Sunset Poem

A member asked me the other evening why we don't sing "Sunset Poem". I smiled sweetly, made a few appropriately polite remarks about pressure of other repertoire and not being able to see where it would fit into the general run of our concert commitments - this is perfectly true.

However, underneath all of this there is a simple underlying reason why we don't do it.

I hate Sunset Poem.

I find it the most odious item that I can possibly ever be confronted with in a male choir programme. Why so? I hear you ask; How can a few short verses of "Under Milk Wood" set to a perfectly reasonable chant by Troyte be so offensive?

Well, this is because of the horrendous way that almost every choir I have heard sing it.

Regard the text....

Every morning when I wake
Dear Lord, a little prayer I make,
O please to keep Thy lovely eye
on all poor creatures born to die.

And every evening at sun-down
I ask a blessing on the town,
for whether we last the night or no
I'm sure is always touch-and-go.

We are not wholly bad or good
who live our lives under Milk Wood,
and Thou, I know, wilt be the first
to see our best side, not our worst.

O let us see another day!
Bless us all this night, I pray,
and to the sun we all will bow
and say, good-bye - but just for now!

This text should be sung in speech rhythm - that means at the pace of good well-measured speech and in a similar shape. So this might mean for the first verse something like

Every morning when I wake
Dear Lord, a little prayer I make,
O please to keep Thy lovely eye
On all poor creatures born to die.

Compared to most performances that go something like

Every morning when I wake
Dear Lord, a little prayer I make,
O please to keep Thy lovely eye
on all poor creatures born to die

Hard to represent on the page but you must have regard to the meaning of the text and it is very poor form to accent the word “I” in tastefully performed Anglican chant!

Why have I just ranted about this – well I feel quite strongly that we don’t as a whole pay enough attention to the important things in the male choir world. We are very obsessed with showering the choirmaster with saliva on final “t’s” and accenting inappropriately the word contempt wherever it appears but singing with style and attention to the words and “painting a picture” seems to slip past most of us.

Let’s concentrate on

Performing each phrase appropriately by thinking about the meaning of the text.
Looking after each interval - making it just perfect.
Singing clean vowel sounds, unpolluted by affectation
Concentrating on the phrase at hand and by doing that remaining focussed on the moment, not worrying about that difficult phrase on page 12 (or whatever)

By doing those few things above we should think all the time about interpreting the music not just producing a collection of chords.

Oh, and as for Anglican Chant – this is fun!

Let's try this - I'm interested today in the starts of our songs - usually things like Beati Mortui that start on the last beat of the bar are the most difficult for us. The beginnings of these songs can sound abrupt and unmusical with no flow from the weak last beat of the bar into the stronger pulse of the first beat of the next bar.

So lets practice this exercise.

Breathe in - fill your tummy up from low down and hold it using your tummy muscles; as I count you in gently let some of the air escape and then start the music smoothly without breathing in again or jerking in on the first note.

If you find this difficult, try this exercise first.

Breathe in - fill your tummy up from low down and hold it using your tummy muscles; hum the first note and then transition the hum into the first phrase. For example mmmmmmmeati mortui - then try and remember the sensation and try mmmmmmmmmmmmbeati mortui.

Finally use the first exercise to practice a smooth start to the son.

With a La La La!

Once again I want us to think about legato. I have been working on some things with you regarding this and want to try and give you some things to work on at home.

Get out your learning aid CD for Beati Mortui and try this.

Instead of singing the words practise your part to a good old La!

But, and this is important, don't just la la la along - make sure that the music is in one continuous flow of sound and the "L" of La is merely used to define the start of each note.

Keep your mouth open in a really good shape - not over stretched, nor mostly closed - a nice open shape is ideal.

Breathe in nice and low down, expand your rib cage low down and out creating a nice barrel shape in your tummy and as the sound comes out conserve the air by using your tummy muscles (remember our hiss exercise)

Now La the phrase as a continuous stream of tone.

Only when we create a really good legato line will we be able to sing truly expressive phrases and create truly musical performances.

I dug around "tinternet" and found this example of gorgeous legato, delivered by a choir directed by the 20th century's greatest choirmaster (probably)

Enjoy