Rehearsal Markings for Winter 2024
NB. Please see the collected markings at the bottom of this page for Bach and Handel from previous performances. Many of these markings are being repeated as they come up in each rehearsal. The per-rehearsal sections only list markings that are new or have been changed.
Markings from February 28 rehearsal
Bach
Bach
- p 24, m 31-32: cresc so that the forte in m 33 is not subito
Markings from February 26 rehearsal
Leonarda
Leonarda
- m 38: This is going to be an echo similar to m 80: subito p on the last 16th of beat 2, then return to previous dynamic on the final 16th of the measure.
Markings from February 19 rehearsal
Leonarda
Leonarda
- Sanford is planning to take this overall faster than we’ve been doing it. He’ll conduct the 3/4 sections in 1, with a single upbeat beforehand to set the tempo (e.g., at m 6). This tempo might be ♩=180.
- m 15: f
- m 22, beat 3: mf
- m 81, A: to make this easier to sing, duplicate the rhythm of the other voices on beat 1, singing “-po-su-” as they do, and then replace “et” on beat 2 with “-it”.
- p 21, m 4: to avoid punching the unaccented syllable “-chen”, you might want to dim the previous 2 beats. Similarly to handle m 8.
- m 21, B: first note should be D-flat, not B-flat (D instead of B in old scores)
Markings from February 12 rehearsal
Leonarda
(Sanford intends to cue all these, except possibly the one in #6)
Leonarda
- m 1: only mf (or even mp), cresc to f downbeat of m 2
- m 4: return to original dynamic and again cresc to f downbeat of m 5
- m 75: as at the beginning, start mf (or even mp), cresc to f downbeat of m 76
- m 80: subito p at the second “de-” (beat 2¾); subito f at the final “de-”. In other words, starting from the pickup to m 80 there are two f “deposuit”s, then two p, and finally one more f.
- m 81, STB: shorten “-it” to a 16th note.
(Sanford intends to cue all these, except possibly the one in #6)
- Sit at end of #1
- Stand at start of #4
- Sit at start of #6 (except soloists)
- Stand at m 77 of #6
- Sit at start of #9 (except soloists). That includes the men, who will sing seated.
- Stand at start of #10
Markings from February 5 rehearsal
Leonarda
Leonarda
- m 78: mp
- m 79: mf on the final note
- m 82, beat 2: mf cresc
- m 98: echo starting with “et”
- m 104: mp
- m 81: mf
- m 95: still mf. Lean into the suspensions, then back away
- m 108-112: f at your entrance on “in” (or “i-rae” for A)
- m 24: mf
- m 55: f
- m 83, beat 4: A is mf, everyone else mp
- m 86-92, TS2A: mf when you enter with the tune (“et in”)
- m 95: mf for all
- m 100, T: f
- m 110: at least mf
Markings from January 29 rehearsal
Handel #1
Handel #1
- In this movement and perhaps elsewhere, Sanford has rethought those “lift on tied 16ths” markings from our previous performance. He now wants S m 30-32, A m 34-36, T m 88-90 to sing thru the tied 16ths.
- m 103-108, A & m 109-113, T: cresc to “pe-”, then back off the rest of the phrase (there is no longer a second peak on “tu-o-rum”).
- Similar to his decision on #1, we’re no longer lifting on the dot of dotted quarters, but singing through.
- p 21, m 9: unaccent “-chen” (should do so elsewhere, too, but he notes this one in particular)
Markings from January 22 rehearsal
Handel #10
Handel #10
- m 55 to end: Whenever you have the tune (as S does here), tenuto and back off on each half note (think “bell tones”), then much less volume on “sae-” with cresc to “a-men”. On the long “a-” runs, treat the first two 8ths as pickup notes to the major stress on the third note (e.g., beat 3 in m 57), and repeat.
- m 173: rit
- m 1: f
- m 2: take 8th rest out
- m 3-4: no breath
- m 6: mf, light
- m 28: mp, light
- m 37: mf
- m 39-43: mp at all the entrances
- m 56: dim to end phrase
- m 62-69: mp. On all the half note tied to 8th entrances, allow the note to bloom, then return to mp.
- m 75: f, slower tempo as in the opening
- m 78: return to the faster tempo at alto “dis-” pickup.
- m 93-95: dim
- m 96: mp
- m 110: cresc
- m 112: mf
- m 116: cresc, arriving at f on the final 8th
- m 124: mp
- m 151: fermata on final note
- m 152: f
- m 176-177, T: tie the two C's
- m 176-177, B: tie the two A's, and place “-rum” on beat 3 of 176
- m 186-187, SAT: breathe at the comma
Markings from January 20 workshop
Handel #9
Handel #9
- m 10 & 14, TB: Sing the syllable “-rea” as a glide on “e” straight to the “a”
Markings from January 15 rehearsal
Handel #5
Handel #5
- When you have the tune (e.g., basses in m 1), don’t start too loud, so you have space to grow. The other parts (the 16th note runs) should be crisp, perhaps mp to start.
