ShuNotes to the Choir April 7 2025
- shu
- Apr 7
- 9 min read
Updated: Apr 8
Notes to the Choir April 7 2025
I want to thank and complement all the singers in live rehearsal and the large contingent on Zoom. Bravo to you all. You are all so willing and you are getting so prepared!
If you want to check out the rehearsal recording, they all go up on https://www.vivalamusica.org/meetings-rehearsals. Stan is working on yesterday's...
Anyone receiving this email is welcome live and in-person, Zoom live, Zoom recorded, and 24/7 on vivalamusica.org.
If you haven’t yet visited the website, there are some awesome posts on ShuNotes. https://www.vivalamusica.org/blog.
The most recent post is a translation and reading of the Requiem text in Spanish by Adriana Mirales. https://www.vivalamusica.org/post/mozart-requiem-in-spanish. It’s a wonderfully warm reading, and Adriana’s experience of the Requiem, as she describes it, has been much enriched by this work that she has so beautifully done. I am more than glad Adriana has shared this with all of us. Adriana is singing alto in the choir at Carnegie with her daughter, Sophia, singing alongside her. Adriana was my student at CSM some years ago!
Now for my most recent NOTES TO THE CHOIR!
1. In the fugal movements, singers make sure that the bits after your entries are secure…you know, the creamy filler bits..
a. Requiem Aeternam, mm 8-12 AFTER your entry.
b. Simile, mm 34-43
2. M 37(4)-40(2): This is the ALTO entry that keeps the sequence of entering voices, BTAS that has started at m 34. Every recording I have listened to, the altos are overpowered by tenor countersubject and sops 38(3). Please, T and S, give way here, to allow the altos to come forward easily. It’s not the most projecting tessitura in the alto range, but it is gorgeous, and if we hear it, then the structural integrity of the fugue is there. Sops you take over the subject at 39 (4) and you have it in 3 descending and thus dynamically releasing sequences through m 43.
3. KYRIE: similar preoccupation with the innards. Mozart was an inner voices guy, and there is such deliciousness in the following bits!
a. Sop 8-11
b. Tenor 8-9, 17(3)-18, and 22-28, 38-48 YES!
c. Bass 6-8, 11-17, pu to 26-28, 30
d. Alto (8) -12, 11(3)-23! YES! 26(3)-30, 38-41
4. The Kyrie: we want to have in mind both the construct of the music and the character that is reflected in the various keys of subject entries.
Construct: Paired subjects, “Kyrie” and ”Christe”, some stretto (overlapping and piling up) of the Christe subject, one instance in the Kyrie subject.
Within an overall ternary construction: Exposition 1-15; Development 16-38; Recap 39-50; Coda Adagio, pu 52-end
Exposition: B & A, S & B. Then A & B, T & S.
Develop: S (1and ½ m late), B. Then T&S, B&A.
S (1/2 m late) and T. B (early) and T.
A & B, T, A, S, B (stretto christe)
Recap: B & S, A & B, S, A, S (stretto christe)
Coda
Key and Character: Exposition: B (d) & A, S (a) & B. Then A (d) & B, T (a)& S— all sturdy.
Develop: S (1and ½ m late) (F, dolce), B.
Then T (g) &S, B (c minor) &A— both serious and authoritative.
S (1/2 m late) (B flat) and T. B (early) (Also B flat major, endorsing the S) and T.
A (f minor—stern & B, T, A, S, B (stretto christe)
Recap: B (d) & S, A (Affirming d minor) & B, S, A, S (stretto christe)
Highest pitch is Sop B flat m 41 (3), when the champagne cork bursts with exuberance.
I ask that singers practice the Kyrie and Cum Sanctis fugues, also the Rex Tremendae, Quam Olim, and Tartarus fugatos, and the Osannas with the metronome, at first at slow tempo, then increasing speed beyond where we will take it, so that these movements and fugato sections are 100% reliable rhythmically. That way, we have more surety that choir and orchestra will stay glued togehter.
If you follow the baton, and sing from eye cues, not ear cues, we will have a better chance of keeping the rhythmic integrity. If you sing from ear cues, the choir is more likely to be late and behind the orchestra.
Dies Irae
Emphasize any rhythmically unique note or accidentalized note in your part that is not in the other parts:
e.g. Sop m6 and 27: “te”
Tenor m16 eighth “ta”, m60, m64
Alto m18, m36
Rex Tremendae
Konsonants Kount! Both the RRR at the start and the KS at the close of "Rex."
