Here we are - the "run" of the concert to find out where we are in our preparations for the Christmas Concert on 15th December.

Lovely confident start from all! Good work Altos with the first bits of harmony…. but you could be more confident, it sounded nervous!

Sopranos – “with candy canes” – the tune needs consolidating, not all of you know it.  Soprano – “toys” need to be better tuned and the next phrase was rather flat…

Soprano & Altos – “Dolls” – couldn’t understand the words. (This prompts me to take the whole piece a tad slower).
Lower voices need work with their entries.
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Conclusion – yes you know it; but it needs work on some finer details to bring up the confidence in sound and words. 

​Lower voices – KNOW the WORDS at the start!
Ladies – make the words come out more at the start.
Main chorus – lovely sound.
Sopranos – careful of your tuning on “fire” and “inspire” – keep the sound bright!
Ladies – come in more confidently on “in the meadow”
Lower voices – only sing “we’ll have fun with Mr Snowman” – lower voices KNOW YOUR WORDS 😊
Can we all sing the same words please after the lower voices sing “kiddies knock ‘im down?”
Eyes up watching me at the end please.

​Basically we need to sing this with much more verve and vigour, cheekiness and with lots of crisp words! Have more fun with it – it’s a party!

We worked on this in the second half which helped fix the final section of the piece. Looking at the rest of it, it just needs confidence in the words – not all of you know what’s coming next. Sopranos we need to sort out your little solo bit in the verses. It would be nice to have more flow and legato in the chorus so it’s not sung “word by word.”

We worked on this in the second half of the rehearsal which helped, I hope, with some confidence issues in the altos and addressed the incorrect tune sung by the Sopranos in the 1st verse. I would like this to come across a little more relaxed, in the end…. But a good job and certainly this is close to being a good performance!

This is rather well known – well done! But we need to make sure that the end of each phrase is bright throughout out the piece and beautifully in tune. The Soprano solo at #2 MUST be better known – please learn the words a little better.  Don’t forget that we need to start shaping the performance with loud and soft singing. The 1st verse should be gentle in nature, the second verse louder, the third verse a little quieter again.  On top of this, I’m thinking that we could possibly slow the tempo a little – just to help the middle section a little more.

The first three words MUST be clearer. Also this was rather flat, tuning-wise. We will work on getting this more bright-sounding. The second verse was much better! Lower voices needs more confidence in getting their harmonies in the chorus correct. Third verse just as good as second verse. Well done! Fourth verse dropped a little in tuning, Sopranos  - Lower voices we’ll work on getting the harmonies sorted in verse 4. The ending was good but needs a little more security. Overall – not bad at all!!

Great first entry! But we need to make sure we all sing “everybody let’s rock” in the same rhythm!!  ~~ “hop” needs to be on the right, preferably.
This needs LOTS of crisp words, especially when we’re in Holy Cross.
We need to sort out a couple erroneous rhythms in the melody, too.
Get the trombones out more effectively! Watch me!!
Make sure there is a gap between “fa” and “shioned”!
“Let’s rock” at the end was unconvincing! SHOUT IT OUT!

Lovely entry! Keep watching me – don’t look down Sopranos & Altos!
Lovely entry lower voices.
Sopranos “Think of the joy” – was flat!
Altos – good harmonies, I think at the same place but it was quiet.
Basses – we’ll check through the harmonies in that section.
 
Chorus – MUCH BETTER – and full of life. Well done!
Lower voices – 2nd verse – I need you to know the words better and try to not rush it. The melody on “love and friendship” isn’t correct -we’ll work on that time.
“Think of the joy” was again unsure with the basses. Sopranos – make sure you sing up and keep things bright!
 
We need to work on the overall sound of pronouncing “Merry” at the start of the chorus, especially Sopranos.
 
Don’t forget we repeat the chorus after the 2nd verse. We need to make sure that transition is good.
 
Ending – Lovely aahs – well done! Don’t forget the last phrase is in UNISON. No harmonies 😊
 
Overall - this is GOOD but we need to iron out the foibles 😊 Very good place to be at at this stage- and we still have time to do this. Well done!

The opening needs a little more security – just a little more confidence. Lovely first verse. Good chorus – nice sound and effective. Well done! Make sure that, at the end of each phrase, the tuning doesn’t drop. Remember the change in the second verse melody (Jesus goes “up”). On the third verse, don’t forget the change in the tune on “love be yours and yours be mine” and “love to God and all men”.  Good Hallelujahs but don’t forget the third, lower one! Good building towards to the last phrase. BE SURE of the note on “love incarnate.”  This is really good and has to potential to be excellent. We need to work on a few corners but, otherwise, it’s a lovely sound and very well-learned at this stage in proceedings.

Altos – be louder on “sheer delight”. Lower voices BE READY with your happy faces!
I’ll try and get the timing right for the end of that verse!
Altos – be louder on “watch the star” 😊
Sopranos – good job coming in on “the manger” but it was nervous – be confident and watch me.
Lovely work in the basses. Altos – again, good, but rather quiet.
Sopranos “The celebrations” – correct but nervous – be confident!
Altos “this Christmas season” – correct but nervous and a little late therefore.
Altos – lovely movement in the last phrase, well done!
 
We need to work on tiny corners to make it a more confident performance but very well learned at this stage!