2011 MISSOTA CONFERENCE MUSIC FESTIVAL

 

Academy of Holy Angels  -  Farmington  - Chanhassen  -  Chaska

New Prague  -  Northfield  -  Red Wing  -  Shakopee

 

HIGH SCHOOL SELECT CHOIR

Chatherine Anhut, coordinator

LAWRENCE E. BURNETT, clinician & conductor

 

Rehearsals: Tuesday, April 5; 4:00-6:00 P.M. and Friday, April 8; All Day

Performance: Friday, April 8; 7:30 P.M.

 

 

Dear Singers:

 

I am honored and delighted to serve as conductor of the 2011 Missota High School Select Choir. I have worked in consultation with your directors to select great choral pieces that represent both classical and cultural traditions.

 

The rehearsal notes will assist you in learning the pieces as they will be performed in April. Attention to details of your vocal part and an awareness of the entire work are important.

 

Our rehearsal time is limited. We will spend the majority of the rehearsal time working on the nuances of choral blend and performance styles. Therefore, it is imperative that all singers come to the first rehearsal with all of the music learned; scores and pencils should be in hand to mark performance notes that are not included in the rehearsal notes below.

 

Enjoy the music, and remember to thank your music instructor(s) for their help in preparing you.

 

Best wishes,

Lawrence E. Burnett

 

PROGRAM and REHEARSAL NOTES

 

At the Round Earth's Imagined Corners

Music: Williametta Spencer (b.1932)

Text: John Donne (1572-1631)

 

Score:

Shawnee Press SP10101

 

Composer:

Williametta Spencer is a composer, educator, organist and pianist. While attending high school in Ann Arbor, Michigan, she studied piano and clarinet at the University of Michigan. After graduating high school she moved to California where she attended Whittier College and the University of Southern California, earning the B.A. degree in piano performance and composition, and the M.M. and Ph. D. degrees in composition, respectively. Between the master and doctoral degrees, she studied in Paris as a Fulbright Scholar.

 

Her catalogue includes works for solo piano, wind ensemble, orchestra, string quartets, voice, and a long list of works for treble, tenor‐bass and mixed choirs. More about Dr. Spencer is available on her website at < http://wspencer.com/ >.

 

Composition and Historical Perspective:

At the Round EarthÕs Imagined Corners was the winning composition of the 1968 Southern California Vocal Association Competition. The text, from John Donne's Divine Sonnet VII, describes the end of the world and the Last Judgment. The poem is full of symbolism, imagery and wordplay on themes of religion, justice, and humility. Dr. Spencer employs a variety of choral textures, meter changes and dynamics to emphasize the character and textual content of the poem.

 

Text:

At the round earth's imagined corners, blow

Your trumpets, Angells, and arise, arise

From death, you numberlesse infinities

Of soules, and to your scattered bodies goe,

All whom the flood did and fire shall oÕerthrow,

All whom warre, death, age, agues, tyrannies,

Despair, law, chance, hath slain, and you whose eyes,

Shall behold God and never taste death's woe,

But let them sleepe, Lord, and mee mourn a space,

For, if above all these my sinnes abound,

'Tis late to aske abundance of Thy grace.

When wee are there; here on this lowly ground.

Teach mee how to repent; for that's as good

As if Thou hadst sealÕd my pardon, with thy blood.

 

Score Markings:

Tempo: There are a number of tempo changes throughout the score as indicated below.

 

Dynamics: ff ‐ never to be at a shout; pp ‐ as a loud whisper. Follow all dynamic markings unless instructed otherwise.

 

Phrasing: Though the general rule is to follow the punctuation, they are too numerous to include at the indicated performance tempo. Mark lifts (a break without a breath) and breaths as indicated below.

 

Diction: The poem is written in Old English but we will use Standard American English pronunciations. (ÒGoeÓ is go; ÒsinnesÓ is sins, ÒaguesÓ is Òey‐gyoosÓ, etc.)

