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From: letableaux
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  • I've performed this before and I have to say that, that is one of the better representations of the piece.

    it's awkward to hear the altos singing in the "come on sister part"

    that part is actually the man's call to the sisters

  • I've performed this before and I have to say that, that is one of the better representations of the piece.

  • Needs more John Lamble recording - haha, if only!

  • it seemed like the longer ya'll sang, the further ya'll moved the key up the scale.

  • it was kind of out of tune and there were some muddy spots, but im doing this song and its hard so i give you credit

  • Comment removed

  • they sound very winny granted they atleast rounded the sound. work is needed

  • I'm sorry but this could have been better. I love and adore this song. Sometimes going soft can evoke more feeling than going loud....most of the song was played at the same strength and volume. That was not what Moses Hogan had intended.

    Not enough movement in my opinion.

  • Sounds like a high school choir... a very whiny sound from all sections.

  • @pieinurface11 Er... it IS a high school choir?

  • @letableaux If I were a high school choir member or director, I would strive to remove the typical high school whine from the voices of my choir. I would not be content with sounding like any other high school choir.

  • This was fantastic!!! I use to be a 1st tenor at PFA and we sung this song... We did this song like no one else can... But this was good... Strong Bass... Tenors are weak...

  • I've sang this song many times; All-state conventions, high school choir, etc, and i've even directed it once, but the only thing i am critical of is when the tenors come bac with (elijah rock, oh elijah rock elijah" after the women do thei rslow movement, I couldnt understand a single word.

  • By technical standards, this was great. It followed the music exactly as it was planned. Also the intensity from the women was definitely there.

    In total it was a strong performance, however i personally had one problem. It may be because there less of them, but the males in the chorus felt like they weren't really providing much intensity intop the performance, while the girls were definitely singing their hearts out

    GThat being said, it was still an enjoyable performance (over youtube anyway)

  • it is rush a bit but over all it is good! keep up singing great spirituals

  • A lot of people have been commenting that this isn't very good, but for a high school choir, it's actually quite good. Keep up the good work! This is a very difficult piece, and many high school choirs wouldn't have even attempted it. At times the choir could have perhaps sung with less of a "belty" sound, but on this piece I honestly wouldn't have expected high schoolers to be able to pull that off easily. And perhaps decide as a choir whether the "j" in "Elijah" should be as in "fudge" or

  • @Dougie11387

    ...the French "je."

    But really a very good job. And many of the people criticizing that you "don't have enough soul" or "sound to white" or "don't sound gospel enough" really don't know what they are talking about. When performing concert arrangements of spirituals, one is really imitating what the Fisk Jubilee Singers did with Spirituals in the late 1800s. They sang them with Classical technique, not how they were sung in American cotton fields. They were improvised there.

  • These are teen agers and it is rare to see a high school choir singing in the same quality as these guys, its true that it doesn't matter if your black or white, We brown can sing this well that sounds more of a western voice. Nice choir you are much better than those American high school choirs that I watched here in youtube. Keep it up guys!

  • a pretty small group. I think the people who said 'not good' were probably affected by teh look rather than the sound - it's true that you are pretty still and formal, but even though it's a gospel piece I think dancing and finger-snapping would be out of place here. And you're right, whoever said gospel isn't confined to one race. I'd be pretty miserable if it was :(

    True

  • I've just been doing this piece in choir and was trying to find a recording to show my sister its awesomeness. Listened to the Moses Hogan original choir to begin with and she said, 'I can barely hear it and it sounds lame.' I clicked on this video and said, 'oh, this won't be any good, it's just a lot of lame white people in blazers.' But I was WRONG! This was awesome! I think there is just something about young voices - you make a lovely, crisp, vigorous sound, especially impressive since it's

  • How this makes me reminisce. If only there was a recording of the performance we did in Sydney to win the John Lamble, and perhaps a live mix that is not poorly micd. Still singing Dan?

  • such a great choir amazing tone and technique. I agree with the lack of....soul in the song. but the way you adapted it to your voices sounds great!:) i only have one comment...make sure all of the vowel sounds are lined up in the future because at time it tended to go a tiny bit sharp. other than that awesome performance!

  • your director should have taken more consideration into the way this piece was meant to sound...a spiritual should be sung with emotion and feeling...and no music is not a color, but the way races sing is different..therefore without the proper technique it does sound off with a white choir singing it...but it can b done..i sing with lots of white people and we sound great on this song....this choir should definitely work on mouth shape and tone..and the vowels are not formed well...keep working

  • i tihnk its rly good:D ! i just think it was a bit too fast at some parts.but other than that i rly loved ittt(: my choirs singing it twoo:D

    GREATSONGGGG!