- m 18: dim back to the starting dynamic, so m 19 is similar to the beginning, and build from there.
- m 16-17: dim
- m 46: dim to p at downbeat of m 47, then mf on “implebit” (previously this mf was marked a measure later)
- m 41-42, S2AT: mf non vibrato at “si-cut”
- p 37: Women divide SA as written (in previous performance we divided H/ML)
- p 39, m 13-16: Sing this section legato and softer. Return to previous styling in m 17.
- p 44, S12: Whenever you have this 3-beat phrase (m 1-2, 3-4, etc.) do a swell (cresc-decresc) over the phrase.
- p 48, m 58, S1: the first note should be E, not C (matching m 24)
Markings from December 11 rehearsal
Handel #6
Handel #6
- m 93-94: Note that this is a hemiola, which means the stresses are on beats 1, 3, and 5 of the six beats in these 2 bars.
- m 131-132: This is also a hemiola, though less clear-cut.
Markings from December 4 rehearsal
Leonarda
Leonarda
- m 12-13, A: The 8ths on beat 1 should be tied (or written as a quarter note, as in the bass line)
- m 74: take quarter rest out
- m 1: mf
- m 1: mf
- m 110: SA make “-men” quarter note, quarter rest. Next section will be faster.
- m 149-163: tenuto on the half notes “et in” wherever you have it
Markings from November 27 rehearsal
Bach
Bach
- p 11, m 62, S1: Sing the mordant as 16th notes B, A#, B.
- p 12, m 72: Sing this section more detached.
- p 13, m 79, S1: lift on the tied quarter note.
- p 17, m 8: tenuto on beats 1 and 3.
- p 23, m 25: this section is p and more legato.
- p 24, m 37: p on beat 3
- Women divide HML instead of SSA.
- m 78, beat 2: pull back, then cresc next measure
- m 30: Sing “et non, non” staccato each time
Markings for Handel Dixit Dominus from 2009
NB: Markings in red have since been changed or rescinded.
1. Dixit Dominus
1. Dixit Dominus
- Separate the t and D in “Dixit Dominus” throughout.
- Clearly enunciate the “t” of every “dixit”, and the “c” of every “donec”
- m 27: dim
- m 28: mp
- m 29: mf
- m 30-36, SA: lift on tied 16ths.
- m 38, T: f
- m 39, SAB: f
- m 42, beat 2: mp, then cresc to f on beat 4 of m 44
- m 52: mf
- m 53-57, S: cresc to the phrase high point of “-mi-”, then decresc.
- m 74, beat 4: pull back, then cresc next measure
- m 77, beat 2: echo
- m 78, beat 2: pull back, then cresc next measure
- m 88-90, T: lift on tied 16ths.
- m 94: mf
- m 95-102, B: cresc to the phrase high point of “-mi-”, then decresc.
- m 103-108, A: cresc to “pe-”, then back off and cresc again to “tu-” and back down.
- m 109-113, T: cresc to “pe-”, then back off and cresc again to “tu-” and back down.
- m 119: echo
- m 121, beat 2: somewhat more (perhaps mf)
- m 121, beat 4: f
- In allegro passages, final consonants (especially t and n) need to be very clear.
- Sing the 16th notes in the “et non, non poenitebit” lines staccato (e.g., m 7, 8, 9).
- m 1: f
- m 6: mp, detaché
- m 6-17, 30-55: make the vowel on “poe-” more closed (toward IPA “pe”)
- m 8-12, 17-19, 31-34, 53-54: all quarter-note “non”s are shortened to eighth notes.
- m 10, beat 3: mf
- pickup to m 12: f
- m 14: mp
- m 16: p
- m 17: tenuto on “non” (which is now 8th note, of course).
- m 22: f
- m 29: lift on the dot of “-nus”
- m 30: mp. Each repeat of this pattern through m 48 is a bit louder (starting with S alone in m 37, 40, 43)
- m 40, 43, S: make “-bit” 8th note, 8th rest.
- m 48, S: make “-um” quarter note, quarter rest.
- m 48, B: make “-um” 8th note, 8th rest (AT are full value here).
- m 53: make “-um” 8th note, 8th rest.
- m 55: dim to p in m 57.
- Breathe early before the 16th note runs to be on time.
