I was in this choir! And Terry Hicks is one of the best choir teachers EVER! Besides that, I thought we did pretty well on this piece, too. (I'm the one with brown hair on the third right riser.)
Very good! I currently go to Southside High school in fort smith and we just happened to beat y'alls high school in all four categories at contest this year! Haha, we took all the plaques home! But good job on this song, we did it this year and it proved to be very tough!
Never rely on metronome markings. Half the time, either the editor adds them or the editor forces a composer to insert one and not a lot of thought is put into it. This is why absurd metronome markings tend to be found in a lot of older orchestra works and newer choral and band works. Plus the piece has been revised at least once, so multiple versions exist and composers tend to change their minds afterwards anyways (which may explain his slower tempos).
Not so, Whitacre asks for quarter = 168 in the fast parts. It's actually slow. I realize Whitacre himself doesn't conduct it that fast, but that could be a function of the choir's capabilities. It would be interesting to get the man's opinion. For myself, until I hear otherwise, I'll rely on the published score.
I was in this choir! And Terry Hicks is one of the best choir teachers EVER! Besides that, I thought we did pretty well on this piece, too. (I'm the one with brown hair on the third right riser.)
KnucklesEchidna125 6 months ago
Very good! I currently go to Southside High school in fort smith and we just happened to beat y'alls high school in all four categories at contest this year! Haha, we took all the plaques home! But good job on this song, we did it this year and it proved to be very tough!
cmstone0514 8 months ago
I miss him too, Max!! I wish I could see him a lot more!! He'd be surprised at how much we've grown over the years!!
KnucklesEchidna125, aka Jeremiah
KnucklesEchidna125 1 year ago
I don't like the lack of time to take in the harmonies at the faster tempos.
ZDrums24 2 years ago
Well I got used to hearing another group perform this piece even faster and frankly, when well done it's quite exhilarating.
pantonality 2 years ago
Always trust your ear and taste first. It's your right as a performer to disobey the score in the pursuit of the most moving performance.
ZDrums24 2 years ago
Side note:
Never rely on metronome markings. Half the time, either the editor adds them or the editor forces a composer to insert one and not a lot of thought is put into it. This is why absurd metronome markings tend to be found in a lot of older orchestra works and newer choral and band works. Plus the piece has been revised at least once, so multiple versions exist and composers tend to change their minds afterwards anyways (which may explain his slower tempos).
ZDrums24 2 years ago
Now that I come back to it, it doesn't sound so rushed anymore; very quick (especially the slow sections), but not rushed.
ZDrums24 2 years ago
Not so, Whitacre asks for quarter = 168 in the fast parts. It's actually slow. I realize Whitacre himself doesn't conduct it that fast, but that could be a function of the choir's capabilities. It would be interesting to get the man's opinion. For myself, until I hear otherwise, I'll rely on the published score.
pantonality 2 years ago
my high school choir won state with this as one of our songs. It's a pretty tough song! REALLY fun though.
whitelitning75 2 years ago