  • This was a great job! The main thing for me was vowels and placement. Make sure to keep it nice and tall. To help, stand in circles as a section and sing one pitch and match vowels exactly. This will help with intonation and blend. Tenors, on the High A, just float over it, but make sure its together as a section and in tune! Being a Tenor, I know it's hard but it is possible! ;) Great job on the divisi D and B in the soprano section! Overall great job guys. Keep it up! 

  • the vowels in this can be waaay better, just because this isn't a western European style of music doesn't mean that the vowels had to suffer....that would also help the tuning for the women. when the altos have their solo part, it needs to be stronger and with tall vowels. I have to say the the best part of the song is the basses!!! the tenors suffered in their "hallelujah Jesus" in section d.... EVERYTHING could've been better with taller vowels

  • i think the Tenors and Basses need to turn it up about ten percent, and then the Sopranos were a little flat, but i still think you guys did a very good job.

  • I Think that maybe the Tenor and basses need to turn up the strenght by about ten percent but other than that i think it was good

  • your tone color is not as good throughtout the piece

  • good job! basses were absolutely fabulous! Tenors for the most part as well, too. Women didn't well when the dynamic was softer. Remember not to let the sound "spread" at louder dynamics. Stay vertical at all times with a darker tone. Good job, overall... at least I thought!

  • it was a littile to childish ! sounded like elementary ! i am a junior at Watkins Overton in memphis tn and we sound like a college choir i know you guys can ! its was ok ! they ned to work on rounding their vowels and lifting their eyebrows to stay on picth !

  • WoW!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • i thought that was great!! although.....i think the sopranos need to be a tad quiter or the tenors louder because when all parts are singing, i here the sopranos and altos covering the tenors.

  • GOOD JOB YOU GUYS!! 5 STARS!!

  • it was very good.

    the only thing i didnt like was that the song seemed almost like it was segmented. like there were definitely pauses in a lot of different parts in the song.

    and sorry, but tenors needed to be A LOT stronger.

  • Heard a couple blending issues, and be careful not to speed up! Otherwise, I think this was a job well done, good for you guys!

  • lovedddddd the basses and sopranos!! they were great

    but the tenors and altos had really spread vowels and sounded like their were singing a pop song or something, not a spiritual.

  • To tell you my opinion, the sopranos actually sounded pretty good.

    My biggest problem was with how childish the tenors sounded. During "Hallelujah Jesus", they should hit the pitch on the head, not slide up or make it sound too high for them. Mixed voice.

    All vowels needed to be much much rounder in all sections! I think it should be "elijuh", not "elijAH". But overall, it is actually a very good performance.

    The girls, especially the altos at 00:45 need to be more big momma.

  • Good conducting! Good dynamics as well.

  • way rounder vowels..woman need darker sounds..to country..kinda ruined the song sorry=[

  • good HIGH SCHOOL choir! im proud of you cause i know you are high school and i know probably not everyone has taken private lessons or anything so good work and good exposure for these kids to some good music. rounder vowels for next time. good soprano high notes and divisi near the end.

  • Sopranos and the Bass/Baritones did their thing.. Altos and Tenors didnt do it for me..

  • I"m with you

    I think the same thing

    Bass were awsome

  • Listen to the Duluth East A'Cappella Choir do it. They are awesome.

  • ew altos have no vowels! very badly bright at the come on sister part...

  • Um, wow....

    My high school's Symphonic Choir is doing this piece right now for contest.

    Honestly, it was too bright, the tenors were sharp in multiple places and the alto's were a little overpowering...

    HOWEVER

    I have to give props to the sopranos for the very high notes. For such a challenging piece to perform, it was done fairly well for such a young group of students

  • What a coincidence, so is mine...

  • awsome song but the tenors didnt do anything for me

  • The first sapranos have great vocal ranges. Yes bass/baritones as well.

  • i go to an arts school

    im in gr8 and were doing this song

    its very complicated so over all it was excellent i noticed sometimes the bases

    seemed to get out of tune. at the beggining as well. when the sopranos hit those high notes it was good but when they say stand on the ROCK! wher moses stood you need to get loud on rock and then soft on the end of the sentence.

    i liked it a lot congradulations!!

    especially on the ending!!!!!

  • yes, vowels need work & went a tad sharp but it was great over all! congrats to the first tenors! we only have 3 first tenors in our choir. this is my favorite peice, you all pulled it off well! (:

  • it was pretty good, but dang their vowels need some help. it was very impressing though.

  • dang. that gave me goosebumps! this choir was absolutely. amazing. ":]

  • I have to agree with most of you whenever I say that they did a great job with this piece. This is a very difficult piece and I give the director kudos. BUT! I do wish that he would've done something with those altos...omg....they were pretty out there, loud and just a LITTLE off pitch...other than that...it was pretty good.