- m 14-25: lift on all 16th notes tied to quarters.
- m 53, B: tutti
- m 95, S1: omit the “t” of “-git”.
- m 95-116: cresc the half-note “in” that starts each phrase. This section is thicker; lean into suspensions.
- m 125: no breath
- Light throughout. Lift on the dot of all dotted quarters.
- m 25-41, 47-end: The text “implebit ruinas” is detaché. Staccato the “-bit ru-”, stress “-i-”, back off “-nas”.
- m 42: mp, legato
- m 48: mf
- Tempo transition from this movement to next is approximately half note = dotted half (or half measure = measure).
- Staccato throughout, except as noted below. In particular, every quarter note (except as noted) is sung as an eighth, including the final one.
- Pronounce both “s”s in “Con-quas-sa-bit” when they appear on quarter notes (shortened to 8ths). This means, for example, that in m 28 and 41, the “s” is placed on beat 1.5.
- Stress all the downbeats, except for the hemiolas (m 32-33, 45-46).
- Put strong t and m sounds at the end of “-bit”, “-rum”
- m 31-33, 44-46: less detached. Sing full value for the dotted quarter. Stress the hemiola appropriately (e.g., in m 32-33, stress beats 1, 3, 2).
- In all appearances of the figure that first appears in m 12, “et Spi-ri-tu-i Sancto”, do staccato on the first three 8th notes.
- m 6-20: all entrances mp.
- m 9-10 (S), 18-19 (T): phrase between the 7th and 8th 16th notes of each of these measures.
- m 52: staccato on “sicut erat in prin-”
- m 53: lift on the dot in beat 1.
- m 57-end: In all appearances in the “amen” melisma of the figure first seen in m 57, beat 2&3 (three 8ths + two 16ths): do staccato on the first two 8th notes, tenuto on the third 8th note (many occurrences—there are three in m 57-58 alone).
- m 61-63, S: slight swell over each of the offbeat half or tied quarter notes.
- m 69-70, S2: slight swell over the bar line.
- m 110, S: make “-men” quarter note, quarter rest. Next section will be a little faster.
- m 122, S1: breathe instead of singing “-men” (which is conveniently doubled by S2).
- m 123: dim thru 125.
- m 126-127: make the first 8th note in each grouping staccato. First two notes in 126 (or pickup for S1) are p; the next two are mp; middle of m 127 is mf.
- m 131, S: cresc
- m 133: f
- m 137: dim
- m 138: mf
- m 140: cresc
- m 142: f
- m 144-145: dim
- m 146, beat 2: mf
- m 149-150: f at “et”
- m 164-171: lift on the dot of all dotted quarters.
Markings for Bach Jesu Meine Freude from 2019
- All SSATB movements are divided HML for the women
- p 4: this movement “mp with a smile”
- p 4, m 1: lift at the comma
- p 5, m 5 & 7: lift at each comma (4 total); tenuto on “wie” and “lang”
- p 5, m 8-9: no breath
- p 5, m 13: lift at comma
- p 6, m 17: p at “Nichts”
- p 6, m 20: start this movement “full” (not naming it as f, maybe it’s mf; in fact, all of Bach’s forte markings are not to be taken overly literally, just as a contrast to the piano markings).
- p 8-10, m 36-52: Sing much less than forte (perhaps mp) unless you have the two-measure fugue subject (m 36 T, m 38 A, m 40 S1, m 43 S2, m 46 B, m 48 T). Sing the ¼ notes in this subject slightly detached.
- p 10, m 49-52: lift on the tied quarter note of beat 1
- p 10, m 51: Altos bring out this line, even though it’s not the fugue entrance; other voices, make sure you can hear the Alto (especially those high in their range).
- p 11, m 64-71, S12: swap parts for better coverage of the piano high G’s
- p 12, m 72: this section is detache / staccato, especially the quarter notes.
- p 13, m 78, B: move the “-sto” to beat 4 to match the 3 voices above
- p 13, m 82, B: move the “-sto” to beat 6
- p 14, m 83, S1T: the syllable on beat 2 should be “-sto”
- p 14, m 89, T: there should be no new syllable here (it’s in the next measure); ignore the mordent
- p 16, m 96-97: lift on the tied quarter note
- p 16, m 99, SAB: back off a little to hear the interesting T line.
