Shanna Hollich wrote:
> In my high school's madrigals (chamber choir) group,
> we're performing a collection of 6 pieces entitled the
> Choral Dances from Gloriana. In the front of the
> choral book is the following paragraph:
> I was wondering if anyone could give me more
> background info on either this opera or these
> particular selections.
I've performed them - they're from the Britten opera, as you know, and I
believe it was
composed in honor of Queen Elizabeth II's coronation. If you don't get more
info here,
you should ask on the Opera list, because there are some Britten experts there
who should
be able tell you more than you want to know about the opera. Also search the
Opera-L
archives at http://listserv.cuny.edu/archives/opera-l.html (and you can
subscribe from
there, too). And if you can get to a good reference library, look up the
article in the
New Grove Dictionary of Opera.
For anyone who has performed
> these works, I'm also looking for some advice on how
> to get past the somewhat unusual/tricky rhythms in
> order to add more expressiveness to the music. Thanks
> in advance, :).
My experience with Britten is - when you do exactly what he's put on the page,
all the
expressiveness needed is there. He's done the work for you. As my choir
director (a
Britten fanatic who did part of his doctoral dissertation on music by Britten
and studied
at the Britten-Pears School with Peter Pears a few years before Pears passed
away) likes
to say, our job is to look at all those little ink marks the composer has so
carefully and
laboriously put on the page for us, and make sure we do every single one of
them.
The other thing to do is to smile as much as you can when you sing the music
(ever noticed
how most choir singers in concert always seem so serious and frowning?).
Smiling not only
looks better, it makes everyone sound better. And the Gloriana choruses are
certainly
happy music!
Peggy
--
Margaret Harrison, Alexandria, Virginia, USA
"Music for a While Shall All Your Cares Beguile"
mailto:peggyh@i...
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