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So…a week ago I was just coming home from the dress rehearsal for Messiah, feeling better about it than I had at the first rehearsal with GuestConductor. He had slowed fractionally at the first orchestra rehearsal on Sunday night, when the orchestra also had some problems…and we’d left just as the soloists were starting their rehearsal. Dress rehearsal was pretty much straight through, with soloists in their order, and there was another fractional slowing. Not quite enough, and the tempo was still not steady through some of the faster choruses (speeding up as we went along.) But by this time we had figured out what to do about it–thanks to the tools that UsualConductor had given us over the previous rehearsals (and, in my case, the years of singing under him and taking voice lessons from him.)
So Tuesday night was looking like a possible save. UsualConductor had sent us all a very encouraging email Saturday night, telling us that though he knew we’d felt blindsided and clumsy with the much faster tempi on the fast choruses and much slower on the slow, we’d actually held it together and sounded pretty good.
Now usually the Messiah concert is sold out. This time, it wasn’t–numbers WAY down. I don’t think that had anything to do with GuestConductor–I think it was the economy plus the weather plus the venue. I hope to goodness they schedule us into the real concert hall some year and get us out of that miserable carpeted vault with the lousy acoustics and terrible parking for performers (it’s one of those megachurches designed for amped performances), but I suspect they won’t.
Anyway…UsualConductor managed to come himself and warm us up, then rushed off to warm himself up for the tenor solos. Most of us had done this several times before, and thus knew how to line up, and emerge from the choir room and get to our seats in seemly fashion. (Four lines of us.) Having spent several Messiahs on the top row of the risers (where a wicked draft comes up your back) and next to the tenors, I now had an assigned seat one row down next to one of the best altos we have, and only one away from the sopranos. But I was used to that from the two previous rehearsals, and always like to have C- in my left ear. I don’t care what section’s singing in my right ear, but when I’ve got the tenors in my left ear it’s hard not to jump in with them. Weird but true.
We had time, with the little Pastoral Symphony section first, and then UsualDirector singing the first tenor chorus and recitative, to settle ourselves and then we launched into the first chorus. There is, for me, no greater thrill than singing great music with orchestral accompaniment to an audience…comparable to taking off at a gallop across country on a fast horse. So, as we settled into it and realized we were handling the tempi as sectional units, not just individuals struggling, we got happier. On a couple of choruses the melismas weren’t as crisp as they would have been slower–but almost.
The final chorus–which is a wrought-iron stinker in which the inexperienced easily get lost (and the experienced if they try to sing it on automatic) was as strong as it should be–we had, as recommended, reserved something for it. (For those who don’t know it, it’s a fugue on “Amen” and the head motif is handed off from section to section while the other sections have other motifs and weird little accented bits…it’s gorgeous, but boy can you mess it up, and you can also make it dull and boring if you don’t carve out the lines with expression.)
So the audience clearly enjoyed the performance; both conductors gave us a thumbs-up (and at least from UsualConductor, it wasn’t just courtesy.) And I got home near midnight.
Is it worth it to spend the time it takes to rehearse to UsualConductor’s standard and do these extra performances? It is for me, for several reasons. First, because music nourishes me–complex music more than simple. Second, because when singing in choir I’m not the boss…having to subordinate my authority regularly is good for me (and for the writing.) Third, it’s social–something a solitary writer needs…it exposes me to real live people on a regular basis and enriches my understanding of them (it’s not ALL singing.)
And now, back to the book.
Comment by Chris in South Jersey — December 13, 2011 @ 6:19 am
I miss singing Messiah. I have the same issue (I won’t call it a problem,) in that when I’m next to the tenors, I want to sing with them instead of singing alto. That tends to be a problem since I can’t read music and rely on the altos around me to learn the music. Once I learn it I’m fine. I have sung Messiah off and on since 1966. Really one of my favorites along with Faure’s Requiem.
Comment by Mary E Cowart — December 13, 2011 @ 3:49 pm
I miss singing Messiah, also. Haven’t been in an area where I could participate. Enjoy reading your comments on rehearsal and performance.
I enjoy your writing and reading about the writing process.
