Double Run Passage for Alto and Soprano from "For Unto Us A Child Is Born" from Handel's "Messiah"

I believe that this passage is the most difficult passages in that chorus from the Messiah....it is like a pianist trying to do double-thirds in 16th-notes, which can also be difficult. The main problem is for the altos and the sopranos to listen to each other to make sure that the intonation and the pitches are right on even though the notes are played fast.

The Schrimer Edition of the "Messiah" also creates a challenge for the accompanist---that orchestral reduction for the piano does use this passage in either double sixths or double thirds as well.

A New System to Determine Major Key Signatures

A. FLATTED KEYS

Listed Order in the Key Signature                           Resultant Key From The No. of Flats

No flats                                                                      Key of C

Bb                                                                              Key of F

Bb, Eb                                                                        Key of Bb

Bb, Eb, Ab                                                                 Key of Eb

Bb, Eb, Ab, Db                                                          Key of Ab

Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb                                                   Key of Db

Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb, Cb                                            Key of Gb

Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb, Cb, Fb                                      Key of Cb

HINTS:

1. The key of F has only a single flat in its key signature, which is Bb, and because there is no pentultimate order on the key signature of F, you need to think down a fourth from Bb to get the key.

2. The key of Bb, and other flatted keys that follow (Eb, Ab, Db, Gb, Cb), require you to think look at the pentultimate flat in the listed order of the key signature (going from left to right) to get the key.

3. The pentultimate flats are marked in boldface.

B. SHARPED KEYS

Listed Order in the Key Signature                           Resultant Key From The No. of Flats

No flats                                                                      Key of C

F#                                                                              Key of G

F#, C#                                                                       Key of D

F#, C#, G#                                                                Key of A

F#, C#, G#, D#                                                         Key of E

F#, C#, G#, D#, A#                                                   Key of B

F#, C#, G#, D#, A#, E#                                            Key of F#

F#, C#, G#, D#, A#, E#, B#                                      Key of C#

HINTS:

1. The key of G has only a single sharp in its key signature, which is F#, and because there is no last order in the key signature of G, you need to think up a minor 2nd from F# to get the key.

2. The key of D, and other sharped keys that follow (A, E, B, F#, and C#), require you to look the last sharp in the listed order of the key signature AND move that sharp up a minor 2nd to get the key. For instance......

* If D major is the key, the last sharp on the key signature order is C#, so you need to go up a major     
2nd (C# to D) to get the key
* If A major is the key, the last sharp on the key signature order is G#, so you need to go up a major

2nd (G# to A) to get the key of A.

3. The listed sharps that you need to go up a minor 2nd are also in boldface.

REVIEW

For the flatted key signatures, think of the pentultimate flat in the listed order of the key signature.

(Exceptions: Keys C and F)

For the sharped key signatures, think of going up a minor 2nd on the last sharp listed in the key signature

(Exceptions: Keys C and G)

How to Teach High School Chorus--Several Aspects

Auditioning a Singer

Vocalises

 ---should include simple major scales, simple minor scales, and triad arpeggios

 ---shoud also involve ear training/sight singing

[All of this should be done to figure out the singer's range]

Before a choral session........

Vocalises and Warm-ups, which include:

--Often, Latin vowels and English phonetic sounds  (i.e.), are done for diction warm-up.

--Sustained chords, often moved up a few minor seconds down or up from the original

    spot for pitch recognition and for "listening to each other"

--Glissandos up and down

--Like in private vocal lessons, use the half-step technique, going up or down from the

   original key.

When reading a choral song before rehearsing.....

--Figure out potential problems with

   --specific notes

   --unusual time signatures

    --changes in time signatures

    --modulations (for example, constant key changes)

    --melismas and related runs that can be difficult to execute

    --a song's specific language (e.g., Italian, French, German)

    --the character needed for the piece

   --the history of the song or songs, if any

If choral conducting, be sure to use a color-coded system for important patterns and events in the score. This will facilitate cuing. Also use your mouth as a signal.

What to look for in the song during the actual choral rehearsal.......

--listening to each other

--seating arrangment of the chorus

--pitch recognition

--problems with certain notes being over or under the pitch

--diction, whether it is English or another language.

--intonation

--balance

To Sing On Book or Sing Off-Book

Singing off-book allows for even stronger attention to the conductor.

Singing on-book makes sure that pitches are correct but the drawback is less attention to

    the conductor.

