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i thank You God


tentoria

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Hey all! This is my newest composition for SSAA choir and piano. I used the text "i thank You God for most this amazing" by e.e. cummings. The midi is split up into two separate files since Sibelius couldn't render the whole piece out at one time. I should have a live recording soon! Hope you enjoy it! 

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  • 2 weeks later...

This is a really nice interpretation of the text.  I'm a little concerned that you have such a long a cappella section before the piano comes in.  There's a real chance that the singers will have drifted in pitch a bit, and then the piano entrance will sound jarring.  Particularly because you start with each part singing repeated pitches.  That seems like something that would assure accuracy, but the peculiarities of psychology or the human ear or the human vocal chords mean that is exactly the situation where people tend to flat over time.  A good group can certainly pull it off, but know that you're limiting the number of groups who can reliably give you a great performance.  Having so many low Fs for the second altos may also produce some strain issues, unless you happen to know that the group doing the recording for you has some altos who are actually lady tenors.  I've had the pleasure of singing with a few, they do exist, but they are uncommon.  A low F is in the range for most altos, but generally you just pop down to visit one, and come right back up into the comfortable heart of the alto range.  Sitting down there for too long can hurt.  

Good luck with your recording!  What a great opportunity!

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Good comments from pate! Some score things; make sure you get rid of the measure numbers at the beginning, because the melody doesn't technically come in at a measure 7.
Your 16th triplets need to become sextuplets to fill the beat. You can also add some double bars in here to accommodate all the tempo changes. Make sure you note that arpeggio markings happen on the left side of notes.
The beginning cross voices might sound a bit awkward unless the ripieno sopranos come in certain times.
61's crossed voices however, need to be handled delicately, or the score needs to change, since that will become the focus because of the sound, rather than the melody.
Your 2/4 bars with a quarter note triplet are best written as 3/6 bars, otherwise the notation is unnecessary.
Great piece and good luck.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Very faceted composition. You really tried to make the emotions behind the text hearable. However, I share the concerns mentioned above. Now, I guess the two voices in the "solo" mean it is not really a solo but sung by two sopranos (e.g. m. 23 ff), as must be the case for the other voices as well, so they can split when necessary. The phrases in m. 23 ff ask for rather long-held notes; I wonder if you do not overstrain the choir. m. 71 should be possible, but I see the problem again in the last part after m. 105. However, I do not know the capabilities of the singers at your disposal. It is surely no easy piece to rehearse!

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@pateceramics Thanks! It never even popped into my head how the group might drift off pitch. Maybe I could put a drone in the piano to offset this? I'm also thinking of getting rid of the low F completely, as the group is a really great University choir but their voices are still young, and I think they might strain sitting on that note for such a long time. 

@Monarcheon Thanks for these comments, I've never gotten formal composition lessons, so I'm always somewhat lost as to formatting a score.

@Willibald @Luis Hernández the double soprano solo is actually just the normal soprano line at m. 23! I should make this more clear. And hopefully the singers will be ok with it, as they are a fabulous group! But I do see where they could be strained in some sections of the piece. Thanks!

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