This page is for us to share ideas for pieces we could sing. I thought we might file them under the language they’re in to make things a little easier. Remember that a good site for finding music is http://www.cpdl.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page or http://www.cipoo.net/index.html. Make sure that any music you find is for four voices (SATB) and preferably doesn’t have a piano accompaniment.
This might be good for us.. tums_busking_book_1_0.pdf. It’s called the TUMS Busking Book. It’s got a few of our favourites in it but there’s also a lot of repetitive sort of stuff in there as well. Have a bit of flick through.
English
A Moonlit Elegy, Huub de Lange
Picked this on because the text is from a poem by Alfred Tennyson and I’ve always liked the romantic poets. As it is in English it’s pretty self explanitory.
French
Sur Le Joli Jonc, Pierre Passereau
This one is written by the same guy who wrote Il est bel et bon. I couldn’t find a translation though so we would have to ask the French teacher. I was thinking we could also ask her to help us with pronunciation.
Dieu! qu’il la fait bon regarder! Claude Debussy
Well you can guess why I chose this one. The translation reminds me somewhat of myself. (haha)
God, what a vision she is;
one imbued with grace, true and beautiful!
For all the virtues that are hers
everyone is quick to praise her.
Who could tire of her?
Her beauty constantly renews itself;
On neither side of the ocean
do I know any girl or woman
who is in all virtues so perfect;
it’s a dream even to think of her;
God, what a vision she is.
dieu_qu’il_la_fait_bon_regarder.pdf
Spanish
El Fuego, Mateo (El Viejo) Flecha
This one I chose purely because it’s in Spanish and I love singing Spanish. It’s pretty wordy and might prove quite a challenge. It goes on about fire and water and God. Sounds kind of neat though.
El Grillo (The Cricket)
Mrs Sullivan say that this is her favourite piece of all time. So it must be fun. She said she could help us with pronunciation. Plus it’s a shorter one.
http://www.free-scores.com/MIDI/des-prez-josquin-grillo-419.midi
La Bomba, Mateo (El Viejo) Flecha
“Suggestion: “la bomba” by Mateo Flecha. I’ve always love this piece, but could never commit to rehearsal time for a 9 minute madrigal. Listen to the Kings Singers version from about 6 minutes and you’ll be hooked.”
Thanks Mr B. Notice that it’s the same composer as El Fuego. I couldn’t find a youtube of the King Singers singing it so if any of you have some time to burn feel free to look it up.
We have to do Il Bianco!
And what have we decided for uniforms? The same coloured ties? i think that would work but we shudnt just wear black pants, shirt and tie coz thats boring. we need something very destinguishable. any ideas? Where can u put ideas? Oh wait! Theres a “resource and ideas” page! How ideal!
What do you guys think about doing some christmas carols? It might be a good opportunity to sing some easier music together and start getting a feel for how our voices are going to blend.
yes xmas carols will b fun and we can busk or something? would b a good debut for us. Theres sum beautiful xmas carols. Choice idea.
I think doing some xmas carols this year is a good idea. We already know some carols and most of them are fairly easy. Might be annoying trying to find somewhere to busk though, I doubt we’d be allowed to just turn up at the mall (and we’d be stealing Bella’s spot). Maybe a sunday market in town?
I don’t think we should have anything too out there for uniforms. Our main kind of target audience would be old people right? They’d usually prefer more conservative gear. I think we’d be pretty memorable anyway if we sound good, there aren’t many both sex quartets made up of high school students out there.
Mainly old people? Certainly for the Christmas carols. I think we could still find some repertoire that kids our age would enjoy though. I agree about the uniform. Simple black with ties would be effect, I think. Perhaps Cleo and I could have the same coloured tops as you boys have ties. We’ll sort uniform out once we start actually getting some pieces together.
What does a sharp above a note mean, as in El Fuego bar 18 tenor? Just the same as a sharp next to the note?
Hmm.. don’t know. Maybe it’s optional. I’ll ask Burcin tomorrow.
Thanks to whoever put the midis up – i was meaning to get around to that :s
I asked Burcin what a sharp above the note means. It does mean it’s optional.
fantastic! so excited that you guys are taking this on on your own. (I hope my excitement doesn’t dampen your spirits). An accidental above a note is an editor’s mark, basically meaning he/ she was unsure about the composer’s intentions, yet it feels like that accidental would work there. The performers of the time REALLY knew how the harmonies worked, so they knew where the accidentals went (therefore composers didn’t always need to write them). Nowadays, we plebs need all the accidentals spelt out, so editors add in their best guesses. Make sense?
Incidentally, you are right to avoid Bella’s carolling “territory”, the Mall. But come and see me if you need help with Christmas Carol music and suggestions for performance opps. I’ll help as much as I can. I am away from 8 Dec, so there is lots of time where Bella will not be available for caroling, and Fourte could fill the space.
Suggestion: “la bomba” by Mateo Flecha. I’ve always love this piece, but could never commit to rehearsal time for a 9 minute madrigal. Listen to the Kings Singers version from about 6 minutes and you’ll be hooked.
Bu – So far we haven’t got further than busking in Nelson as far as “performance opps” go. The time that you’re away may well prove a good opportunity for Fourte to step in. We’re pretty much sorted for the popular carols but if you do known of any lesser known ones that you think we would like to sing that would be great.
Perhaps some in different languages?
Oh, and Josh – you were right – El Grillo is Italian. Nice work.