Merry Christmas
Comment by Genko — December 13, 2011 @ 5:13 pm
Choral music is definitely a high. I sing soprano, and really love getting my voice out there with a group (not so thrilled about doing it by my lonesome). There is indeed something nurturing about music, about being in the middle of this glorious chord that vibrates the heart. And in addition I agree that the more complex, the more satisfaction there is when you nail it. You can feel it click into place and there’s just nothing like it.
I don’t do so much of it any more. But I can jump in on the Hallelujah Chorus from memory, and in fact find it very difficult NOT to join in when I hear it.
These days I lead Zen chanting, which is a very different set of vocal skills.
Comment by elizabeth — December 13, 2011 @ 9:17 pm
Mary: Thanks. I know I’m lucky to be near enough to a good choir (and just barely good enough to be in it.) I hope things change for you and you have a chance to sing Messiah again.
Genko: Last spring we sang Bach’s St. John Passion. In German. Which I don’t speak. There are consonant clusters in German which are difficult enough for me anyway, and they appeared in some signature Bach melisma runs…yikes. That was with UsualConductor conducting, and we nailed it, the whole thing. Had a small orchestra of with antique instruments–it was amazing.
Comment by John S — December 15, 2011 @ 1:56 am
What choir was it? I think I went to that concert-I’m in San Antonio. If it’s the one I’m thinking of, I know several of the instrumentalists. Period playing is always fun. Does take some adjustment though.
Comment by elizabeth — December 15, 2011 @ 8:19 am
St. David’s choir (with help from others), David Stevens conducting, Laurie Stevens as concertmaster. At St. Michael’s Episcopal Church in Austin.
Comment by Kerry aka Trouble — December 15, 2011 @ 9:35 am
An interview podcast of our gracious hostess with SFSignal has gone live – listened this morning.
The link is http://tinyurl.com/77j36v7 for anyone who might be interested in listening.
Comment by elizabeth — December 15, 2011 @ 9:45 am
Thank you! I meant to remember that and post it, but the last couple of days drove it out of my head! (Snatches already shortened URL and runs off to post it elsewhere!)
Comment by Daniel Glover — December 15, 2011 @ 5:30 pm
Even got a plug in for the new, new book “Crisis of Vision” called it the third in the series. 😛
Comment by Genko — December 15, 2011 @ 7:01 pm
Yes, it’s a puzzle, isn’t it. Is it the third in the series, well, yes, in a way. It’s been interesting to explain my fascination with this series to friends. Well, you see, it was a trilogy that I’ve read and re-read many times, and there’s a couple of prequel books, and now it’s continuing on, and there will ultimately be five books, and …
I explain that I’ve pre-ordered the next book, and am looking forward to getting it in February, and people just smile and shake their heads.
Comment by elizabeth — December 15, 2011 @ 10:13 pm
Well, it’s the third in the NEW group. And the fourth in the NEW group continues to give me trouble. It’s the !**! elves, specifically one elf.
I swear, I will never again write a book in which the elves hold knowledge which others desperately need–and finally get the elves to divulge–because the elves–this elf being the poster child for the behavior–Do Not Condense. No. Because that’s being hasty and incomplete and inaccurate, because important information must be imparted in all its complexity and flavor and implications and… If he were speaking modern English, he’d start off with “Now what you have to understand, is that back in the 13th century…”
I may have been reading too much Fernand Braudel in the preparation of these books. But actually–the elves always were the Singer’s children, and they perceive the world in very long stretches of time, in great complexity. Sound bites are not in their understanding. It’s driving the listener batty and it’s driving me batty because though I’ve reduced it by half (so far) it’s still too long (this section, not the whole thing. Well, the whole thing MAY be too long, but not that much.)
Comment by Jenn — December 16, 2011 @ 7:18 am
The elf sounds like he wants his own monologue/info-dump chapter that you are trying so desperately to avoid.
To bad the half elves are no help in this matter.
Comment by Iphinome — December 16, 2011 @ 7:31 am
At the risk of sounding… well how I’m about to sound. I feel Lady Moon deserved better than an interviewer who didn’t seem to do the least bit of homework beforehand. A list of books and websites doesn’t really make up for canned questions and no familiarity with the source material.
And heck, since I already sound bad I might as well go for the cheap laugh.
Enough of rule by greedy warlords and merchants, we are the 99%! #occupyaarenis
Comment by Dave Ring — December 16, 2011 @ 11:03 am
Sounds as though your troublesome elf in book 4 is trying to summarize the Silmarillion (and possibly the Akallabeth). No small task!
