#2 - My adventures in German

I don't know who invented the German language, but whoever it was had a very cynical sense of humor. German pronunciation is a very difficult skill to master, and while I am by no means proficient, I can say that I am getting closer to becoming cautiously comfortable with it. For example, I've gotten used to pronouncing the letter "e" with an schwa at the end of words like "liebe" (which means "love"). This is the symbol of a schwa: Ə. It looks like an upside-down "e," and it indicates pronunciation of the neutral vowel in the word "the," the "e" in the word "taken," and the "i" in the word "pencil." 

Anyways, I am singing two German songs this semester. The first is a solo - "Von Ewiger Liebe" by Johannes Brahms. The second is a choral piece that will be performed by the Trinity Choir at our fall concert - it is called "Und Ob Ich Schon Wanderte Im Finstrin Thal" by Georg Schumann. 

"Von ewiger liebe" means "Of eternal love," and it is the story of two young lovers who, wending their way to the girl's house on a dark (dunkel) evening, converse about their love. The young man tells his beloved that if he should ever bring her shame or disgrace, then "our love shall be ended ever so fast."  ("Werde die Liebe getrennt so geschwind.") The girl assures her lover that "Steel is firm and iron is firm, yet our love is firmer still." ("Fest ist der Stahl und das Eisen gar sehr, Unsere Liebe ist fester noch mehr.") It's a beautiful song. 

The Schumann piece isn't a love song. It's a Bible verse; Psalm 23:4 - "And if I even wander in the dark valley, I fear no misfortune because You are by me, Your rod and Your staff they comfort me, my God, because You are by me." This song speaks to me especially right now, because I am currently not in choir rehearsal (where I am supposed to be) due to an untoward but not wholly unexpected sickness. I went to the doctor today at Health Services, and I think the fact that the nurse drew blood from my arm might have contributed to my current state of physical ailment. 

Anyhow. Enough about German. I'm ready to move on to something interesting. 

"Ich fürchte kein Unglück denn Du bist bei mir, mein Gott!" I fear no misfortune because you are by me, my God!"

#1 - MO RANCH

"I've got Trinity Choir lovin' for..." everyone in the Trinity Choir. :)

This past weekend, the Chamber Singers and the Trinity Choir went on their annual retreat to Mo Ranch. We rehearsed, we ate, we played, we sang, we stayed up late, we laughed, and overall had a grand ol' time. I know in my introduction blog post, I indicated that this post would cover my feelings towards the German text of two songs I will be singing this semester, but I find that German text will always be German text, and can wait until a later post, while Mo Ranch is a once-a-year event, the story of which will be best related on the day I returned.

During rehearsal, we spent a good chunk of time working on our seven-movement segakoorile called Sugismaastikud...which is Estonian for "Autumn Landscapes." I can't find a definition for "segakoorile," but I have learned that "segama" is the Estonian infinitive for the English word "stir," and that "koor" is the Estonian word for "choir." There has to be a connection there somewhere. Now, I sing second soprano. When I auditioned for Dr. Seighman, he found out what my range is, and since he liked my high voice, asked whether I preferred to sing first (soprano) or second. I said I'd rather sing second (because I enjoy singing harmony, and first soprano is always the melody), but now I'm rather regretting my words, because at the end of the last movement of the segakoorile, the first sopranos sing a high C. The high C is also called the "soprano C"...it is also called "C6" because it is the sixth octave on the piano...and it is also two octaves above middle C. It takes a very soprano-y soprano to be able to hit that C. Altos as a general rule can't sing much higher than a G5, if they can reach that high in the first place. I don't want to brag, but I can indeed hit the C6, and I very much wish I could sing first soprano in this Estonian piece, for the sheer sake of hitting a high C at the very end of it. Instead I must sing no higher than an A, and I am slightly disappointed. Ah well. Such is life.

On the bright side, I get to sing a seven-movement choral piece in ESTONIAN. How cool is that???

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The whole group! by Alexa Harrison is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

INTRODUCTION

Whew. Second week of college and I'm already stressing out. I'm registered for sixteen hours this semester, and I already know of one term paper, due in November, that has to be at least ten pages long. However, I'm happy with all the classes, and I'm really excited about at least three of those sixteen hours. Why so excited, you may wonder? Well, the simple fact of the matter is, I'm a music minor. My major is as of yet undecided, but I know for certain that I want to keep music a vital part of my education and my life, so I will be minoring in music (possibly doubling with creative writing, but we'll see about that). This semester, I will be getting three credit hours - one for choir and two for voice lessons.

The human voice is a very interesting thing, if you think about it. Even more interesting is its use in employing the art of music. Not only is it remarkable that sound is generated inside a person's vocal cords and lungs, and produced using the person's articulators (palate, tongue, cheeks, lips, and teeth), it is also incredible that the sound produced should therefore become words...laughter...cries...song. To me, it's also incredible that there are and have always been people in this world who can produce music in their minds and translate it to paper, to instruments, to the voice. I wish I could do all of that, but the most I can do is compose simple melodies on the piano and put words together in my mind.The intricacies and complexities of classical and contemporary composers' work blows my mind.

This blog will document my musical experiences over the course of this semester. I'm working on two German pieces right now, so prepare to hear all about my frustration with the German language in the next post. :)