Delving in...

Hello, Solfeggists on Holiday!

I don't know about you, but I'm having a little trouble conjuring up much ambition for work at the moment -- it's been a busy concert season, and the Christmas weekend was more demanding than I'd anticipated.  These winter holidays are one of the best and hardest times of year to be a choral musician (or really, any kind of musician), and I've always loved the fact that I get to help make them special for other people.  Beginning in high school and on through college, it seemed to me that the end of concert season was the end of Christmas, and I wished it would just go on and on.  Well, that particular wish seems to have come true, and now I wish I could fully recapture the joy I used to feel in doing this work.

If I know me, however, the only way to make this wish happen is the right proportion of rest (I'm blogging in my pj's on this fine late morning, which always helps!) and pushing through the tasks at hand.  You see, we are lucky, you and I.  We have work to do that has a fairly obvious and direct link to meaning and beauty, and a lot of the time, we get to see the end product.  That's a lot more than many people can say about their professional lives -- in fact, some of those folks come to us and the work we do on their own time because they want a taste of what we get to experience.

To be honest, it takes all my discipline to believe in this little pep talk, and it's not my intention to make anyone (including myself) feel guilty for taking some time to regroup.  We all need that.  But, I know that when I wallow too thoroughly for too long in the world of pajamas and TV, I just wind up getting depressed.  So, wallow....somewhat....and then maybe put the TV on mute for 30 minutes or so and delve into a little listening, singing, and analysis to feed your inner musician.  You might be surprised at how good it feels.

All you folks will need to track down your Music for Analysis book....


Rising Level 2's

no. 166, p. 106 (Schubert - Dance in D-flat)
no. 170, p. 109 (Rameau - Minuet in G minor)

Your procedure:

-Sing through the melody in solfa (these pieces are both very much in "cantilena" style, meaning that the melody lives in the top voice, and it's quite singable as long as you make some judicious octave decisions).
-Play through the piece and mark cadences (the preceding singing step will hopefully make that easy).
-Go phrase by phrase and apply Roman numerals, stopping to re-assess if anything doesn't make sense (e.g., if you find yourself marking a whole lotta iii chords, or if you think you've found a ii-I progression...).


Rising Level 3's


no. 233, p. 165 (Bach - In dulci jubilo)
no. 234, p. 166 (Bach - Christ lag in Todesbanden)

Your procedure:

-Sing through the melody in solfa (In dulci jubilo is very straightforward, and you may use either A-la or D-la or a combination for Christ lag).
-Play through the piece and mark cadences
-Go phrase by phrase and apply Roman numerals (which should be fine for In dulci jubilo) OR solfa chords (highly recommended for Christ lag)

Rising Level 4's


no. 357, p. 289 (Strauss - Morgen)

Because this piece is a little on the complex side...

-Listen to any one of several lovely YouTube recordings of the piece (many of them won't be in this key, but don't be thrown).
-Sing through the melody in solfa (I'd start in the key indicated by the signature, but on a chromatic syllable...when things get wacky at the end, use your listening experience to inform your solfa).
-Do a letter-name chord analysis first, and then go back and try to apply Roman numerals where it seems logical to do so.  Take particular notice of the final chord and its figured bass configuration.  Why do you think Strauss wrote it that way?  Do you think it has to do with the text of the song (a translation is conveniently located at the end of the piece)?

Enjoy!