Soup (Lentil Veggie)

Hi all!  Home Economics doesn't exist anymore and The Food Network makes it look like you can't fry an egg without granite countertops, truffle oil, and a degree from culinary school.  I thought I would take a basic recipe and turn it into an ear-worm.  With any luck, the members of any choir that sings this and a good number of the people in the audience will remember how to make lentil soup forever.  

The pianist has to deal with accidentals and an irritating key signature, but the choral parts should sit comfortably for everyone, be easy to read, and it repeats, which should be user-friendly for high school chorus or amateur choral groups. 

How does this look?  Thanks for taking a look!

@pateceramics

What a great idea!!!

The music is fine, but the idea is great!

Please upload a video of the performance if you get one!

Thanks!  I figured if we all learned the "Fif-ty, Nif-ty, U-ni-ted States" song and the periodic table song, why not something for adults that would be a useful way to remember a skill?  

I love the atmosphere of the song, but sometimes the way eighth notes are grouped, or the rhythms are written, my eyes and ears are confused on whether this is intentionally in 6/8, or if it's in 3/4, or if you're going for 2/4 with a triplet feel.

For example, if measure 2 were a true 6/8 measure, I would change the half note to a dotted quarter note tied to an eighth note, and then connect the new eighth note's stem to the other two eighth notes. Right now it looks like a 3/4 measure.

Another example is measure 35/36. When you have a series of quarter notes, you end up accenting the offbeats of 6/8. It really contrasts the other parts as well as the general feel of the piece, so I guess I don't know why they're there, unless rhythmic contrast was the goal.

My suggestions aren't really composition-related, but when an accompanist has to learn this piece in a short time, or even sight-read, it's a major help when all of the engraving is consistent.

On a different note, I'm genuinely curious about your choice of accidentals, especially like the ones in measure 14. What led you to them?

It's a clever idea and I think the audience will love it.

- I love Gb

Thanks for the feedback, Jacob.  I definitely agree that a tidy score leads to a better performance.  Just a bad page turn can cause so many unnecessary problems.  So thanks for your thoughts.  Suggestions are very welcome! 

Rhythmic contrast was definitely the goal.  I'm playing with 2 vs. 3 a lot.  The style guide I use (Gould) says throwing it all into 6/8 and eliminating the occasional tied-over eighths is an option since the rhythms in the affected measures are simple to read at speed.  But it definitely seems like the sort of thing individual editors would have personal opinion on.  Would marking some accents be helpful?  I also admit that I just got tired of staring at the score after a while, so there may be some things in there that I would change on reflection.  Sometime next year, I'll probably come back to it with fresh eyes and change some things.  Thanks.  

For measure 36 with the quarters in the right hand, note the text there is is talking about "sputtering."  So I'm sputtering my rhythm.  The right hand is sputtering against both the natural accents produced by the text and the written rhythms of the choral part and the left hand of the piano.  

In measure 14, what I'm really hearing is just a descending scale that falls outside of the key signature, so I used the accidentals accordingly.  It's just a Db melodic minor scale, but I'm using the usual ascending run (raised 6th and 7th scale degree) on the way down instead of switching to harmonic minor.  (I'm sure there's a name for that, but I can't think of what it is).  I don't know why, but it sounds like a pot of soup simmering on the back of the stove on a rainy day to me.  I tend to hear what I want and then go back and look at it, and say, "oh, I've gone into Dorian there," rather than thinking, "and next what would it sound like if I transition into Dorian?"  I write it and then I go back and try to figure out why I want what I want, so maybe there's a better explanation for that little descending figure, but that's the best I can explain it.  I like it, that's all I know.  

Thanks again!

23 hours ago, Ken320 said:

It's a clever idea and I think the audience will love it.

 

- I love Gb

 

Thanks, Ken!  I actually tried moving the key around, but it just sounded dead.  This seems to be where it wants to live.  How much of that is a result of the sound production my computer is capable of, I don't know, but I did try singing it through and Gb feels good in ways that have nothing to do with the range.  

There you go. 😊