Saturday March 30 Recording

This coming Saturday is our last scheduled recording session. Please be at the cathedral by 9 AM to help set up downstairs and warmup. We'll begin recording very soon after our recording engineer, Doug, is all set up.

Things that we still have to record:

1. Psalm 103, Greek Chant
2. Blessed is the Man
3. Stichera at Lord I Call (five total)
4. Praise the Name of the Lord
5. Magnificat
6. Cherubikon
7. It is Truly Meet
8. Open unto us the doors

Just like our last recording we'll have lunch prepared for everyone from Jimmy John's at the end of the recording session. 

I can't emphasis how important tomorrow's rehearsal is for our last recording this coming Saturday. Please make every effort to be there on time and focused, ready to rehearse. I need your focus attention for 90 minutes!

Last but not least, here is an audio file from our last recording session. Bishop Hilarion Alfeyev's Beatitudes. As you'll hear it turned out very nicely. You should be proud!

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1pAahvAILzVCMB6J81WLTpa4uNHQgjAOL
 

Saturday March 9 Recording

Thank you for a very productive rehearsal last evening. We covered a lot of material that we'll record this Saturday, so thank you for your focus and endurance!

About this Saturday:

As most of you know the weather is looking pretty bad for Saturday. The forecast now has the snow starting in the afternoon - maybe even right at noon and getting heavier as the afternoon progresses. After talking to Doug (our recording engineer) and all of you last evening at rehearsal, we've decided to start the recording at 8 am to avoid the bad weather and everyone get home safely. We'll end right around 11 and have lunch. So, please be at the cathedral by 7:30 AM. I don't think I need to express to you how important it is that you're there at 7:30 so that we can start on time.

Also, there's still a possibility that the forecast changes for the worst. In this case we'll just have to cancel the entire recording session. In consultation with the choir board and Doug, we'll make this decision Friday evening and send an email to you.

I don't think any of us like the idea of starting at 8. Think of it this way, though. The next day we have to change our clocks anyhow. Just think that you're changing a day early...maybe that will help just a tad :-)

See you all Saturday bright and early (hopefully!).

Today's Recording and Looking Ahead at What's Next

Choir - what a huge effort and great job you did at today's recording session. Congratulations! We got off on the right foot today, and I'm confident that this will translate into two more good recording sessions and a wonderful final product. Thank you for all of your focus, stamina, and love for liturgical music.

Just to review what we recorded today and where we stand looking forward.

At today's session we recorded:

1. Canon to the Theotokos
2. Troparion, Common Chant
3. Troparion, Serbian Chant
4. Troparion, Russian Greek Chant
5. Kontakion, Common Chant
6. We Have See the True Light
7. Blessed be the Name of the Lord
8. Antiphon 1
9. Antiphon 2
10. Magnification

The canon was a big thing to get out of the way, and we sang it so beautifully. Kurt asked that we send him a copy of the final product and I'm sure he will be satisfied. We still have quite a few things to tackle in the next two recordings. At this coming Wednesday 's rehearsal, along with other things, I'd like to rehearse Kastalsky's Open Unto Us and Glagolev's Praise the Name of the Lord.  I'd prefer not to wait till the last recording session on March 30 to have our first stab at Kastalsky's piece. But, with the other things that we still need to record, and the extra rehearsal time we'll get waiting until the end of March to record this piece, it just might be worth it to wait. I'll have to think about it a bit more. Regardless, here is a list of all the pieces we still need to record:

1. Psalm 103
2. Blessed is the Man
3. Stichera at Lord I Call
4. Gladsome Light (male choir)
5. St. Simeon's Prayer (male choir) 
6. Praise the Name of the Lord
7. Matins Prokeimenon
8. Magnificat
9. Exaposteilarion (Russian Bulgarian)
10. Exaposteilarion (male choir)
11. Stichera at the Praises (male choir)
12. Beatitudes
13. Come Let us Worship
14. Kontakion (Resa)
15. Trisagion
16. Cherubikon
17. It is Truly Meet
18. Open unto me the Doors
19. Beneath your compassion
20. O Victorious Leader (Sarov Chant)
21. O Victorious Leader (Valaam Chant)

Looking at what we still have to record and comparing it to what did today may seem like a lot. But, please remember that in today's recording session we recorded the canon, which has eight troparia. So, essentially we recorded 18 pieces today and not ten. And, in the yet-to-do list, there are four pieces that only the male choir will sing. So, female singers - you're off the hook for those! It's good to keep things in perspective.

Needless to say, this Wednesday's rehearsal is very important for everyone to attend! Please, eat well, get plenty of rest and stay healthy. We need everyone's voice!

Saturday's Recording

Some of you have asked that I forward a list of things we'll record this Saturday. Below is such list. Please know that these pieces we plan to record. Depending on how things go we might do more, less, or even different pieces than on the list. 

1. Magnification
2. Matins Prokeimenon
3. General Canon to Theotokos (Sander)
4. Exaposteilarion, Bulgarian Chant
5. Antiphon 1
6. Antiphon 2
7. Beatitudes (Alfeyev)
8. Troparion, Common Chant
9. Troparion, Serbian Chant
10. Troparion, Greek Russian Chant (Trubachov)
11. Kontakion, Common Chant
12. Kontakion, Greek Russian Chant (Elison)
13. Trisagion (Alfeyev)
14. We Have seen (Alfeyev)
15. Blessed be the Name (Alfeyev)
16. Beneath Your Compassion (Archbishop Job)

Such a long list might seem optimistic, and maybe it is. But, many of these pieces we know well and are very short, and I don't anticipate doing many takes with them.