Fugato: 7-10 there are 4 alto enters -soprano imitates pairs.
T&B rock solid, as there won’t be much cueing coming your way. Mostly toward S&A here.
Second Fugato: 12-15 Here the attention is on T&B. S&A rock solid. Don’t take it personally if you don’t get a cue. Just enter and sing!
Here there are 3 T and B entries, B answering T. And this is more or less interrupted in 14: Find the 5 "rex"es: on beats 2, 3, 4, and continuing in m15, on 1, 2. These 5 shout outs to REX are super dramatic and want to be heard. I almost said shouted. But stopped just short of.
The dotted rhythms of the opening, so grand and ceremonial, at 17 start to lose their momentum and they quietly subside….
So that Salva Me in d for S& A, and in B flat for T&B. are unhurried, timeless, not quite earthbound. No vibrato. Forget the s and inhale in the shape of a gorgeous Ah so the sound emanates effortlessly.
M21 moving parts are well, moving, ya’ know what I mean? In both senses. And the sops get their own penultimate note.
Confutatis
B (on beat 2), T(on 4) x 2.
Then B (4) —T on 2.
Tenors, you have one special non-imitative note: m 13: it is your one eighth that brings T&d B into rhythmic alignment. Special. Please sing out this “mis” G, 13 (2).
Voca Me: whoever has a moving note or entry that the other part does not have, well, that’s what we want to hear, isn’t it! So look around, see where the “opposition” (who is actually your partner in beauty) is and go for it!
A m7 and m10. M 18 betw A& S. MM 19-20 Alto. Then S20(4), A 21, S 22, A 22(3) S 23, Both 24.
Bass Mm 26-end. You are the tuning lynchpin here. And a descending line: Gorgeous and dangerous as you go gingerly from E flat ^D^D flat^C–F (dom-tonic).
Lacrymosa
Consider from the end of the Confu until the first notes the choir sings in Lacry as sacred space. Silent, reverent, awe-filled. Don't bat an eyelid or lash. If you have a page turn to the Lacry do it as gingerly and slowly as possible in the first 2 orchestral measures.
If your part has moving eighths and beats of 3 and 4, for instance, be solid and unhurried and lyrical on these. These are the creamy ganache inside the firm chocolate shell. Savor them.
Domine Jesu
Buoyant optimistic eighths.
Li (AB) ensured by LI (TB).
The obscurum lacu as dark, murky, and full of slimy stuff a lake as you never want to swim in. Suggest this in the moving parts in m13.
Phrase back 16, 19, 20.
Quam Olim Abrahae
There is an assured energy, buoyancy and grandeur in AH- of AH-bra-hae whether he comes on first or third beat.
Hae like domine, is eh. Looks different, sounds the same. EH EH EH. No pesky Diphthongs into ay. That sound is either too horsey or too Canadian. But EH, now that’s a gorgeous, patriarch of a vowel.
A fugato to memorize so that you sing with the stick not after you’ve heard something. That rhythmic confidence will give it the desired propulsion!
The three eighths should bounce like a bouncy house, right into the arms of…AH-bra-hae.
They are our friends. We have just sung them in the Kyrie fugue, “christe e-“ And they will come yet again….
M 65 is a mood change that we have prepped for my making a slow and slight diminuendo since 61, each sequential entry a little more relaxed than its predecessor. Then at 65, sopranos float “et se” no vibrato, angelic, quiet, reflective, and utterly seductive!
After your engines rev back up rather in 71, then, in 75, similar to 65, but a bit more of the patriarchal (in a good way), and close with magisterial assurance.
Hostias
An elegant Viennese waltz, until it isn’t…when subito forte Hostias for the second time, at M23. Then it’s all out about the sacrifices..
Dynamic shifts are opportuntities not just for changing amounts of sound, but for changes of mood, from prayerful and pleading, to beseeching, and an almost desperate begging/asking.
The two Osannsas
Party time, my friends. Uncork the bubbly in the descending eighths. If your score has a slur or phrase or legato mark, erase it. Put little bubbles coming off every eighth, like giggles. Like giggly Mozart in “Amadeus.”
Your O always a beautiful egg-shape.
O ZAH -NAH.
Zip in the Zah, and separate Zah from Nah. i'ts a double consonant o-sa-nna, so it wants a small break in order to be recognized.
Watch the stick for the penultimate measure. You see those charming eighth note staccato chords in the strings? They have been waiting to join the party since the party began. Let’s give them a welcome. Again, the stick rules (I mean the tempo, of course).
