@bristolchoral
The War Requiem is associated with remembrance, which is why it gets so many performances at this time of year, especially in these years of the centenaries of Britten and the outbreak of the Great War. But I am going to discuss a more practical aspect of remembering. I sang the War Requiem a few years ago and thought that I would recall it easily when preparing it again, but it’s proved a lot harder than I expected. There are various reasons:
Firstly, I’m not singing exactly the same notes as last time. There are several passages that are new to me, which add up to quite a bit of extra music, because:
- I am singing 2nd soprano this time, whereas before I was first
- In one performance we are all singing the semi-chorus section, which I didn’t sing before. (The previous semichorus also sang the Recordare section). These sections are among the harder ones.
- Some sopranos are reinforcing some of the alto entries.
Also, the previous performance was rehearsed intensively, and I think that some passages just have not stuck in the memory. These include some that are being taken faster this time (such as the ‘Quam olim Abrahae’ fugues) and so require greater familiarity than I needed before.
Finally, I don’t think I was note perfect last time. I suspect I ‘winged it’ a bit with the help of doubling from the orchestra and soprano soloist, and I know I came unstuck in the Libera Me, which is an order of magnitude harder than anything else. (I ought to get on with it as it is a tribute to Berg, but that doesn’t make it any easier to sing!) I’m sure I didn’t get every last tone and semitone the right way round, but that is what is expected this time!
Quite right! Suspect quite a number of War Requiem performances around the world go ahead with a rather large proportion of the chorus singing ‘non-regulation’ notes – but Mr Partington expects perfection. Plus of course perfect vowels, diction, musicality etc….!
But, as with much in life, that which is really worthwhile is seldom easy, so all the hard work should pay off in performances that are awesome, in the truest sense of the word.
Yes, there is certainly more work to be done beyond getting the notes right. The last performance I sang in had rather dodgy diction in some quarters. As for tuning and musicality, both are helped by greater familiarity, and with it an understanding of how your part fits in with the rest of the music.