Cantata Rehearsal

Wow! I can't believe it is already December and our church choir cantata is just a few weeks away! We have just finished reading through the entire work but not really begun the serious shaping and tuning needed. Yikes!

Granted, this is one that the choir has sung before. The title is Angel's Joy by Don Innes. It has wonderfully singable melodies and comfy harmonies. The range is well within easy-to-reach levels and the words are not challenging. It harks back to a gentler, kinder era when music was sweet and pretty.

Today is our regularly scheduled weekend rehearsal. My goal is to work for the first hour in sectionals so we make sure all the pitches and timings are correct. Then we will take a short break to view the slides that will show while we are singing (since the choir doesn't get a chance to see them while we are presenting the cantata), and then come together for the second hour to work on shaping and phrasing and dynamics and all those other aspects that make printed notes into engaging music.

While we are practicing, members of the congregation are decorating the church for the Advent / Christmas season. They put up and decorate trees, hang greenery and angels and ornaments in hallways and the fellowship hall as well as the sanctuary. The place looks wonderful and festive! Perfect timing for our musical offering.

Today we make excellent progress. Next Thursday we will work on the woman's piece (a sweet lullaby) and the men's piece (we three kings of course), then sing the whole cantata from, as my Grandmother used to say, "tither to yon," a saying that cracked up my alto section. OK, pillar to post. Or beginning to end. Or here to there. Or however else your colloquialisms take your fancy! Any way you say it, we will sing the whole enchilada.