Sorry for missing the Notes last week – having said this, at this stage I’m sure you’re all happy with all of the music, so nothing we rehearse should come as a shock! It didn’t affect the rehearsal, and we made some really excellent progress!
What we did on Monday 27th February:
We began by playing through the ‘larger’ movements of the Elgar, refining all of the fine details in each movement. In Suite 1 ‘Overture‘ we made sure the strings started together, the energy picked up immediately at the “a tempo” before Figure 4, and the orchestration and articulation was clear and accurate at the end of the movement. After this we did some fine detail on Suite 2 ‘March‘ working on the steady rhythms and ensuring there was the attention to detail Elgar’s scores require, such as the articulation an hand-over between instruments. We ended the first half by working on Suite 2 ‘Wild Bears‘, paying particular attention to the blend and priorities of musical ideas, and focusing on accompanying when we need but bringing out the line at other times. A very exciting play of it!
After the break we looked at the first movement of the Karelia Suite, working on the ‘shimmer’ in the strings, the blend of the horns at the start, the accelerando into Letter D, and the blend of the trumpets at Letter D. We then played a spot of the last movement, to just check we’re all happy with it.
Then we top and tailed the Scherzo of the Beethoven symphony, getting the opening rhythms together, and keeping everything as precise as possible – it sounded great! Just watch for the tempo change between the “Assai meno presto” sections going back into the “Presto” tempo.
We finished by playing the second movement of the Karelia Suite, just making sure the ensemble was good, and everyone was happy with notes. We’ll do a touch of work on this, Strings.
What we’ll do on Monday 6th March:
We’ll begin with The Wild Bears, before looking at the first movement of the Beethoven. After this we’ll do a bit of the last movement of the symphony, then work on the second movement – trombones can go at this point. We’ll then finish with a bit of work on Karelia suite movement 2.
Concert information
Below is hopefully all the information you’ll need for the concert day. Do drop me or Phil an email or chat to us at a rehearsal if there’s anything you’re unclear of.
Timings:
– 1pm set up in the church.
– 1:30pm-4:30pm rehearsal.
– 7:30pm-9:30pm concert.
Location: St Michael’s Church, Madeley, TF7 5BN.
Concert Dress: All Black – it may be cold, so make sure you’re wearing appropriate layers. All open-collar, so no ties.
Concert Running Order:
Karelia Suite – Sibelius
Movements from The Wand of Youth Suites 1 & 2 – Elgar
Suite 1: I. Overture
Suite 1: II. Serenade
Suite 2: I. March
Suite 2: III. Moths and Butterflies
Suite 2: V. The Tame Bear
Suite 2: VI. The Wild Bears
Interval of 25 minutes
Symphony No. 7 – Beethoven
Poster
You can see the wonderful poster for the concert, created by our very own Bec, below. Share it far and wide – we deserve a great audience for this one!
Spotify Playlist
The Spotify Playlist for the term is HERE. Do please give it a listen, or find the pieces on YouTube – listening to them regularly will help ingrain the tricky bits.
See you all on Monday 6th.
– Ben
