Greetings Capital Crescendos,
Themes for the Week: 1. Listening to recordings is part of practicing. As we have been working on refining technical passages and zoning in on challenging spots; remember to continue listening to our pieces using the audio links below to incorporate the overall feeling of the music. 2. Tempo Rubato (Italian for stolen time): rubato is “robbing” some of the time from one phrase or series of notes and using it for others. Think of stretching some notes, slightly slowing down or speeding up the tempo to add to the musicality of the music. Our piece, Land of the Midnight Sun has rubato – really important to watch the conductor so as to observe the rubato together, as an ensemble.
This week’s rehearsal
Following our voting this past week, Sheila announced that our program for the ONHB concert on April 9th will be: Land of the Midnight Sun followed by Air for Band and lastly Birdland.
This week we started our rehearsal with Chorale No. 1, then tuned the band using the oboes, and continued with the B♭ scale. We followed with Celtic Air and Dance, noting the tempo changes at bar 35 and again at bar 53 with the percussion solo. The tempo at bar 53 will continue for the balance of the piece. Next we played Land of the Midnight Sun. Some bars in this piece are played a little more slowly. Sheila explained rubato where the timing is stretched or robbed from one series of notes and used with another to in keeping with the feeling of the piece. We then turned to Air for Band and Sheila reminded us of the importance of playing the dynamics as marked and breathing with the phrasing of the piece. Next came Birdland where we have added an 8 bar introduction with bass and percussion before bar 1. We then turned to British Grenadiers (line 153 in Tradition of Excellence) which we will play twice through (playing the repeat both times). Finally we ran through 76 Trombones, and reviewed the roadmap – at D.S. al Coda (bar 75) return to the Segno (bar 7) continue to bar 37 where it says To Coda and then jump to the Coda at bar 75.
Dress Rehearsal Next Week
We will be holding our dress rehearsal in the Sanctuary next week, and will run through our program for the April 9th concert. We’ll be checking the entire program, from entering and exiting the stage, seating and playing our pieces. This is the time to check that your music is in order and the stage lighting is good. It would be helpful if we came a few minutes early. Percussion may need help moving their instruments onto the stage and will need help returning them to the storage area following our rehearsal. It is much appreciated if we all pitch in.
Spring Concert and Community Concert
The ONHB end of session spring concert is scheduled to take place on Sunday April 9 at 3:00 at Dominion Chalmers. Dress code is all black with a splash of colour (a colourful scarf or necklace or tie).
Remember to invite your family and friends to our concert so they can see the results of all that practicing. There will be a reception following the concert and all are welcome. Everyone is invited to bring a plate of cookies or squares or some juice, to help make the reception even more special.
Thank you to everyone who volunteered to help with the spring concert. We had a terrific response. Volunteers will be contacted by email.
Our community concert will take place on Thursday, April 13 at the Duke of Devonshire residence located on Carling near Holland. Please note that the concert will start at 3:00. Details regarding the program and carpooling will be sent out via email.
Administration
Plans are underway for a spring extension band to be held on Tuesday evenings at Dominion-Chalmers. It will run for about 7 weeks from early May to late June. Additional details will follow soon.
Audio links
1, Land of the Midnight Sun by Vince Gassi http://www.jwpepper.com/sheet-music/media-player.jsp?&type=audio&productID=10050559
2. Air for ConcertBand By Frank Erickson https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrCsUo1ribI
3. Birdland by Joe Zawinul, arr. L Norred https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWJ0it4TfkE&list=PLd_hfxSSaY8AvhLFyy4MxyRgmJfWjs0e3&index=2
4. Birdland – original, as performed by composer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqashW66D7o&list=RDpqashW66D7o&index=1
5. Birdland – Manhattan Transfer version, with their added lyrics. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1nj6Yla_Vg (great choreography and outfits!)
6. Hava Nagila http://www.jwpepper.com/sheet-music/media-player.jsp?&type=audio&productID=10312051
7. Celtic Air and Dance, arr. M Sweeney http://www.jwpepper.com/sheet-music/media-player.jsp?&type=audio&productID=10033567
8. Celtic Air and Dance – the second piece (A Fairy’s Love song) as sung in Gaelic by the Rankin Family: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nnVxTj_Ujw(go to 1:35 )
9. 76 Trombones, arr. M Sweeney https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VTB4sCv9HA NOTE: we will be playing at a slower, even tempo.
Social
We had a great turnout this past week at Connor’s on Bank St.
Following our community concert on April 13, we’ll go to Monkey Joe’s on Carling Ave in the Westgate Shopping Centre.
Important Dates
Thursday April 6: Dress rehearsal – Final band rehearsal of the session
Sunday April 9 at 3:00: ONH end of Session Spring Concert at Dominion-Chalmers
Thursday, April 13th at 3:00: Community Concert at Duke of Devonshire
Saturday May 6, 2017: Tentative date for ONHB workshop with Potsdam and Montreal New Horizons bands