Just to reiterate some things we discussed last night about Saturday:

Please, it is much more important to be early to the recording than arriving at the last minute. It is best to avoid any tension or stress, and arriving just before we begin adds greatly to this - both for you and me! So, please be at the cathedral no later than 12:30. There are a few things that we need to do, like clear space in front of the amvon/altar area, bring stands and books down from the loft, and also the water cooler. Arriving this early will allow you to help move some of these things, and give you a chance to maybe review briefly the music or ask questions if you have them. But, most importantly, arriving early will allow you to relax and focus calmly on what we're going to do.

Attire: please dress comfortably. Make sure you have comfortable shoes since we'll be standing on the hardwood floor for a few hours. We'll have to turn the heat off, so towards the end of the recording session it might get slightly chilly. Bring a light jacket or sweater if you think it's necessary.

Please, no shoes, slacks, shirts, jackets, etc. that make noise or any kind of crinkling sounds. The mics will pick this up.

Please, no perfume, cologne etc.

Before and after each take we'll have two or three seconds of dead sound. So, before we start singing, I will give the pitch, then I'll wait three seconds or so before I cue you to begin singing. Likewise, at the end of the take, after the final cutoff and before I relax my arms, we'll have three seconds or so of dead sound.

While recording, it's important that we do not make any noises such as coughing, sniffling, creaking the floor with our feet, etc. If any of these things happen during a take - even inadvertently - it will unfortunately be ruined. So, please take care during each take that we don't make any noises!

Finally, just to remind you again. Please be at the cathedral no later than 12:30. See you all on Saturday!

Rehearsals and Recordings

The past few weeks have been difficult for rehearsals and church attendance because of weather. This, of course, is just one of those things we can't plan for when making our choir's schedule. I've talked to Doug Geston, our recording engineer, and we've come up with a new plan for our recording schedule. What we'll do is the following: our Wednesday, March 6 recording is postponed to Saturday, March 30 at 9 AM. If this new date is a problem for many people, we'll figure something out. But, for now this is what the plan is. Looking through the rest of March, our schedule is:

Wednesday, February 27. Rehearsal 7 PM
Saturday, March 2. Recording 1 PM
Wednesday, March 6. Rehearsal 7 PM
Saturday, March 9. Recording 9 AM
Wednesday, March 13. Canon of St. Andrew followed by rehearsal 7 PM
Wednesday, March 20. Rehearsal 7 PM
Wednesday, March 27. Rehearsal 7 PM
Saturday, March 30. Recording 9 AM

There is an outside chance that we do finish recording everything in two sessions (the first two Saturdays in March), but this is probably optimistic.

On Saturday, March 9 lunch will be provided for the choir.

Canon for the Theotokos

Below is a link to a folder that has audio files of Kurt Sander's canon to the Theotokos. Thank you Emily for getting this together.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1R1zwewPkiZmWNj0DowgM4eFrBZMw9YL3

In the folder you'll only be interested in the files that have the word "Continued" in the file name. In total, there are four of these: odes three, six, eight, and nine. There are no recordings of the other odes as far as I know.

Last Sunday, while working with some singers on this canon, I realized that there are two versions of this composition floating around. Surprisingly, both have been available from Kurt's website (if you're interested, Kurt's website is: orthodoxchoralmusic.com). To make a long story short, two of the heirmoi are different - six and seven. The sheet music in the binders in the loft for these two heirmoi is not the same as the electronic sheet music files that I sent out a few weeks ago. So, please be aware of this as you singing through the music on your own at home. We will use the versions in the binder for the recording.

At tomorrow's liturgy (if some of you read this before the morning), at the Troparia/Kontakia run we'll sing the following:

1. Resurrection Troparion, Tone 5
2. Glory...Kontakion for the Publican and the Pharisee
3. Now...Kontakion for Protection

For the cathedral's kontakion at the end, I'd like to sing the Bulgarian Chant setting by Resa. It's in the Liturgy binder at the end of the Troparia and Kontakia section.

While the clergy commune, we will sing "Open to me the doors of repentance..." and if there's some time, Fr. Sergei Glagolev's "Praise the Name of the Lord" from the recording binder.

Men, please remember that we're meeting this coming Wednesday after rehearsal and the following to rehearse some things for the recording. 

St. Simeon's Prayer, Carpathian Chant, arr. Trubachev

This evening the male choir rehearsed for the first time Trubachev's St. Simeon's Prayer. As promised, here is a recording of it in Slavonic. Probably thanks to the wonderful space where it was recorded the sound is good, but the videography leaves much to be desired. With the exception of one phrase (and the fact that it's in Slavonic), it's essentially the same.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOZX87UN4I4

I've updated the St. Simeon's Prayer file. After rehearsing it yesterday, it was obvious that there were some problem spots that needed to be improved. Here is the new file:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1pMkDkMZecDIgN8bbDTC0ByoKmrjFFF-K