Middle Level Boys Honor Choir Rehearsal Notes and Materials

2012 North Central ACDA

7th and 8th Grade Boys Honor Choir

February 9-11, 2012

Dear Singers!

We are really looking forward to joining you in Madison next February for an unforgettable couple days making music together-- singing in a large SATB choir of boys!

The chance to sing in an all boys choir—as boys have done for hundreds of years—will be unique, and especially so since this choir is made up entirely of boys whose voices are treble (unchanged) or beginning to change (something that actually won’t be complete for another 10 or 15 years).

The great thing about this time of your life is that you have the widest vocal range that you will ever have—and we intend to celebrate it!  We’ll all be singing in both our treble range and (for you new tenors and baritones) your lower register too!

Start working on the music right away—don’t wait.  This letter is to give you some more information about how to learn the music.   Each piece was chosen carefully with your voices in mind (besides the fact that they’re all fun to sing).

Be sure to work on the pieces a little bit each week—don’t wait until the week before the concert to start learning. You should have the pieces memorized when you arrive.

If you have any questions as you are learning the music, feel free to email us.  See you in February!

Margaret Jenks
mjenks@madisonyouthchoirs.org

Randal Swiggum
rswiggum@madisonyouthchoirs.org

Click here to download all rehearsal files in a .zip archive.

Stella Splendens in Monte, Anonymous from about 1390

This might be the oldest piece of music you have  sung in your entire life  so far.   It’s from a famous place in Spain called Montserrat. There are many legends associated with Montserrat—see if  you  can find a  picture  of the mountain and monastery of Montserrat on the Internet.

For this piece, just learn the refrain—the first two lines—in your treble voice.  We’ll explain how we’re doing the piece when we get together.  If you are a changed voice tenor or bass, also please learn the bottom line (bass clef). Here is the pronunciation (be sure to flip all the r’s):

• STEH-la splen-dens een MAWN-teh oot SAW-lees RAH-dee-oom.
• Mee-RAH-koo-lees seh-RAH-to  eggs-OW-dee PAW-poo-lees.

There are many cool recordings of this piece on YouTube and iTunes.  They are all slightly different arrangements (and different from how we will be doing it) but it will give you a sense of how mysterious and wonderful it is.

• Stella Splendens (version 1)
• Stella Splendens (version 2)

Come, Ye Sons of Art, Henry Purcell (1659-1695)

This piece (originally sung by all boys and men) was written for the Queen of England.  It is from the Birthday Ode for Queen Mary 1694.  Everyone should learn the alto solo at the beginning—we will either use a soloist or a small group.  As youare learning your parts, practice singing in a British accent—tall “ah” vowels on the word “sons.”  The word “art” will be more like “aht” and the word “tune” will be “tyoon” (not toon).  Flip your “r” on “celebrate.”

• Come, Ye Sons of Art (full version)

The Bird, William Billings (1746-1800)

This piece is by America’s first composer, William Billings, who lived in Boston during the Revolutionary War and was a friend of Paul Revere.  Our choir of middle school boys loved singing this piece, although it was quite difficult to learn.

• Look up the word “timorous”.  See if you can figure out what this text means, and where it might have come from.
• Basses, sing the top notes unless you can sing the bottom notes louder than the top notes (which will be few of you).
• Everyone: Keep tall open vowels, in a British style.   Flip the r’s.
• “Why” should be pronounced with the “h” first.   “Should” is with an “oo” vowel, like “shoo-fly”.
• Many words have an “uh” vowel (schwa): distant, mountain, tim’rous.  Sing “dist-uhnt” and “mount-uhn”, etc

Palomita, Traditional lament from Peru, arr. Swiggum

Everyone learn the melody and words of both verse 1 and 2.  You’ll notice that the piece has a canon section (so you don’t need to practice that yet).  Sopranos should learn the descant for verse 1.

This piece will also need two soloists, so if you’re interested, come with the melody and two verses memorized.

Practice your Spanish so it sounds as authentically Spanish as possible (with flipped r’s and soft t’s).  Here is some pronunciation help:

1. Pah-loh-MEE-tah, don-deh-stahs? Keh-too  boo-ska mee keh-rehr.
   Saw-lee-TAH-ryah  tahl-ves yor-ahs
   Seen teh-nehr coh-moh vol-vehr.
2. Mee pah-loh-mah, yoh pair-dee
   Ee noh seh dohn-deh seh fway.
   Deh-soh-LAH-do, yoh lah boo-skoh
   Kee-sah noon-ka lah veh-reh.

(Translation)

Little dove, where are you?  Because I am looking for you.
Lonely, perhaps you cry, without a way to come back.
My dove, I've lost you.  I don't know where you went.
Desolate, I search for you, perhaps never to see you.

Johnnie Cope, Text: Adam Skirving (1719-1803) Music: Ken Johnston (b. 1962)

This piece is about a famous battle.  Do some sleuthing and discover what you can about the two main characters before you come to Madison.

Listen to the online recording of the Scottish National Youth Choir.  It’s the same piece, but a slightly different arrangement than ours, but it will help you learn the melody and get a feeling for the rhythmic excitement in this piece.

When the notes split into two parts, Sopranos and Tenors sing the top notes, Altos/Basses on the bottom.  There is also on online recording of just the piano part—if you can sing your part along with this, you will be very prepared for our first rehearsal.

The text of Johnnie Cope is an old one, and uses some Scottish words.  Listen carefully to the pronunciation on the recordings. You can also practice the words slowly by listening to this YouTube recording, with Alan Cumming reading the famous poem: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GEbZ8D3clQ

Here are some Scottish words you may not know.  Pencil both their meaning and pronunciation into your music:

• Johnnie Cope (National Youth Choir of Scotland)
• Johnnie Cope (piano only)