Page 89 - Voice for Life Songbook 1

Rehearse the final line of the verse and the coda before going through the whole of verse three from the start.
Finally,work on the descant.As it starts in canon with the melody the first phrase will already be familiar.
Using the voice well
In bar 10 and equivalent places in the other verses, the singers will need to take a quick breath as marked. To prevent it being a tense gasp for air, the conductor and accompanist should allow enough time for the end of the previous word to be properly formed and for a relaxed intake of breath. Providing this is done in a musical way it should not disrupt the flow of the melodic line. Start by practising this passage under tempo and gradually speed it up. Encourage your singers to take a low, deep breath at this point.
In order to cement the ensemble you may need to rehearse bar 21 slowly to ensure that on the word ‘take’, the change of vowel (ay-ee) and the ‘k’ are sounded together. Choral singers usually elongate the first vowel in a diphthong and leave the change until just before they leave the note.The ‘k’ should also be left as late as possible, but you need to avoid the text sounding like ‘tay kand share’ by putting a small glottal stop at the start of ‘and’.
Musical skills and understanding
Can anyone identify the loudest and quietest passages in the piece? (Hint: look for the fff and ppp markings.)
At the start of the last verse ‘Feet to walk on sacred earth’, the vocal line divides into two parts. What is the relationship between the two parts? (They sing exactly the same music but in canon until bar 29 where the upper part does something different).
What does the metronome mark over bar 1 mean? Can anyone think of a suitable Italian term to describe the mood and tempo of the piece?
89
o