Jump to content

Recommended Posts

I like the folk touch to the melody - like Ken said, something of Shenandoah comes to mind. Very sweet melody and harmonics!

The only setback I can find is that you don't separate the silent e's. In spoken French, it's been ages since anybody says them anymore, but in music they have to be counted as a separate syllable, otherwise the text doesn't sound articulate, especially in pieces like this one where the polyphony superposes different syllables. Besides, if the singers aren't native, not separating the silent e's will only show their accent more (thinking of calm(e) which sounds more like English calm than cal-me would).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey Mark, I did intend the e's to be separated, but life happens.  Many of the singers had very good French pronunciation, (the concert was actually mainly in French), but there were occasional things that weren't perfect.  Ah, well.  Generally the separate e's aren't marked in vocal scores, just like shadow vowels on final consonants in English texts aren't marked as a separate syllable with a note value assigned.  It's assumed you know to do them, and it's one of the things directors are constantly fussing at their musicians to fix in rehearsal, and to mark in if they need the visual reminder.  On the whole though, this group had really good french for Americans and they did a beautiful job for a small group of singers.  This piece needs really good breath control to make it feel seamless and floating, which is hard to achieve when you only have a couple of singers on a part when the notes divide.  It means you can't stagger breathe.  

The Shenandoah connection hadn't occurred to me, but now I hear it!  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Indeed, their accent is good and I wasn't criticising it! I recognise it is not an easy piece as far as breathing goes, especially, as you say, for a small ensemble.

Thank you for the info about silent e's, I was only commenting because I never saw a single score where they weren't marked (and French is my mother tongue and I sing in a native French choir).

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Egads!  You're right!  Sorry, I should have double checked before I posted.  My Carmen score doesn't have them all marked, but I think that's because it also has an alternate English text underneath and sometimes rhythms are marked to accommodate the English.  I'd imagine that's the case for the other examples I'm thinking of.  Ugh... goes back to edit score...  Thank you very much for drawing my attention to that!  Rats.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 9 months later...

Fixed my score, although I haven't changed the video yet.  Better?  Anything else I have missed with the French?  

PDF
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...