- p 17, m 1: p
- p 17, m 3-4: cresc
- p 17, m 4-5: no breath
- p 17, m 5: mf
- p 17, m 7: f
- p 18, m 13-14: staccato all 8th notes (except the tied one for T at the start)
- p 18, m 14: take 8th rest out of the final “blitzt”
- p 18, m 17: p at “Je-”
- p 19: this movement more legato
- p 19, m 9: lift at end
- p 20, m 14, S2: first syllable is “-macht”, not “frei”
- p 21, m 4 & 8: unaccent downbeat (“-chen”) and take 8th out of that note
- p 22, m 11-13, AT: these notes are still f
- p 22, m 11-13, B: dim for 2 measures, then cresc
- p 22, m 16-17, SAT: strong on “to-”, unaccent “-be”
- p 23, m 24: unaccent downbeat (“-ge”)
- p 23, m 25: this section is p and more legato.
- p 24, m 35-36: dim
- p 24, m 38, S12: take 8th out of “Macht”
- p 24, m 39, ATB: take 8th out of “Macht”
- p 25, m 41: take 8th out of downbeat (“acht”)
- p 25, m 44: take 8th out of “acht”; f on “Erd”
- p 25, m 45: take 8th out of “-grund” (but full value in m 47)
- p 26, m 57, B: the final 8th note is D natural, not D#.
- p 26, m 60-61, S2T: underlay change to match B: make the final ¼ of m 60 “-men,” (and take an 8th out for the comma); m 61 is “ob” on the dotted quarter, “sie” on the 8th.
- p 27, m 64: p
- p 28, m 70, S1: last two 16th notes are D, C, not vice versa
- p 28, m 72, A: ignore the mordent
- p 28, m 72, B: last two 16th notes are A, G, not vice versa
- p 32, m 87, S2: C#, not C natural.
- p 32, m 90, S12: Bring out the fugue subject (now in thirds) on “Ihr aber...”
- p 36, m 108, S1: make the trill be four 16ths on F#, E, D, E
- p 36, m 110, SAT: shorten each of the quarter notes
- p 37: For this chorale, top line sing more legato (other voices do the contrasting texture).
- p 38, m 6: take 8th rest out of “Lust”
- p 39, m 12: take 8th rest out of “-wusst”
- p 39, m 14, SB: take 8th rest out of “Tod”
- p 39, m 14, A: change underlay for final three 8ths to “Kreuz, Schmach, und”
- p 39, m 15-16, B: Sing “Soll” on the first 4 notes, shifting the remaining words to the right: the last three 8ths in m 15 are “mich, ob ich”, and in the next measure the first two 8ths are “viel”, the next two are “muss”, and the last 3 notes are “lei-”
- p 40, m 17, S: take 8th rest out of “-den”
- p 40: (last time the trio movement was sung by a small group.)
- p 40, m 4: take 8th out of “ist”
- p 41, m 5: take 8th out at comma
- p 41, m 10: take 8th out of “-len”
- p 42, m 13: lift on tied 16th
- p 44: Alto has the chorale tune. Baritones double the Alto at the written pitch (use falsetto)
- p 45, m 24-27, S1: The 5 syllables “gu-te Nacht o We-” should be “das die Welt er-le-”
- p 46, m 35-36, T: dim
- p 50, m 77, S2: delete the tied 8th note
- p 50, m 81, T: delete the tied 8th note
- p 53, m 1: mf
- p 54, m 11, B: re-slur it so that “von” is 2 quarters and “den” is 2 quarters, matching S2A.
- p 55, m 18-36: As in the 2nd movement, sing much less than forte (perhaps mp) unless you have the two-measure fugue subject (starts with T).
- p 57, m 38: rit
- p 57, m 39, S1: take quarter rest out of the first half note.
- p 58-59: Lift at all commas (notably in mm 1, 5, 7, 17)
- p 58, m 1: f, but make sure it’s a “happy” f
- p 59, m 10-11: no breath.
- p 59, m 13: mp, dark.
Jesu Meine Freude index
Markings above give page numbers in the Peters edition. If you have a different edition, you can look up the page number below and figure out which movement is being referred to. There are seemingly 11 movements, but the first 8 are in pairs if you look at how the measures are numbered (they each make up a single stanza of the hymn).
Markings above give page numbers in the Peters edition. If you have a different edition, you can look up the page number below and figure out which movement is being referred to. There are seemingly 11 movements, but the first 8 are in pairs if you look at how the measures are numbered (they each make up a single stanza of the hymn).
- pp 4-16: Jesu, meine Freude / Es ist nun nichts Verdammliches
- pp 17-20: Unter deinem Schirmen / Denn das Gesetz
- pp 21-36: Trotz dem alten Drachen / Ihr aber seid nicht fleischlich
- pp 37-43: Weg mit allen Schätzen / So aber Christus in euch ist
- pp 44-52: Gute Nacht, o Wesen
- pp 53-57: So nun der Geist
- pp 58-59: Weicht, ihr Trauergeister
