A little more on the "what makes a song challenging" topic...
Yesterday I experienced an example of this. For 15 years, a piece that many sopranos find "easy", the Faure Requiem "Pie Jesu", has been incredibly difficult for me. This is because it lies in the part of my voice that has been the hardest for me to master (but an area that I've felt I must master to consider myself a competent singer). I try singing it from time to time to see how my technique is doing, but the last time (a couple of years ago), it still didn't work in my voice.
My church choir gave a concert this Saturday that included the Faure Requiem (which went beautifully!). I wasn't assigned the Pie Jesu, but at our Friday rehearsal, the soprano who was to sing it couldn't be there, so those of us who wanted to sing it while the orchestra went through it were invited to do so. I was so pleased that, with neither practice nor work with my teacher, the piece fell right into my voice - almost every note was easy and effortless to sing - and the 2 of us who sang it at the rehearsal managed to sound like "one voice" over a great deal of the piece (a really cool feeling, having the tone "lock" like that!).
I'm sure this little achievement wouldn't be a major milestone for anyone but me, but I am VERY excited about it!
Peggy
-- Margaret Harrison, Alexandria, Virginia, USA "Music for a While Shall All Your Cares Beguile" mailto:peggyh@i...
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