 

Meas.         Part           Notes:

1                All               Eighth note = 138

2                All               Lift after ÒcornersÓ

5                All               Change the first quarter note to eighth note, eighth rest

6                All               No breath after ÒdeathÓ (no pun intended)

8                S                Change the quarter note to eighth note, eighth rest; lightly put the final ÒsÓ on ÒsoulesÓ

10              All               Complete release after the fermata

11              T,B             Watch for downbeat and slower tempo established in previous measures

12              T,B             Change the quarter note to eighth note, eighth rest AND put the ÒdÓ on the rest

13              T,B             Complete release after the fermata

14              T                Change first dotted-quarter note to a quarter note and quarter rest

T,B             Change second dotted-quarter note to quarter note and quarter rest AND put the ÒthÓ on the rest

16              T,B             Add a fermata on quarter note; watch for release and prep to the last eighth note

17              T,B             Change both dotted-quarter notes to quarter notes followed by eighth rests, respectively

18              T,B             Change quarter note to eight note and eighth rest; phrase accordingly

19              T,B             Change second dotted-quarter note to quarter note and eighth rest; phrase accordingly

21              All               Molto rallentando; watch for breath before the last three eighth notes

22              All               Add fermata

23              All               A tempo; change quarter note to eight note and eighth rest (ÒdÓ on the rest)

24              All               Add fermata on half note; no decrescendo; watch for release

25              S,A             Watch for downbeat and slower tempo (like at measure 11); do not phrase after ÒsleepeÓ

26              S,A             Lift after ÒLordÓ

27              S,A             Add fermata

28              S                No lift or breath

29              S,A             Change dotted-quarter note to quarter note and eighth rest

30              S,A             Ignore first comma; change dotted-quarter note to quarter note and quarter rest (ÒdÓ on the rest)

32              S,A             Complete release after the fermata

33              All               An even slower tempo; phrase after ÒthereÓ

35              All               Breathe in rhythm (last eighth‐note pulse)

37              All               Change dotted-quarter note to quarter note and eighth rest (ÒtÓ on the rest)

38              All               Change dotted-quarter note to quarter note and eighth rest (ÒdÓ on the rest)

39              All               Add a caesura  (Ò//Ó) – a complete break – before the last measure; watch the conductor

40              All               Add a long, slow crescendo, not to exceed your artistic capacity, on the last note

 

 

Zigeunerleben (Gypsy Life), Op. 23, No. 3

Music: Robert Schumann (1810 - 1856)

Text: Emanuel Geibel (1815 - 1884)

 

Score:

Choral Public Domain Library

http://www2.cpdl.org/wiki/images/sheet/schumann/schm-zig.pdf

 

Composer:

Schumann showed ability as a pianist and began composing at a young age. In 1821, at age 11, he went to Leipzig to study law, but actually spent his time on music and literature. After a brief time studying law in Heidelberg, he convinced his family that he should become a pianist. He moved back to Leipzig, to live with the Wieck family. He fell in love with WieckÕs daughter Clara, who was also a gifted pianist. ClaraÕs father, however, objected to their marriage, and it was five years before they were finally able to marry.

 

In 1834 Schumann founded the Neue Zeitschrift fŸr Musik, a music review. Schumann was a perceptive critic, and his writings helped a number of young composers along in their career. A child of his time and certainly into cloak-and-dagger stuff, he would occasionally write under two noms de plume. When he felt lyrical and thoughtful, he was Eusebius; when he felt fiery urges, he called himself Florestan.

 

In addition to composing and writing, he tried teaching at MendelssohnÕs conservatory in Leipzig and tried his hand at conducting, but lacked conviction to do either. He may have also felt insecure with regard to Clara, who had become something of a pop star (the Romantic period basically invented the concept). Periods of depression followed. From 1854 onwards Schumann suffered hallucinations, which scared him into checking himself into an asylum where he died in 1856.

 

SchumannÕs output includes a piano concerto, a cello concerto, symphonies and large choral works as well as more than 150 lieder; but, he is especially known for his introvert piano and chamber music.

 

Composition and Historical Perspective:

Zigeunerleben (Gypsy Life) was written in 1840, the year Schumann married Clara Wieck; a year in which he wrote the grand total of 138 lieder. Zigeunerleben is the third of three poems by Emanuel Geibel that make up SchumannÕs opus 29; the others are solo songs: ÒLŠndliches LiedÓ (Rural song) and ÒLiedÒ (Song). Zigeunerleben is a very lively, dramatic piece, with optional parts for tambourine and triangle to create ÒgypsyÓ effects.

 

German Romantic composers and poets had a fascination with the ÔexoticÕ. The subject – Gypsy Life – is a classic one for 19th century music. Enigmatic gypsies and noble savages inspired countless stories and legends. Zigeunerleben describes a night in a gypsy camp. The gypsies, who are portrayed in fantastic epithets, Òsuckled by the sacred waters of the NileÓ and Òbronzed by the southern heat of SpainÓ gather around the campfire for stories, spells and food, served by an old crone: a witch (?). They listen, spellbound; they dance, entranced; they sing, probably, and the fire casts a mysterious glow, but the whole is an illusion. In the morning, the magic is gone, it is grey, and cold, and the nightly revelers slink off to an unknown destination and an unknown future: gypsy life wasnÕt and isnÕt all it is cracked up to be. The poem gives us a little history lesson: Gypsies were believed to have originated in Egypt, while their sun-tanned skin and love of color came from their having grown up in Spain. And in 1492 they were exiled from that country along with the Jews and the Muslims.

 

[The notes on the composer, composition and historical perspective are drawn freely from program notes by Tina Breckwoldt, 2007.]

 

Text and Translation:

Im Schatten des Waldes, im Buchengezweig,                   In the shadow of the forest, among branches of beech,

da regtÕs sichÕs und raschelt und flŸstert zugleich,            something stirs, and rustles, and whispers all at once,

es flackern die Flammen, es gaukelt der Schein                flames flicker, and their light casts a spell

um bunte Gestalten, um Laub und Gestein.                      around colorful figures, foliage and stones.

 

Das ist der Zigeuner bewegliche Schar,                             That is the tribe of agile gypsies,

mit blitzendem AugÕ und mit wallendem Haar,                   eyes flashing, hair flowing;

gesŠugt an des Niles geheiligter Flut,                               suckled by the sacred waters of the Nile

gebrŠunt von Hispaniens sŸdlicher Glut.                           bronzed by the southern heat of Spain.

 

UmÕs lodernde Feuer da lagern die MŠnner                       The men lie around the fire

Verwildert und kŸhn,                                                         Wild and brave,

da kauern die Weiber und rŸsten das Mahl                       Where the women squat to prepare the meal.

und fŸllen geschŠftig den alten Pokal                                They fill the old chalice

und Sagen und Lieder ertšnen im Rund                            And legends and songs resound in the circle

wie Spaniens GŠrten so blŸhend und bunt                        Blossoming and colorful like the gardens of Spain

und magische SprŸche fŸr Not und Gefahr                        And magic spells against need and danger

verkŸndet die Alte der horchenden Schar.                         The old woman tells the listening group.

 

SchwarzŠugige MŠdchen beginnen den Tanz                    Black-eyed girls start the dance

Da sprŸhen die Fackeln den rštlichen Glanz.                     Torches cast the reddish reflection.

Es lockt die Gitarre, die Cymbel erklingt,                            The guitar seduces, the cymbals sound,

wie wild und wilder der Reigen sich schlingt.                     And the round dance spins wilder and wilder circles.

 

Dann ruhÕn sie ermŸdet vom nŠchtlichen ReihÕn                At last they lie down, tired from the nightly round,

Es rauschen die Buchen in Schlummer sie ein,                   The beeches rustle them to their slumber

und die aus der glŸcklichen Heimat verbannt,                   And those that are banished from their happy homeland,

sie schauen im Traume das glŸckliche Land.                      May see it in their dreams.

 

Doch wie nun im Osten der Morgen erwacht                     As morning wakes in the east,

verlšschen die schšnen Gebilde der Nacht                        The nightÕs beautiful fancies expire.

es scharret das Maultier bei Tagesbeginn,                        The mule paws the ground at daybreak,

fort ziehen die Gestalten: wer sagt dir, wohin?                 The figures move away: who can tell you where?

 

Score Markings:

Tempo: There are a number of tempo changes throughout the score as indicated below.

 

Dynamics: ff ‐ never to be at a shout; pp ‐ as a loud whisper. Follow all dynamic markings unless instructed otherwise.

 

Phrasing: The general rule is to lift (a break without a breath) or breathe following punctuation markings. No breath, lift and breath markings are indicated below. All are within the rhythm of the text and music.

 

Diction: We will sing in German. Listen to this recording for the correct pronunciation.

 

Meas.         Part           Notes:

Follow the measure numbers as marked, even though the first marked measure is an incomplete measure.

