News
Summer time news
We’ll fire up again on 9 September, starting to wind up to our December concert. The choir committee will Zoom in from here, there and everywhere during August to choose what we’ll sing so and to get the scores lined up for us.
Brahms’ German Requiem- big audience for big piece
You’re never alone with a learning track
We’ll all need to practice plenty between rehearsals for because the Requiem is a mighty endeavour with lots of singing to enjoy. That’s where learning tracks for different voice parts come in. They include all parts but emphasise the soprano, alto, tenor or bass variously according to which one you choose. It helps a lot to hear what’s happening around you so that you can avoid being put off. Even better they can help you to learn how other parts cue in your own entries to complement watching Clara’s direction – and to save reading the score when you’re not singing.
Take your pick from John Fletcher Music Rehearsal files or Cyberbass. You don’t need a membership to access the John Fletcher Requiem files. Cyberbass allows you to gradually adjust the speed of the tracks.
If you haven’t read music before, read on
We don’t ask people to audition for the Phil Choir, but just turning up and jumping in at the deep-end can be daunting. So, here’s some practical help if you fancy giving it a go but don’t read music, or want to brush up on how to do it: Reading sheet music in a choir: a beginner’s guide. It’s been put together by Making Music, UK’s membership organisation for leisure-time music, which we are a member of. Apart from the guide it offers several other ways to increase your knowledge and confidence in reading music. These include the EarMaster app with exercises to learn reading music.
Wunderbar! One less excuse.
Help is at hand if you’re not too sure about how to pronounce the German text in Ein deutsches Requiem, or if you’ve got no idea at all. Our membership secretary, Fran, has found this pronunciation guide which gives us all one less excuse for not getting it near enough dead-on. It’s well worth studying because there’s plenty else to stumble over when you’re learning a piece such as pitch and rhythm without also struggling with the language. So, “vielen Dank”, Fran!
Brahm’s German Requiem
Rehearsals start on Tuesday 7 January for our concert on Tuesday 25 March when we’ll feature Johannes Brahm’s beautiful German Requiem – but as we’ll be singing it in German it’ll be Ein deutsches Requiem, of course!