  • Its LOTS of dynamics that the director failed to do......overall it sounded alright!

  • It seems most other visitors here would disagree with you

  • I am a graduate of North Texas with a degree in Choral Music Education and Performance. While the choir is a little bright this conductor deserves to be praised. This is collegiate level material with hard tuning eg. Major 7th chords and tenors who are basically singing in the alto range indicate a high level of work for this group. The lower men's voices are superb - rich overtones and perfect open 5th tuning. Great Job!

  • You guys are EXCELLENT!

  • Fantastic job - congratulations and I hope you all keep singing

  • I got to sing this with Moses Hogan the Feb. after 9/11 in Carnagie Hall. You all did AMAZING. I am VERY Impressed. Thank you for posting this! This is an incredibly difficult piece and you all nailed it!

  • Dag, y'all went sharp.

  • Those sopranos who did that high D and B, sounded a little to bright for me, and that was the part of the song that I was waiting for. The whole choir for me was a little to bright for me, I guess it was because of the ages. But other than that the choir did a good job, and the tenors, not too be so critical, you have to raise those eyebrows, so that note will not be flat, But some you hit that A or A flat pretty well. Other than that, choir good job.

  • I do like the choir, soprano sound is a little bright but it's not bad at all for a high school choir. Young sopranos tend to sound a bit more bright, it's just a matter of the maturity of the voice box.

    Black choirs do have a different sound but I believe it is an issue of the training done by the director. The Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir has a traditional "black" sound although the choir is ethnically mixed. In general black choirs have a darker sound.

  • The only thing I found perplexing about this version is that the director cut off the women at multiple places when their lines are supposed to overlap with the men's. If you watch the version posted at /watch?v=gLR31UyuFP0 you will hear Moses Hogan's own chorale singing this piece and you will hear what I am talking about.

  • Okay just one more thing: I commend the soprano who did the wail at the end. A lot of choirs who perform this have a soprano who emits a screech at the end. I think it was perfect.

  • this was not good....they are trying to hard

  • For 'not good' we seemed to do pretty damn fine with this piece.

    We won an international choral championship with it.

  • @letableaux Okay, look. You guy's SUCK. There's people who sing the song well, there's people who sing the song bad, then there's you guy's. The alto's sing with swallowed sound's and the guy's do too.

  • @simplyjasmine55 So much heinous use of the apostrophe.

  • needs work on vowels, but otherwise great

    our choir is learning this for winter concert as well

  • Tenors are the week section in this piece!! They are not blending!! Altos!!! Go head!!! Sopranos i want MORE!!! Seems like your screaming on "IF I COULD.." 1st Soprano good on obligoto split!!! MORE Bass!! I give you a 3 out of 5

  • Sounded good besides the tenors,they need some work.

  • sounds like a bunch of white kids.... o wait.

    Great sound jsut need to think Bigger and not little white boys/grass

    also the tenors hallelujah lord sorta was iffy

  • not sure what ya mean by whiteboys/grass. How exactly does a choir sound like grass?

    I didn't think that colours had sound - should we have be trying to emulate a particular race?

    Yeah the tenors are not at their best but did quite well in this, most of them are 15-17 and really more baritones. Mostly their voices were breaking or not settled yet too.

  • Grass is the obvious failing of me typing lol

    It was supposed to say boy/girls.

    I personally am in a choir of 55 and with about 14 tenors 9 being legit tenors :-) With myself being a countertenor singing first tenor, Only being in high school i am quite blessed.

    & yes colors have their own sound. have you ever heard a gospel choir, If not look some moses hogan songs done by gospel choirs.

  • also about a decade or so ago moses graced our school with his presence and taught us this song along with others. He elaborated on the "style" and feeling this is suposed to be felt with.

    I wasnt there but my director who is amazing basically relayed everything that he learned from moses.

  • Gospel is a genre, not a colour!

    I do understand what you're saying absolutely - it is a spiritual gospel piece and the moses hogan chorale is a black choir, but I really strongly feel that music does not sound black or white. It fits a genre - so if we're not Gospel enough, thats fine, but don't denigrate the argument to a race. Skin colour may determine what musical influences people have, but it does not change the way people sing.

  • (damn utube comment counts)

    The other thing i wanted to say :

    We may not have had the priviledge of Moses Hogan attending our school to teach us his piece, but we won the Australiasian Choral Championships with this piece the year this video was made (2005).

    A choir from a public school from South Australia wins - thats saying a lot.

    Says we're doing something right. (or possibly the quality of australian choral music?)

  • I remember this song with my choir, hard song to do but definitley one of my favorites. This choir did a great job. Those first few notes and that brought back memories. Yeah Class of 96!

  • haha the memories!

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