Diagram of a 4-Beat Pattern in Music/Choral Conducting

Classical Music Appreciation----Musical Terms

SONATA

    *    comes from the Italian verb “sonare”, to sound, and hence, it means “sounded.”
         (indirectly, it means a sound piece)

    *     it is a musical form of a large scale, divided into separate pieces called
           “movements”

    *    usually, three or four movements make up a sonata

    *    the sonata movements can be independent of one another, or can be played through
         without any pause


SONATINA

• comes from the Italian to mean “little sound piece.” Generally, it is a piece that is
        shorter than a typical sonata, although it still is divided into movements like a
         typical sonata

Example: Sonatina in C Major, op. 36, no. 1 (Muzio Clementi)

CONCERTO

*    comes from the word “concert” in Italian

*     at first, the term focused on the solo instrument that would be performed
      'front and center’ in front of accompanying instruments in the Baroque era
      (1600-1725)

Example: Brandenburg Concertos 1-6 (Johann Sebastian Bach)

*     then, the concerto’s meaning changed in the Classical era (1725-1800), to mean
      a large orchestral work where a soloist or soloists would play in front of an
      orchestra, with flashy sections called “cadenzas”, usually played by the soloist
      while the orchestra is silent

Example: Piano Concerto no. 20 in D minor (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)

   

Grand Concert Fantasy on "La Sonnambula" (Franz Liszt)-- A World of Changing Key Centers

       

     The La Sonnambula fantasy, unlike the Don Juan, Norma, and

Robert le Diable fantasies (which were also composed by

Franz Liszt), have slightly more areas of modula-

tions of key center. The possible reason that Liszt focuses more

on key center in the Sonnambula fantasy was to reflect the dream

inside Amina, the sleepwalker, who falls asleep and is discovered

by the villagers in the bedroom in the "Osservate" aria. Not only

that, he also uses the key center to portray a continued spell

Amina carries during the "Tutto è sciolto" passage.

 Major Key Centers in Liszt's Grand Fantasy on "La 
Sonnambula"

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A. Osservate

1. Beginning part                           Db, Ab, Db

2. Middle part                              Bb, Dbm, E, C, A, C#m

3. Ending part                              Db, Bbm, Db

B. Tutto è sciolto; Pasci il guardo        

1. Beginning part(Tutto è sciolto)          Bbm, Db; Bbm, Db

2. Middle part #1(Pasci il guardo)          A

3. Middle part #2(Pasci il guardo, reprise) Dm: D, Em, D

C. Osservate--Reprise

1. Reprise                                  Db, Bbm, Ebm

2. Cadenza                                  V7 of Eb

D. Ah, non giunge

1. First part                               Eb, Cm, G, Eb

                                                               
2. Second part(reprise with trill in r.h.)  Eb, Cm, G, B, Eb, Cm,

                                                V7 of Eb                                                               

3. Third part(second reprise with trill)    Eb, E, V7 of Bb

                                                         
E. Voglia un cielo

1. First part                               Eb, Cm, F, Cm, Eb

2. Second part(reprise)                     Eb, Cm, F, Cm, Eb

3. Coda                                     Eb, Cb, Abm, Eb(done

                                              twice)

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     Note that the Ah! non giunge aria comes when Amina's "dream

spell" is broken and Amina gets reunited with her rightful lover.

Bellini tends to use the B-flat key in the original opera score

occasionally, especially in the Ah! non giunge. Liszt, however,

uses E-flat major for the aria (perhaps, to Liszt, E-flat major

is perceived as a brighter flatted key than B-flat)as an ending

for the fantasy.

A Little Look into the Chamber Fantasy on Bizet's "Carmen" for piano solo by Busoni

A lot of operatic transcriptions on "Carmen" had been done but this one by Ferruccio Busoni seems to be a less obvious transcription performed nowadays. Still this transcription works. Here is a bit of what happens inside a few of these sections.

 PART 2 (mm. 82-101) Here, the Act II flower song is depicted, where Don José says to Carmen that this symbol represents the desire for love, although Carmen remains indifferent to his wishes. The contemporary accompaniment seems to make the aria more of an hallucination then a straight-forward faithful transcription. A transitional section based on the famous fate motive appears on mm. 102-109, leading to a V7 of D-flat key center.

 PART 3 (mm. 110-186) This time, the part brings out the Habanera aria sung by Carmen in Act 2, who sings that falling in love with a man may bring with it danger. The key starts in Db major, and then comes back to the original D minor (m. 135), where there is a flourishing figuration of the motive. Another transition-filled passage depicts the Act 4 quarrel when Don José and Carmen that grows into a climax, just before Carmen gets stabbed (mm. 169-186), which leads to the V7 of A by running scales.