Awesome Upcoming Events in Fall

Just wanted to alert you all to what we have in store when the year begins.

Saturday, September 11: Chamber Singers retreat (9:00 am-3 pm) Guest clinician Dr. Tina Bull, from OSU...and maybe others. Lunch provided.

Wednesday, September 15: 1- 2 pm Guest appearance by singer/songwriter David Wilcox, who is going to play and talk about creativity and songwriting. His manager Tom Simonson will talk about breaking into the music business, too. This is an early release day so everyone can attend without missing class.

October TBA: guest appearance by the Portland supergroup Vagabond Opera.

Music for Study #5

Our song this time is Love, the second song in a suite of three love songs by the English composer Edward Elgar. For those who went on tour last time, you might remember staying and performing in Malvern, Elgar's home town.

Love is in A-A-B-B-A form. All of the music for the A sections is basically the same. We are eventually going to learn and perform all three songs from the series.

This will be the last piece to learn for the summer. Hope everyone has been working on the others! (I'm using a different file host for the audio this time; hope it works better; apologies for any unwanted advertising)

• Love--pdf of the score
• Love--audio of piece
• Love--soprano part
• Love--alto part
• Love--tenor part
• Love--bass part

Music for Study #4

I don't actually have the following printed music for you, since the published copies won't be available until school starts and it's not public domain. However, I have provided links if you'd like to order yourself a copy ahead of time (I believe each one is around $2.00), I will credit your tour account when you show me your copy.

These are two pieces by Morton Lauridsen. Lauridsen was born and educated in the northwest but has been teaching composition for many years at USC. The pieces are two movements from his choir cycle, Nocturnes. They are incredibly beautiful pieces. The notes are not difficult, but there is great depth and technique required to do them justice.

The first piece Soneto de la Noche (Sonnet of the Night) is a setting of a poem by the Spanish poet Pablo Neruda. The second song is Sure on this Shining Night, from a poem by James Agee.

If you want to download the music on iTunes, the recordings by Conspirare are the best (especially their version of Sure); another good one is on the album Laurisden: Nocturnes.

Videos: (these are all good, if you find some others, please post to the list)

Sure on this shining night
Sure on this shining night
Sure on this shining night

Soneto de la noche
Soneto de la noche
Soneto de la noche

Order the music

Soneto de la noche
Sure on this Shining Night

Music for Study #3: The White Rose

The White Rose is an old folk song from Cornwall. Here is a bit of history of it. It should not be confused with the "white rose" Nazi resistance movement of WW2.

During the events of 9/11, Cornish-born Rick Rescorla saved dozens of lives and was one of the true heroes of the day. He is buried in Cornwall. At his memorial, the White Rose was sung.

I have arranged the song for SATB and piano. Most of the parts divide. You should learn all the divisions of your part. Although there are few YouTube videos of the song, there is a recording on iTunes by a Cornish folk singer named Sue White.

Here are the files you need:

• The Score (.pdf)
• MIDI of the entire song
• Soprano Part
• Alto Part
• Tenor Part
• Bass Part

Music for Study #2: Waldesnacht

Our second piece is a work from the Romantic era of music, by the great German composer Johannes Brahms. In addition to writing symphonies and chamber music, Brahms wrote many great solo songs and choral works, including his masterpiece for voices, the German Requiem.

Here are the study files:

• Score of the music (.pdf)
• MIDI file of all four parts
• The Soprano Part
• The Alto Part
• The Tenor Part
• The Bass Part

There are many great recordings and videos of this classic piece.

• A free clip of The King's Singers
• A royalty free audio recording
• Video: University of Memphis
• King's Singers with "behind the scenes" video
• A young choir singing the music

If you're unfamiliar with German, here are some sites that may help you. The best thing is to listen to the recordings!

• German pronunciation guide
• German for beginners
• German for singers

Chamber Singers Handbook

It may be revised again before September, but you can download the Handbook here.

Music for Study #1: Haec dies

Our first selection is by the great English composer, William Byrd. This is one of his most famous pieces. Here's how to get started:

First download the .pdf of the score. It is available here and here. A translation of the text can be found here.

Resources for practice:

• a MIDI file of the music
• the Soprano 1 part
• the Soprano 2 part
• the Alto part
• the Tenor 1 part
• the Tenor 2/baritone part
• the bass part
  

There are dozens of great recordings available of this music. Here are some of the better versions on YouTube:

• The King's Singers
• King's College
• Mixed choir (unknown artists)

Let me know if you have any questions or problems with the technology. I'd like you to have your part learned (not memorized) by September. New music will be coming approximately every 2-3 weeks.

coming soon

In the coming weeks I will be posting links to choral music, video, and audio recordings; plus news and information about next year's ensemble. Check back often!