REHEARSAL SCHEDULE As a reminder, for this concert cycle, 2 absences will be permitted, and participation in the dress rehearsal is required. For any questions or concerns, please reach out to your section leader and Janice. Below is the rehearsal schedule:
Tues, April 8 @ 7-9:30pm - Epiphany Lutheran
Tues, April 15 @ 7-9:30pm - Epiphany Lutheran
Tues, April 22 @ 7-9:30pm - Epiphany Lutheran
Tues, April 29 @ 7-9:30pm - Epiphany Lutheran
Tues, May 6 @ 7-9:30pm - Epiphany Lutheran
Tues, May 13 @ 7-9:30pm - Epiphany Lutheran
*UPDATE*Thurs, May 15 @ 6-9:30pm - Dominion Energy Center
6-7pm: Piano rehearsal with guest conductor Michael Repper
7-9:30pm: With Michael Repper and orchestra
Fri, May 16 @ 7-9:30pm - Carpenter Theater; with Michael Repper and orchestra
DRESS REHEARSAL: Sat, May 17 @ 10am-12:30pm - Carpenter Theater
PERFORMANCE 1: Sat, May 17 @ 8pm (Call time to be determined) - Carpenter Theater
PERFORMANCE 2: Sun, May 18 @ 3pm (Call time to be determined) - Carpenter Theater
April 18, 2025: Whether you're receiving this before or after the fact, I hope you have (or had) a wonderful Holy Week, Easter, Passover, and everything! A busy time for us choral musicians, but very rewarding.
Last rehearsal was really great - you came a long way on the pronunciation, and we worked hard to clarify lots of issues. We have a very short rehearsal schedule for this one - every moment counts at this point. Prep for next rehearsal:as I mentioned, last rehearsal we started at the beginning and worked forward.Next rehearsal we will start at the end and work backward. Prepare accordingly! And anticipate that we will sing the entire work each rehearsal - it's brief enough that we will always get there. And we don't have much time to get this one out the door. Spending time with your pronunciation is the best thing you can do right now.
Musical notes:
Letter A: continue to work for confidence. It is mp, not p. Note the phrasing at m. 24 and after downbeat of m 27. Sopranos, breath early and breathe in the F# so you don’t sound pinched or timid. Also need to feel the tempo immediately – not by beat 3.
Letter B: watch m. 36 for the change in note pattern please – much better but if you weren’t here or are still shaky here, take a look at it!, M. 41 – this is mp rather than p – it sounded a little weak so we may need more volume
General Dance (mm 91, etc) - please practice those cutoffs. Please articulate [h] sounds at ends of words. Note the cut offs are short but not chopped – it’s easy to forget when you get going.
Letter E: bass/tenor, please practice this this is not about being louder, but more precise. If we are precisely together with our diction, the volume will take care or itself.
Letter K: altos, please sing this with TB. If we need to reduce the number of singers on that (for example, just alto II), this is easy to do. But all be prepared (in my experience, we always need more sound there). M. 291 - be prepared for an equal split there, TB, but for now do as marked (balance was okay last rehearsal)
Letter O: Alto, please do not break the harmonies until you have a rest. (yes, you will break at m 380 with the rest). TB at 384, same thing. Please don't slow down here and watch closely for tempo
Letter V: conductor is in 4, immediate tempo change, please watch. The conductor said he would go into 2 at letter Y, then back into 4 at letter Z, then back into 2 at m 625. I have emailed him to be certain whether he stays in 4 at letter W. Given change in style, note length, tempo, etc., I would encourage you to memorize at least the first four measures here if not eight so that you can consistently watch the stick.
Throughout: support the heck out of this, and pay attention to the accents!
Pronunciation notes:
m. 393-4, etc:bass/tenor, note that much of this text comes from the opening solo, but there may still be a word or two that isn't there (I think "yuga" is one). The pronunciation is clear if you understand the transliteration system. The basic translation of that section is: "To the land where, under the sultry southern sky, mountains slumber in the clouds"
Pronunciation key: avery helpful key to finding specific lines on the diction recording was shared last week (also attached!), from Martin Erb. Further, he assigned each line of the pronunciation guide a number, and then wrote that number in his score, to make it easy to find things. Ilovethis concept for more complicated translations, and I suggest you do the same in your score if that will be of help to you!
My best- RR
April 11, 2025: We were able to read through the entire piece, and we were able to at least get some broad strokes on the Russian. I hope you are spending most of your practice time on language. Listen to the recording of the native speaker; enjoy performances from Russian choirs like the one I posted from the Bolshoi (the choir is very clear in this one, and the vowels are great for practice); practice vowel sounds slowly; and after all that, try putting it into the music. Speaking of language, here are some thoughts for you on the three traps for English speakers:
TRAP 1: HARD CONSONANTS VS. SOFT CONSONANTS In your diction guide, soft consonants have a "~" sign above them. The other consonants are hard consonants. Hard consonants:
Mouth is more neutral or open.
Tongue stays low
Feels more grounded or “serious.”
Soft consonants:
While pronouncing, the mouth widens, like when you smile.
Tongue rises like it’s reaching up during the consonant.
The whole sound feels lighter, brighter
To an English speaker, it sounds like a little "y" after the consonant....however, rest assured that a Russian speaker can tell the difference :)
TRAP 2: HARD "L" (Russian "л", double L in your guide) The hard/dark "L" is a very distinctive sound in Russian. Some tips:
Your tongue tip touches the alveolar ridge (just behind your teeth),
But the back of your tongue pulls back a little.
Sounds heavier, darker — like English "cool", "tall", or "milk" (in some accents).
The English word "little" is a word that you might think about - the first "L" in the word is close to a soft "L" in Russian, and the second is close to a hard "L". Here's a video with more!
TRAP 3: THE ï SOUND ( ï in your guide,[ɨ] in IPA = Russian "ы" = close central unrounded vowel) After rehearsal last week, a trusted singer who frequently works with Russian speakers and Russian music suggested a great trick for finding the Russian " ï " vowel: start to say the word “yes,” but don’t actually finish it. Instead, pause right at the beginning, where your tongue naturally rises for the “y” sound — and hold your tongue in that position. Now, sing through that shape. I tried it myself, and it works beautifully! Just remember: the little "uh" sound you might hear at the beginning when Russian singers produce this vowel isn’t a separate vowel — it’s just the sound of the tongue moving into position. So no need to emphasize it; focus on that lifted, slightly retracted tongue placement and let the vowel flow from there.
If you find this to be confusing, I personally have found that the sounds become much easier to pronounce after a little vodka. Carry on!! -RR
