Monday, February 28, 2011

Don't Do Sadness/Blue Wind

The recording:


Note that we're doing this in a slightly different key. So the boys don't die.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Candide!

The wonderful show Candide (from which the song "Make Our Garden Grow" comes) is being performed for one night only at New England Conservatory the Monday following vacation. More details here.

It's a silly story about a young man (Candide) who is taught as a boy that things are "all for the best" no matter what happens. He then is beset by calamity after calamity and has exotic adventures everywhere from the Spanish Inquisition to South America. Finally, he figures out that maybe things aren't actually always so great after all, but (spoiler) we do our best anyway.

Including such fantastic songs as "Best of All Possible Worlds," "Auto-da-fey," "I Am So Easily Assimilated," and of course, "Make Our Garden Grow."

The dress rehearsal is free but, alas, closed to the public. I just found out. So ONE NIGHT ONLY, Monday, the 28th.

Monday, February 14, 2011

6th Grade Chorus Extra Credit

(For 7th and 8th Graders too!)
We've been practicing our solfege- in minor (do re me (pronounced MAY)) and in major (do re mi (pronounced MEEE.)) The chorus of Rhythm of Life (which starts at the top of page 3, measure 23, and goes to the bottom of the page) is in A flat MAJOR. The first 3 notes are all A flats- which means the first 4 notes are all DO. The next note goes DOWN- what note is LOWER than DO, but right next to it? Think about our warmup- Do, Do ti do, do ti la ti do....)

Here's a great thing to help you:
Click on a note to hear it!

You can write the solfege in under the notes. What will it sound like? Can you sing it? Try to figure out the whole chorus section (pretty much all of the 3rd page.) Good luck!
Ms. A

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

One Day Late, Grow, Garden!

Whoops, I know I said this would be up yesterday. I'm going to plead "was getting caught up on Glee."

Make Our Garden Grow, as staged on Broadway with Patti Lupone and the ever-present Kristin Chenoweth:



And a VERY fancy choral version: