Follow, Follow, Follow

There is a song by Carole King called "Where You Lead, I Will Follow." Clearly, this does not apply to us Tenors and Basses. It's pretty simple when you know how. Hmmmm says a Soprano!

Follow the instructions to purchase tickets, which will be available from 01 November. 

All tickets are booked by email: janmharvey@icloud.com with a list of your guests’ names and money paid into the usual In Flagrante bank account, where you pay your fees with your name.

 We only have four Tuesdays left, and there is a lot of work to cover.

Waterloo Sunset started our evening.  Remember, this song is a lullaby, so make it tender and flowing.

The phrases are passed to different voice parts, so be ready for your part by singing along with the other parts in your head so you are prepared, and it doesn’t come as a surprise.

Gabriel’s Message is a Basque Christmas folk carol about the Annunciation to the Virgin Mary by the archangel Gabriel, who said she would become the mother of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

The Basque folk carol, based initially on Angelus ad virginem, a 13th or 14th Century Latin carol, was collected by Charles Bordes and then paraphrased into English by Sabine Baring-Gould, who had spent a winter as a boy in the Basque country. The tune is called "Gabriel's Message". 

It is commonly performed in an arrangement by Edgar Pettman published in his 1892 book Modern Christmas Carols.

It has been recorded by Aled Jones, Charlotte Church and Dilya to name but a few.

Our version should be full, rich and clearly annunciated to tell the story.

The Altos begin with the tune and then go into a harmony before returning to the tune.

Tenors and Basses sing together, remembering they have a long ‘ri’ on ‘Gloria’

Sops – you are not on the tune for ‘Gloria’.  It is just one note, but make sure the timing is correct as it is a long ‘Glo…….’ Before the ‘ria’

The ‘Glorias’ should be gentle, smile as you sing it, and let the last ‘ia’ fade into the ether.

Beware of too many ‘sssss’ on ‘Christmas morn’.  Drop the ‘t’ and make it a long ‘Chriiiiii’ and short ‘smas morn’

For the Tenors and Basses.

Try to Remember is a song about nostalgia from the musical comedy play The Fantasticks (1960). It is the first song performed in the show, encouraging the audience to imagine what the sparse set suggests. The words were written by the American lyricist Tom Jones , while Harvey Schmidt composed the music.

The Sops start us off on this one, with the Altos joining in.  Altos, please try to remember the change of notes ‘tender and callow fellow’ as they go down in steps, and it is not as written in your music score.

Don’t look at your music. Follow, follow, follow Eamonn’s direction when singing these words.

The Sops start, then the altos and Tenors and Bases interlink.  Tenors and Basses have three ‘follows’ sung by the Sops before their first ‘Follow’ and their second ‘follow’ follows the altos.

Tenors and basses – you always follow; you do not lead! You also DO NOT sing the tune!

A New Year Carol is a British folk song of Welsh origin traditionally sung in New Year celebrations.

It is associated with a New Year's Day custom involving sprinkling people with water newly drawn from a well. The song was set to music by Benjamin Britten in 1934.

The song is associated with Pembrokeshire. There, it figured in a custom in which, on New Year's Day, children collect fresh water from a well and go around with a sprig from an evergreen tree, which they use to sprinkle the faces of passers-by with the water while singing the carol and begging for gifts of food or money. Elsewhere in Wales, the custom is called dwr newy, "new water", and the water was also used to lustrate rooms and doors of houses.

This is a straightforward arrangement and the Sops sing verse 1, Tenors & Basses sing verse 2, and Altos sing verse 3. As it is very high for Altos, they can sing lower. 

Everyone joins in the chorus, smiling, keeping ‘shine’ bright.

Here is a quick recap on the following to keep them fresh:

Annie’s Song

All the elements are there, but the flow is missing. It must be gentle and not like dragging a giant boulder along the floor!

Altos, take a deep breath at the end of your long ‘again.’

Something Inside So Strong

We did well until we reached ‘Brothers and sisters’, and the timing fell apart!

This song lacks funk!

Sop1s are on the top line when a split is near the end.

Time After Time

Basses, no surprise, you DO NOT sing the tune! Feel that harmony in your voice.  Once you get going, you are fine.

Basses watch Eamonn for timing in all your songs, especially the ‘Follow, follows,’ and learn to love YOUR tune, which is not THE tune!

Look for a new version of Silent Night on Dropbox. 

The Winter/Christmas-themed songs won’t have harmonies (I can hear the Tenors and Basses cheering!), so they should be easy to learn.

From now on, please have all your music with you, as we will be going through everything at some point.

Keep practising, do your homework and it will be all right on the night!