Mass
IV. Acclamation

• Flip the 'r' in Praise
• Crescendo 'jah' until the bottom 3 voices break, then decrescendo until cutoff in mm.5-8 & mm.9-12
• Grow on 'praise' and 'with' in mm. 25 & 26
• Watch the cutoff of 'dance' in mm. 32
• Always crescendo 'lord' in mm. 43

III. Credo

• On pg 22 put a small break after 'crucified' & 'died' in mm. 21

 
Alto
Gospel Mass
IV. Acclamation

• lots of repeats; be aware of coda on pg 38
• transition to meas. 25; starting note is the same as sopranos last note; listen for them 

III. Credo

• Watch for timing at the beginning

 
Tenor
No notes submitted by section leader.  See other parts as needed
 
Bass
Gospel Mass
IV. Acclamation

• For any "hallelujah" words, the "jah" must be a tall vowel sound
• Any "div." notes have a bass/baritone split
• The word "praise" has a flipped "r" sound
• M. 11 don't forget the A natural note
• M. 17-18, 21-22, and 43-44, crescendo on the first three beats, decrescendo on the last beat
• M. 25-28 and m. 33-34, crescendo on the longer notes
• M. 35-36, carry the letter "d" on the word "and" to measure 36
• M. 30-36 and m. 39-42, stagger breathe

III. Credo

• M. 21 add breaths between the words "crucified", died, and "and"

We've been missing a lot of members at the past few rehearsals.  We definitely want you to stay home if you're not feeling well, but we'd otherwise love to see you.  If you have a friend who hasn't shown recently, please reach out and make sure they're okay.

Here's a link to a Youtube playlist for the Gospel Mass conducted by the composer, Robert Ray:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMQCvGymaag&list=PLF5ECE51DFAF18FFF

Also here are some videos to practice Bring Me Little Water Sylvie:

Here's the form for the song.  It will need to be MEMORIZED:
• Body percussion 2x
• Hum verse 1
• Sing verse 1 in unison
• Sing verse 2 in harmony
• B section chorus (no motions)
• Repeat verse 1
• B section chorus (no motions)
• Hum verse
• Sing "ev'ry little once in a while", on the third time, no body percussion and add a ritardando

And finally, here's the rehearsal notes for each section this week:
​
Sopranos:
American Tapestry
II. Celebration

• Watch cut offs of "Fare thee well" at mm.46
• No break between mm. 87-88
• Close to the 'm' on somebody at mm. 92
• Start soft at mm.90 and crescendo through "bet my money on the bobtail nag"
• Open mouth release on mm.106 and watch for the cut off

 
Gospel Mass
I. ‎Kyrie

• Decrescendo on "upon us" mm.35-36
• Lean on the 'mer' of mercy and 'le' of eleison

II. Gloria

• No break in mm.14 between thee and for
• Crescendo on Thee in mm.13 and the glor in mm.15 
• Decrescendo on the 'ry' of glory in mm.15
• Pay attention to the crescendo at mm.47
• On top of pg 13 make sure that the 'est' of highest is on the 'p' of peace in the next measure 
• No break between mm.38-39
• Watch for fermata cut off at the bottom of pg. 15

 
Altos:
American Tapestry
II. Celebration:

• Close to "m" on "somebody bet on the bay"

• Meas. 96 → remember it is different than rest

 
Gospel Mass
I. Kyrie

• Be prepared for meas. 33: "Lord God of..."

II. Gloria

• Flip "e" on "glory"
• Meter change at meas. 47 + 50

• Some notes are higher than they seem. Example: meas. 74-83

 
Tenors:
No notes submitted by section leader.  Please look at other section notes for assistance.
 
Basses:
American Tapestry
II. Celebration:

• m. 49 and 67-68 say "Lou'-si-an-a", not "Lou-i-si-an-a"
• m. 88-89 no breath
• m. 91-92 no breath

• m. 95-96 no breath

 
Gospel Mass
I. ‎Kyrie

• m. 35-36 decrescendo

II. Gloria

• m. 14 crescendo and no breath between "thee" and "for" 
• m. 15 decrescendo between "glo" and "ry"

• m. 34-35 no breath

We had an excellent showing for Bring-a-Friend night on Monday!  Thank you to all who brought someone.  We hope they consider joining!

Here are a couple videos of “Bring Me Little Water Sylvie,” a folk song from the American south, which we started learning at rehearsal this week.  If you’d like some extra practice to feel comfortable with the body percussion, the third video is a tutorial that can help.

Bring Me Little Water, Silvy – Zero8 & Bel Canto Choir Vilnius
youtube.com

Bring Me Little Water, Sylvie Women of the Sea Chanters Chorus
youtube.com

Bring Me Little Water, Silvy [Body Percussion Tutorial w/Moira Smiley]
youtube.com


General Rehearsal Notes:
-Please look over the “Bring Me Little Water, Sylvie” videos above.  We practiced the first eight beats of the 16 beat body percussion pattern and learned the A section of the song by rote, without using music.  This is a song that would traditionally be passed orally generation to generation without sheet music.
-We reviewed notes for the second movement of American Tapestry, and started learning notes for the third movement.
-We reviewed notes for the second movement of the Gospel Mass and started learning notes for the third movement.
-Please study the portions of both American Tapestry and Gospel Mass that were reviewed at rehearsal so notes are confident next week.

Sopranos:
American Tapestry (II. Celebration)
Crescendo on do? m.19 into m.20 and decrescendo on do? m.23 into m.24
Don't start so loud at m.18 so there is room to grow on the crescendo
Match the men's dynamic level when women come in at m.34

Gospel Mass (II. Gloria)
Crescendo on glory in m.15


Altos:Gospel Mass (II. Gloria)
Listen for same “oooh” shape
Watch out for key changes 
Diction
Dynamic contrast on longer notes




Tenors:
No notes submitted from section leader




Basses:
American Tapestry (II. Celebration)
m. 10-17 Keep the "skips" crisp and articulate
m. 51-52 unison
m. 68 watch the rhythm


Gospel Mass (II. Gloria)
m. 2 hold the "est" of "high-est" for its full value into the next measure
m. 15 crescendo from "glo" to “ry"
m. 37 Watch the piano volume
m. 44 don't forget about the repeat