Comment by elizabeth — December 16, 2011 @ 11:21 am
Dave: pretty much, yes. Entire history of elves for the past 20,000 years or so, at least from their decision to leave Old Aare. I knew it was infodump when I was writing it. I’ve cut it repeatedly, trying to get the bits really needed separated from the stuff that’s fascinating (to them, and possibly sometime to some readers) and though relevant in the sense that everything really is connected to everything else, Not Needed On THIS Voyage. And elves really don’t summarize well. If you say “Well, to cut to the point, are you saying that X did Y?” they will launch into another long, long exposition of why before they can answer that, you need to know X’s entire family history, and X’s own motives, so that what X actually did, which wasn’t exactly Y (though to you it sure sounds like Y) can be seen in context, which is the only way to see things truly. Only, since they’re so attached to harmony and so reluctant to admit the possibility of discord (most of them) “truly” to them means making whatever X did and its results somehow harmonize with the Song.
In the first books, I understood that the elves’ passion for harmony was both strength and weakness, but I never before had to spend so much time listening to individual elves explain things.
Comment by elizabeth — December 16, 2011 @ 11:25 am
People who do podcasts and online interviews are doing a valuable service, and they can’t possibly read all the books of all the people they interview and have time to do the interview and then edit it. Would I rather be interviewed by Charlie Rose on PBS? You betcha–but that’s not going to happen, and he has a much more relaxed schedule—that IS his day job. So I don’t cast aspersions at my interviewers unless they’re really, really bad. And mostly they aren’t. It’s sort of like conventions…the concoms aren’t full-time convention-organizers so yes, things do sometimes go awry. The only ones I really resented were the ones who promised to pay my way and then didn’t, back when I was starting out. I understood their financial woes, but I had my own.
Comment by elizabeth — December 16, 2011 @ 11:27 am
Jenn: The elf expects that humans will listen gladly to whatever an elf wants to say (or that they just have a short attention span if they don’t.) Like other bores (and yes, it’s boring when you don’t see a connection) the elf does not feel that he’s asking for more than his share of conversational space. He’s just trying to explain things to those who have no understanding.
Comment by Daniel Glover — December 16, 2011 @ 3:33 pm
And, the elves tell really good stories!
But from their perspective THEY ARE (to some of them) the principles in the song, the rest of us are extras where from the perspective of some of the rest of the short lifers they can seem selfish with that perspective. When does selfish become malevolent–that remains to be revealed to the readers. And I look forward to reading it. I just hope it gets revealed so as to meet Elizabeth’s deadline! 😉
Comment by Jenn — December 16, 2011 @ 6:34 pm
So does the elf talk just when you are writing or has the info dump spilled over into lifwe beyond: horses, driving to town, cooking, knitting…
I have had to drop dragons in favor of chemo hats for my mom who will be starting treatment soon. I have discovered some wonderful websites with free patterns. The dragons feel that is is a noble enough cause.
Comment by Iphinome — December 16, 2011 @ 7:32 pm
You are right Lady, I have no right to be indignant, I apologize.
Comment by Chuck — December 17, 2011 @ 1:08 am
I’ve expressed my opinion before that it would be great to have more of this world’s poetry in these books, like there is in Tolkien and Eddison (or Sir Walter Scott and Charles Kingsley). But something else we really need (when the story is done, of course) are appendices, please! So presumably there are file versions with the stuff that’s being cut? To mine for appendices, or a “Guide to Paksworld” volume, someday? I realize that the websites fulfull some of this function, but it’s not quite the same. Even an ebook version? I realize that this is out of the question right now, there are bigger fish to fry, and presumably other series to write when this five-decker is wrapped up.
A long historical account may function as a pace-killer in the middle of a book, I understand that; but it still is a worthy narrative product on its own, and something maybe to market in magazines or anthologies?
Comment by Richard — December 17, 2011 @ 6:46 am
Chuck, JRRT had retired Bilbo living at Rivendell for years translating and composing poetry. Who does Elizabeth have?
Daniel, of course the elf’s tale can only PROPERLY be understood when told (sung?) in elven, so if we short-lifers cannot be bothered to learn their language…
Jenn, best wishes for your mom’s recovery.