Hello altos -- Attached (as two separate Word documents) and also pasted in
the email below are alto notes from 10/24 and 11/7 rehearsals.  My apologies
-- I did not do notes for 10/31 as I was unexpectedly absent (my husband was
called in early for his night shift).

No sectional this Tuesday -- see you at 7:30.  And please tell your friends
about our first annual Messiah singalong, which will be Sunday Dec. 10 at
5:00pm at Lutheran Church of the Reformation (our usual rehearsal location,
except upstairs).  It will be open for all to sing, and free except for a
goodwill offering (and a $5 refundable score deposit for those who don't
have their own scores).  Thank you!

Deborah

***
ALTO NOTES
For October 24, 2006 rehearsal

General notes/calendar items:

· Please mark measure numbers in any pieces of music that don’t already
include them.  I’ll use measure numbers in these notes (e.g., “M13” means
measure 13).

· Please bring your full Rachmaninoff score to every rehearsal – we’ll be
starting to sing through selected pieces besides movement #6.


Ear Training Immersion Exercises:

· We did exercises 15, 16, and 17.  Fred noted that this work on harmonic
minor will be put to good use in the Two Slavic Psalms (Part).


Schutz, Meine Seele erhebt den Herren (Magnificat)

M1 -- opening dynamic is mf
M72-73 – note that “kind” is pronounced in German with a short I “ih” sound,
not as in English
M81 – don’t miss the umlaut on “mächtig” – that makes the first syllable
have roughly an “eh” vowel
M100 – no breath between “Arm” and “und”


Pärt, Magnificat

p.4, top score, second measure – make sure your pitch is rock solid on the
“qui”
p.8, top score – watch pitch throughout the first measure of our entrance on
“Magnificat.”  The second F (on “fi”) should be the same as the first F (on
“Ma”).  Make sure you have breath support on this pp phrase.


Pärt, Bogoroditse Devo

M22, M25 – note that the accent is on the “la” in “rodila.”  Same marking in
M42.


Pärt, Zwei slawische Psalmen

· Alto IIs should join Alto Is on the “alto” part on the first page and a
half, since there’s no countertenor line here.
· General marking on this piece – “minimalist, like a mantra.”  There are no
marked dynamics, follow the “natural dynamics” that word accent and pitches
suggest.
· The word/syllable accents are important in this otherwise pretty
undifferentiated sound.  Please mark them in if you haven’t already.  The
Cyrillic script at the bottom of each staff has the accents marked in, and
you can transfer them to our line.

M17 – note that “Gospodnya” has its accent on the second syllable, unlike
the similar word “Gospoda” which has its accent on the first syllable
M25 – every time we sing “alleeluya,” the first “l” is a forward “l,” while
the second “l” is in back.  (If you don’t know the difference, feel free to
ask me, or better yet our Slavic expert Thea, for a demonstration.)
M70 (p.8, at rehearsal #4) – Alto IIs start this on a mp-mf dynamic.  Alto I
entrance should be forte.  Same pattern each time this section repeats.
p.17, first measure – the “r” at the end of “matyer” should be soft; you
could even replace it with a flipped “d”
p.17, second score, last measure – the “l” at the end of “Eezraeel” is soft


Gretchaninoff, Voskliknite Ghospodevi

· No specific measure markings this week; pp. 7-9 need some work.


Rachmaninoff, All-Night Vigil

· We did movement 6 only; no new markings


Liljestrand, A Christmas Triad

· We did all three pieces.

The only specific marking this week was in movement 1 (Puer natus), M28 –
don’t slow down/drag

Tcherepnin, Alleluia

· We practiced the whole piece.
· General note: keep depth and color in your voice/breath.

M7 – note the rallentando partway through this measure
M35-36 – practice the text underlay on these two measures


****

ALTO NOTES
For November 7, 2006 rehearsal

General notes/calendar items:

· Please mark measure numbers in any pieces of music that don’t already
include them.  I’ll use measure numbers in these notes (e.g., “M13” means
measure 13).

· Please bring your full Rachmaninoff score to every rehearsal – we’ll be
starting to sing through selected pieces besides movement #6.

· If you missed this rehearsal, please see me (Deborah) at the next
rehearsal – I have a set of tickets for you for our December concerts (for
you to sell to friends, colleagues, neighbors, family…)

Ear Training Immersion Exercises:

· No exercises from this book this week.

Schutz, Meine Seele erhebt den Herren (Magnificat)

· The Georgetown Chamber Singers will be singing choir II – all of us will
be singing choir I.

M148 – watch rhythm here – two beats of rest, then come in promptly on beat
3

Pärt, Magnificat

· General note: Fred says “let me play” – i.e., be prepared for the note
values to ebb and flow a little, and be speechlike rather than super-literal

p.4, top score – it looks like Fred will not be taking any extra time
between the soprano/bass “magna” in the first measure and our entrance in
the next measure
p.4, second score – back off a little (dynamically) on the “men” of “nomen”
to prepare for the crescendo
p.4, second score – on the forte “et,” Fred says “rend the heavens.”  On the
same measure, grow through the “cor” of “miseriacordia”
p.4, bottom score – Fred asks altos to “connect to their lower register”
here – try to make a smooth sound between high and low.
p.8, top score – we practiced from “Magnificat” to the end of the piece on
solfege, with A flat as Do.
p.8, bottom score – in last measure of piece, the tenors’ D flat is the most
important note – try to hear it.

Pärt, Bogoroditse Devo

M1-3 – Fred asked us to practice the beginning – be on top of it both
pitchwise and rhythmically. Same in M7-M11.
M18 – this section (“blagosslovjen plod”) should be legato


Pärt, Zwei slawische Psalmen

· Alto IIs should join Alto Is on the “alto” part on the first page and a
half, since there’s no countertenor line here.
· General marking on this piece – “minimalist, like a mantra.”  There are no
marked dynamics, follow the “natural dynamics” that word accent and pitches
suggest.
· The word/syllable accents are important in this otherwise pretty
undifferentiated sound.  Please mark them in if you haven’t already.  The
Cyrillic script at the bottom of each staff has the accents marked in, and
you can transfer them to our line.

No specific measure markings this week.


Gretchaninoff, Voskliknite Ghospodevi

· General note: use a dark color

M7 – Alto IIs watch their pitch on “fsia” – practice.
M9 – alto note should come out a bit in this chord.  Keep it high as we are
the third of the chord and are what makes the chord major.
M32-36 – MEMORIZE these measures, and practice the text
M36 – don’t get caught out by the rhythmic change here.
M43 – note the pp here
M52 – decrescendo here (to approximately p)