Rehearsal Schedule for Beethoven Autumn Term 2016:
Bridgwater Choral Society Rehearsal Schedule, October to December 2016 We shall be rehearsing two works by Beethoven this term: Choral Fantasia (CF) and Mass in C (MC) Please note that we shall be performing the Choral Fantasia in German (there’s not much text to learn and we have some excellent German speakers in the choir, including one native speaker, so there will be plenty of help!) For rehearsal purposes the Mass will be divided into sections as follows
The rehearsal schedule will be:
Please use this schedule to help you to prepare for rehearsals. If you do not have a practice CD, try this link http://www.cyberbass.com/Major_Works/Beethoven_L_v/beethoven_mass_in_C.htm , which will enable you to listen to and learn your own part for free! German Pronunciation – a guide for singers A good choir like ours should be able to sing confidently in a variety of languages. As the choral section of the Choral Fantasia consists of only a few lines of text sung repeatedly, it will provide us with a good opportunity to try singing in German. Most German pronunciation is phonetic (there are no equivalents of ‘bough’, ‘cough’, ‘dough’, etc in English), consistent and, once a few unfamiliar sounds have been mastered, not difficult. We shall fine-tune our pronunciation (especially our vowels) during rehearsals with the help of Ingrid and Jenny Mc Cubbin, but I hope you will find the pointers below helpful.
Großes, das ins Herz gedrungen, blüht dann neu und schön empor Großes: ‘ß’ is pronounced like ‘ss’ Herz: ‘e’ a bit like ‘ai’ in English ‘air’; ‘z’ like ‘ts’ Blüht: ‘ü’ has no real English equivalent; a bit like ‘rue’ in French. We will practise this! ‘neu’: ‘eu’ like ‘English ‘oy’ schön: ‘sch’ like English ‘sh’;‘ö’ like ‘ir’ in English ‘girl’- ‘shirn’
Hat ein Geist sich aufgeschwungen, hallt ihm stets ein Geisterchor Ein, Geist(erchor): ‘ei’ like English ‘eye’ sich: (i) ‘s’ like English ‘z’; (ii) ‘ch’: think J.S. Bach or Scottish ‘loch’ aufgeschwungen: ‘au’ like English ‘ow’; ‘w’ like English ‘v’ – ‘owfgeshvungen’, roughly. ‘ihm: ‘i’ like English ‘ee’ ‘stets’: ‘s’ before the consonant like English ‘sh’ ‘-chor’: like English ‘cor’
Nehmt denn hin, ihr schönen Seelen, froh die Gaben schöner Kunst ‘hin’, ‘ihr’: ‘i’ like English ‘ee’: Seelen: no exact English equivalent of the German ‘ee’ sound; a bit like French é, perhaps Gaben: ‘aa’ like English ‘ah’; Kunst: more like English ’oo’ than ‘uh’. We’ll practise it!
Wenn sich Lieb’ und Kraft vermählen, lohnt dem Menschen Göttergunst Wenn: ‘venn’; ‘sich’ – see above; ‘Lieb’: ‘ie’ like English ‘ee’; final ‘b’ in German is pronounced as a ‘p’ – ‘leep’. vermählen: ‘v’ like English ‘f’; ‘ä’: no exact English equivalent; a bit like ‘eh’ – but we’ll practise this one too! Göttergunst: ‘ö’ = ‘ir’ as before. |
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