Agnus Dei
There is turmoil in the strings, churning f-p descending scales. Choir, sing your most beseeching self. Forte all the way. Spin dotted halves forward.
And please forgive me, but would you axe all the tapered endings? We decided at rehearsal yesterday that, for the drama, sing everything loudly. (e.g. 9, 14, 24 etc).
Now, for the magic moments: the request "Dona eis requiem."
We sing this in a time-stands-still way. Hushed. The quarters static. Only the moving eighths and the accidentalled notes should have intensity. (m 12).
Each Dona entrance is different. And we can make each entrance differently dramatic. Lovely it would be if you were up out of the book for these hold-your-breath, hear-a-pin-drop moments.
Lux Aeterna
Keep your attention from flagging. We are near the end but not ended.
On the ball with the 4-note lux ae-ter-na, instead of the earlier three-note ex-au-di.
CONCERT ATTIRE
· BLACK BINDERS, no tabs sticking out.
Viva will wear the following and we invite all singers to join us in this, if possible:
· Long (to the ankle at least) black dress, or skirt or dress pants (fluid, not tight-fitting like jeans) and top.
· Sleeves are a must: long (to the wrist) or three quarter (to below the elbow). No bare arms.
· The simpler the fabric and the styling the better for this massed look: no frills or lace or low-cut necklines.
· Black closed-toe shoes and black or dark hose or socks.
· I do suggest comfortable shoes, and, if you must make a choice between glamour and comfort, go for comfort. And put the glamour into your performance.
· It’s a long stand. There are no seats for the choir to sit during the solo movements.
· No open toe sandals, no bare toes showing—they are so distracting.
· For those who have tuxes: please do wear them! Viva is wearing black tuxedos, white shirts, black bowties.
· Viva has white satin pocket squares to loan to anyone wearing a tux. Thank you, Joyce!
· If you are not able to wear a tux or prefer not to, a black collared shirt is fine. Buttoned collars, not open-necked. You may want to accessorize with a tie. That would be lovely, and it can be a long lounge tie or a bowtie, of your choice.
· Pearl earrings and pearl necklaces. Discreet or flashy, whatever floats your boat.
STAGE DECORUM
· No perfume or perfumy hairspray or body lotion.
· Silent onstage.
· During solo movements, keep your focus on the conductor. That way you are focusing on the soloists. Best to not look around the hall, as your gaze will surely take some audience member along. And we want everyone’s rapt attention on the music—ours and the audience’s.
· If you can remember, or help each other before you enter stage, binder in hand away from audience.
· With a bit of luck, I’ll cue you to open your binders before the orchestra and I start. So keep your binders closed and at your side until I give the cue. If I start the music without the binder cue….well, hmmm, you have two choices…
· For singers who have the Requiem memorized: If you want to sing off-book, please do! No need to hold a book. BRAVO to you!!
· I hope everyone has seen that no IPADS are allowed (not my rule).
Now for the important stuff:
CRUISE INFO from MAP
Please be reminded that the Concert Only registration package does not include transportation from Carnegie Hall to the post-concert celebration cruise located at Chelsea Piers.
For any Concert Only participants who wish to add bus transportation ($49 ea.), please register here: Bus Ticket Registration.
Please note that after the cruise, buses will return to the Intercontinental NY Times Square at 300 W. 44th Street, New York, NY 10036 - where Full Package participants reside. From there, individuals will be responsible for returning to their own accommodations.
Guest Cruise Tickets:
To purchase guest cruise tickets for any individuals who are not packaged performers or non-performers, please register here: Guest Cruise Ticket Registration.
Guest cruise tickets ($130 ea.) include cruise admission, buffet dinner*, and two drink tickets.
Bus transportation is NOT included with the $130 ticket and may be added separately as described above.
*Buffet dinner includes vegetarian, gluten-free, and dairy-free options. The entire menu is nut-free.
Important Reminders:
The Concert Only registration package does not include transportation from Carnegie Hall to the post-concert celebration cruise.
The Group Collect portals allow for secure payments via ACH or credit card.
Bus ticket and guest cruise ticket registration and payment are due May 8, 2025
If anyone has decided NO on the cruise, please contact Shulamit. She is happy to be given cruise tickets and she is also willing to pay a discounted price.
10 weeks to Carnegie!
Very best musical wishes,
Shulamit
Shulamit Hoffmann Ed D
650-346-5084
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