1                All               Quarter note = about 108.

4                S, A            No breath.

5                S, A            Breath.

7                S, A, T        Crescendo to mf and then subito p on second half of beat four. Breath.

9                All               No breath.

10              All               No breath.

10-11         All               Crescendo to f

13              All               No breath. No decrescendo.

17              All               Breath.

19-25         All               Follow punctuation for quick breaths, as needed.

27              All               Change dotted-quarter note to half note.

29-45         All               Stagger breathing to successfully execute these forte and piano phrases.

47-61         All               Full sections will sing the solos.

61-63         S, A            The SI and SII soli will be sung by all sopranos and all altos, respectively.

63-65         T, B            The TI and TII soli will be sung by all tenors and all basses, respectively.

65-69         S                All sopranos will sing the solo.

71              All               S, A, T breath on beat four; Basses breathe on the second half of beat three.

75-end       All               Phrase with the punctuation markings.

 

 

Bogoroditse Devo from Vsenoshchnoe bdenie (All Night Vigil, a.k.a. Vespers), Op. 37, No. 6

Music: Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff (1873-1943)

Text: Eastern Russian Orthodox Vesper Liturgy

 

Score:

Choral Public Domain Library

http://www1.cpdl.org/wiki/images/5/5e/Rachmaninov_Bogorodyitse_Dyevo_PML.pdf

 

Composer:

Sergei Rachmaninoff was born to military parents, both amateur pianists, who moved to St. Petersburg where Sergei studied at the conservatory. He went on to study at the Moscow Conservatory and graduated with high honors in 1892. He is considered to be the last great figure of the grand Russian Romantic tradition. Like Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) before him, he was devoted to melody and lyricism during a period of dramatic musical upheaval. He also was considered to be one of the finest pianist of his day.

 

By all accounts, Rachmaninoff had a troubled life of depression and a battle with the Church, which he ultimately won, to marry his cousin Natalia. In 1909, he made his first visit to the United States, receiving an enthusiastic welcome and praise for his music. It was during RachmaninoffÕs second period in Russia – from February 1910 until after the Revolution of 1917 – that he composed his two major sacred choral works, The Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom in 1910 and the All-Night Vigil (Vespers) in 1915. After the Revolution of 1917, Rachmaninoff left Russia and moved his family to the United States, where he spent the remaining 25 years of his life. He died on March 28, 1943, in Beverly Hill, California, as an American citizen.

 

In addition to the All-Night Vigil, Rachmaninoff is best known for his Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini for piano and orchestra, The Bells for chorus and orchestra, and numerous piano works.

 

Composition and Historical Perspective:

RachmaninoffÕs All-Night Vigil, popularly known as the Vespers, was composed in less than two weeks early in 1915, and was first performed in Moscow by the all-male Synodal Choir, partly to benefit the Russian war effort. Critics gave the premiere an enthusiastic reception; it was performed no less than five times within the next five weeks. Today, the work stands as the crowning achievement of the ÒGolden AgeÓ of Russian Orthodox sacred choral music.

 

Though Rachmaninoff avoided affiliation with the established church, the 15 a cappella movements maintain the Russian Orthodox ChurchÕs prohibition against musical instruments of any kind. Ten of the movements are based on chant melodies. The other five, including the Bogoroditse Devo, are RachmaninoffÕs own musical settings and do not contain chant per se but use chant-like formulas with harmonic textures that are uniquely Russian in character. The text pays homage to the Virgin Mary. The music captures both the gentle simplicity of the angelic greeting and the awe-struck glorification of her presence to God.

 

Text and Translation:

Bogoroditse Devo, raduisya
                            Rejoice, virgin mother of God


Blagodatnaya Marie, Gospod s Tovoyu
           Mary full of grace, the Lord is with you


Blagoslovena Tyi v zhenakh                             Blessed are you among women,


i blagosloven plod chreva Tvoego,
                  and blessed is the fruit of your womb,


yako Spasa rodila esi dush nashikh.                for you have borne the Savior of our souls.

 

Score Markings:

Tempo: Rubato. Quarter note = 60 (or slower)

 

Dynamics: ff ‐ never to be at a shout; ppp ‐ as a loud whisper. Follow all dynamic markings unless instructed otherwise.

