Page 20 - Voice for Life Songbook 1

3. Kyrie eleison
Information
The source of this short canon is unknown. Its traditional words are ‘Ah, poor bird/Take thy flight/Far above the sorrows of this dark night’ but, set to the ‘Kyrie eleison’ text (which is Greek, meaning ‘Lord, have mercy’) it can be used as a prayer response.
Teaching the song
When rehearsing this song insist that the choir sing as legato as possible.To achieve this, start by singing the melody on a single vowel, e.g. ‘ah’ or ‘oo’. Encourage them to slide between the notes to connect them up. Once these connections are established, ask them to make the slides imperceptible to the listener. Next you could try singing the melody with the text, but miss out the consonants. Lastly, add in the words, making the vowels as long as possible and not allowing the consonants to get in the way of the flow. If you are not sure of the pronunciation of the Greek, listen to the demonstration on the CD.
Ask your singers to sing two bars to a breath.To encourage them to control the flow of the breath, suggest that they draw an arc in the air as they sing each phrase.Tell them that they need to control the time and speed of the arc so it coincides exactly with the phrase they are singing.Those running out of breath too quickly will find that they arrive at the end of their arc too soon.
Be creative
This song can be sung in unison, two-part canon (with entries at Figure 1 and Figure 3) or in four parts. It can be sung a cappella or with piano accompaniment and flute.Try to be imaginative when you think about how to perform it.You could even end with a quiet, hummed verse to create a sense of atmosphere. As there are no dynamics marked you will have to make your own decisions about how loud or soft you want each repetition.
Musical skills and understanding
There is another traditional canon that shares this melody but it is in the major key rather than the minor. Can anyone work out which notes would need to change in order for it to be sung in C major rather than C minor? Try singing it. Does it still suit the ‘Kyrie eleison’ text?
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Track 3
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