Voces8 Education Day at Bedford School (5.10.09) - Senior School masterclass

The masterclass was for the part songs for the then forthcoming House Singing for the senior school. There were five ensembles; alas I didn't write down all of the song titles because I didn't actually hear any of them! I only knew some of them because I recognised the songs. So, the main points:

First ensemble:
- Important to look as well as sound good. ENSEMBLE; effectively one instrument [did Barney really say that? Either that or my notes are wonky]
- Emotion: imagine no words; communicate emotion still. Also overall shape of piece.
- Basses and tenors, back up the melody. Harmony, give the shape.

Second:
- Stand together! Be an ensemble!
- Try less conducting – breathe together (standing closer together helps) [on the floor was tape for Voces8; standing within the tape meant they all stand quite close together. Somewhat closer than the boys were!]
- Pyramid of sound: basses give the most, melody (counter-tenor) gives the least [it made sense when Charles was talking about it; I'm not sure I can explain it sufficiently to do it justice alas. It was a few weeks ago now ... ]
- Key changes: practice!!! Listen to the bass.

Third (This may have been 'On the Dock of the Bay'; I forget):
- Own the solo (not vice versa) – guts! and showmanship.
- Middle: unify vowels
- Basses: 'bom' – round, resonant. And groove! [Dingle spend a while helping the basses with it; it was interesting]

Fourth (The Bare Necessities):
- Learn from memory.
- Solo makes its way around the parts; need to see where it goes (and hear for certain).
- Character
- Don't need conductor (stand and breathe together – already discussed)
- Make it fun! Project and perform the solos.
- Basses: line is inherently boring (bom) – make it fun, live it. Be a bear!

Fifth (Teddy Bears' Picnic): [The arrangement we attempted and failed at music school. Sadly. It was fun!]
- Vital to choose a song suited to the group's voices and personalities; commendation for succeeding – 'genius', to quote Barney.
- Characterisation! (Treble perfect for the teddy bear.) Never shy away from the obvious characterisations (e.g. Dingle/Paul) – cheesy but it never ceases to raise a smile. USE THE GROUP.
- Choreography [choralography? Charles and Andrea] – character of the piece. [Stand in, with 'teddy bear' in the front; others in semi-circle behind him. Stand with hands on knees/thighs, in 'telling a hushed secret' kind of stance.]

I don't know which group won the unison song – I know it was Crescent but I've no idea which group that was. St Peter's won the part song, with Teddy Bears Picnic – yay :) That made me smile. It seems that the ensembles didn't end up taking much notice of Barney's advice to stand together – or if they tried, ended up drifting apart nonetheless. Ah well. The Teddy Bears' Picnic looks to have been characterised more than their original performance in the masterclass, which is good.

Next post: Voces8 concert.