I've got a feeling...

that (Saturday) night's going to be a good night....

I'm not saying that we flew through everything perfectly on Tuesday night, but there were no moments of sheer panic where everything fell to pieces either.

Mostly it was sounding pretty good, the scary bits in the Missa seemed to have righted themselves (thankfully) and I'm really looking forward to hearing how Alex Woodrow (Director of Music at the cathedral, and our Organist on Saturday) is going to condense a whole orchestra to just the organ. I'm also really looking forward to hearing our soloists sing all the bits we've been missing out during rehearsals!

Full concert details can be found on the website (http://www.bradfordchorale.org.uk/) and tickets will be available on the door.

Hope you see you there!

it's got to be worth it...

So this week wasn't perfect, but it was improvement on last week.

After near constant listening to my recordings, to the point where I was beginning to question my sanity (seriously, I found myself loudly singing the 'Amens' at the bus stop one night, thankfully it was dark and I was alone) the majority of the tricky bits of the Missa had sorted themselves out.

The Gloria also sounded good, and next week we're going to run both pieces, including all the repeats, to get a proper sense of how it will all sound on the night.

Tickets are still available at the advanced price of £10 (they'll be £12 on the door), so if you'd like to come and hear us (and our excellent soloists), visit the website - http://www.bradfordchorale.org.uk/

See you there!

Be like the bluebird....

It would be fair to say I felt a little - deflated at the end of rehearsal last night.

The first half had gone really well, running the Gloria for the first time in weeks had flagged up a couple of slightly sticky areas, but nothing too problematic, and nothing that couldn't be solved with a bit more rehearsal and closer attention to our conductor.

It was the Missa where it all fell apart slightly. Bits I thought I'd got nailed I kept messing up, and bits that I'd been bothered about went ok. Part of it was probably due to the fact that because holidays and illness, the soprano line up was smaller than usual, and arranged differently, so I was hearing different people to normal. It's not really a valid excuse though, as how we sit in rehearsals isn't always concert formation.

Thanks to some note bashing and lots of running the Credo was sounding better, and the Cum Spiritu was getting there as well, but I'm going to have the recordings on constantly this week - and next week will be brilliant!

Hopefully.

It's a game of two halves...

This week had an element of showing 'Sir' our homework, as Jonathan was away last week for half term, and as might have been expected, there were bits that went well, and others that didn't.

We ran the majority of the Missa Solemnis and for the most part, it went pretty well. I'm still having problems with my 'Amens' in places, and some of the longs runs of notes are still tripping me up in places, but thankfully near constant listening to my recording has worked and some of the other tricky bits are much easier.

We're going to be running the Gloria on Tuesday for the first time in a few weeks - I've been listening to that one as well, but I'm still going to be keeping my fingers crossed that it goes alright!

The trouble with (A)men is...

The last couple of weeks have proved difficult in getting the 'Amens' in the right places. There's a lot a long runs of notes in the Missa Solemnis and just to keep us on our toes, the '-men' bits of the 'amens' don't always come in the same places. We're getting there with getting the notes in the right order though, so the rest will follow soon.

We've also had another go at two of the Rutter Birthday Madrigals - It was a lover and his lass, and Come live with me. They couldn't really be more different from the Mozart and Vivaldi we're doing for the Spring concert, but they make a really nice change and are great pieces of music.

As ever, tickets can be purchased through the Bradford Chorale website - http://www.bradfordchorale.org.uk/

I remember you...

....or I should.

The sopranos seemed to be suffering from a collective mind blank this week, when despite having rehearsed and even note-bashed parts of it, we barely remembered a single note of the 'Cum Sancto Spiritu' in the Missa Solemnis.

I was also having problems with the 'Amens' this week, as I discovered I can sing them going down, but oddly, not when they're going up. Thankfully the rest of the Missa went much better, which is probably just as well.

We also had a go at some of the music for the June concert, John Rutter's Birthday Madrigals. They are very different to the music the Chorale normally sing, but it's great to sing something a bit lighter.

Tickets for the March concert are now available from the website, http://www.bradfordchorale.org.uk/ or from any member of the Chorale.

Up and running...

 

Yay! it worked! Sorry, technology isn't really my strong point, so glad I can bring you the poster for our next concert. Tickets are also now available and it would be great to see you there.

At rehearsal this week we were note-bashing the difficult bits to the Missa Solemnis which is not particularly exciting, music wise, but always needed for tricky bits. Needless to say things sounded much less tentative at the end of rehearsal and once we've got the notes sorted, we can start making it sound 'musical' rather than just 'right'.

In other technological news, the new Bradford Chorale website is now up and running. Including all the latest details on forthcoming concerts, the website also has information on the Chorale's history and useful music learning files. It can be found at http://www.bradfordchorale.org.uk/