 

Phrasing: In this score, lifts are indicated as textual ties, as between measures three and four. Otherwise, the general rule applies: Lift (a break without a breath) or breathe in rhythm following punctuation markings.

 

Diction: We will sing in Church Slavonic. Listen to this recording for the correct pronunciation.

 

Meas.         Part           Notes:

Unlike the Schumann, the incomplete measure is measure Ò0Ó.

3 to 4         All               Lift

4                All               Breathe in rhythm (dotted quarter/eighth rest)

8                All               Breathe in rhythm

13              A                Breathe in rhythm (eighth note/eighth rest on beat one)

                  S, T, B        Breathe in rhythm (on the second half of beat four)

17              A                Breathe in rhythm (on the second half of beat one); stretch beat four

                  S, T            No breath!

18>19        A, S, T        Stretch beat four — S, T Quick breath after the second half of beat four

21              All               Breathe in rhythm

 

 

 

 

Ride On, King Jesus

Music: Moses Hogan (1957-2003)

Text: African American Spiritual (author unknown)

 

Score:

Hal Leonard HL 8703210

 

Composer:

Moses George Hogan, best known for his arrangements of concert spirituals, was an internationally renowned pianist, conductor and arranger. Born in New Orleans, Louisiana, he studied at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, the Oberlin Conservatory, the Juilliard School of Music, and Louisiana State University. In 1993, he was appointed Artist-in-Residence at Dilliard University in New Orleans.

 

As a pianist, Hogan won first place in the prestigious 28th annual Kosciuszko Foundation Chopin Competition in New York. He began his exploration of the choral music idiom in 1980 when he formed the Moses Hogan Chorale to perform for a Black History Month concert with the New Orleans Symphony Orchestra. Later downsized to the Moses Hogan Singers, his choral groups preformed extensively throughout the United States and recorded most of his settings of African American spirituals.

 

Though his choral series of more than 70 African American spirituals and original compositions is published by Hal Leonard Corporation and by Alliance Music Publishers, he served as editor of the Oxford Book of Spirituals, an expansive collection of spirituals, published by Oxford University Press. Indeed, his contemporary settings have replaced some of the concert favorites by classic nationalistic African American composers such as William Dawson and Jester Hairston.

 

Composition and Historical Perspective:

Ride On, King Jesus is an African-American spiritual (formerly called Negro Spiritual) that can be traced to enslaved blacks prior to the Civil War. It is in the category called jubilee because it contains a text whose purpose is to be uplifting with the words [Jesus] "died for the rich and He died for the poor" and Òno man can a-hinder me.Ó

 

Commissioned and premiered by the Spelman College Glee Club, the original setting was for womenÕs voices. The arrangement for mixed voices soon followed and has become a standard for high school, college and university, church, community and professional choirs around the world. HoganÕs arrangement takes on gospel music characteristics with the inclusion of a piano accompaniment.

 

Text and Translation:

Ride on King Jesus,

Ride on, the conquering king.

Ride on King Jesus,

No man can hinder thee.

 

I was but young when I begun.

No man can hinder thee.

But now my race is almost done.

No man can hinder thee.

 

King Jesus rides a milk white horse.

No man can hinder thee.

The river Jordan he did cross.

No man can hinder thee.

 

HeÕs the king and the Lord.

No man can hinder thee.

HeÕs the first and the last.

HeÕs the Lord of Lords.

 

Jesus is the Prince of peace.

No man can hinder thee.

Oh, ride on, King Jesus.

No man can hinder thee.

 

Score Markings:

Tempo: Quarter note = 132, as marked.

 

Dynamics: Follow all dynamic markings unless instructed otherwise. Note that repeats of text and music may have different dynamics. And remember: ff ‐ never to be at a shout; ppp ‐ as a loud whisper.

 

Phrasing: The general practice of phrasing with the punctuation does not apply here, as there are numerous short and repeated phrases. Throughout the score, phrase after periods and rests.  Where the music continues immediately following periods, phrase in rhythm. For example, in measure 6 all s will breathe on the second half of beat three though only the sopranos and altos have music on beat four.

 

Diction: Standard American English. (WeÕll address dialect in rehearsals.)

 

Meas.         Part           Notes:

All               All               Solos will be sung by the full sections.

46-52         S, A            Sing the divisi as marked in the published score.

76              All               Change the whole note to a dotted quarter note followed by a quarter rest.