EMILY FELDBERG'S MUSIC
2018 UPDATES FROM THE COMPOSER
(This page)
(This page)
17th December 2018
Dear fragmenteers,
A final communication.... ( well maybe not....read on)
1) It was lovely to see so many of you again at the showing of the DVD of the performance. (We counted about 40 of you altogether - amazing in all that rain!). For those that couldn't make it, a reminder that you can collect the CDs or DVDs from our conservatory. (The sound system at the showing gave great prominence to the bass lines and also had a horrible hissing in between the music. I think this was our fault doing the sound system wrong, or perhaps something about the sound system itself... The sound is not on the DVD.)
2) Second performance next year
Many people have asked if we are doing it again. We
have decided yes (and Jamie has said yes also hurrah!)
and so anyone who wants to sing or play in it again you
will be welcomed with open arms.....there is obviously
no obligation, only do it if you want to.
It will be on 9th November 2019, again at
Minehead Methodist Church.
And here's the good news - we have kept a record of who
had which score, so you can have your own scores back
with your own personal markings in them!
We will have to be completely self funded so there will be a £20 fee for each participant - sorry, orchestra members - this is more than you paid this time, as your parts were so much cheaper to produce than the vocal scores and we had the Arts Council grant to help out. But the singers paid £25 this time so it's a slight reduction for them. We reckon with that and the seat sales we can just afford Jamie (he has agreed to reduce his fee now that he knows the piece), and the support of professional musicians as before... (so I'm copying you in, professional folks, for information). But unfortunately not Nigel.. He is very expensive so I would conduct it.
The rehearsals next year will be 3 Saturday workshops at Carhampton Village hall in July, September and October - singers in the morning (10am to 1pm), orchestra in the afternoon (2-5pm) - then a whole day for everyone the week before the performance to really get to grips with performing it together.
Details of dates, times and venues for 2019 can be found by clicking HERE
I confess at the moment both Elizabeth and I feel rather overwhelmed by even contemplating the idea but that is because we are both very tired and also want to concentrate on CHRISTMAS now!
So happy Christmas one and all we are having radio
silence till spring. Elizabeth is in India from late
January till the end of March (celebrating being
60!).
Most heartfelt thanks for all your warmth , hard work
and great achievement WE DID IT!
Wheeee!
Emily and Elizabeth
4th December 2018
Dear all lovely Fragmenteers,
Thankyou for all your amazing emails and messages and
comments.. the glow still lingers and I can't bear to
throw away those lovely flowers but of course
Elizabeth's beautiful orchid remains and so will all
the cards and letters. And I've already spent some of
my present money - on a wonderful new reading lamp for
my study so when I compose I can see what I'm doing -
it's changed my life!
Now much refreshed and with almost no tunes going
round in my head we tango (oops a typo but perhaps a
suitable one) to the next thing... which is...
Two bits of very exciting news!
1. You are all invited to a Communal Showing of the
Fragments performance DVD on Saturday Dec
15th at 4pm in Minehead BAPTIST Church,
followed by a festive bring and share tea for
all
The church is on Parks Lane, just a little way past
where the shops end - postcode TA24 8BS - click
on THIS LINK for a map.
A thousand thank-yous to Ian Norman who filmed and
recorded the performance - he is now editing ready for
the showing on the 15th, and hopes to have
the DVDs and CDs copied and ready for you to take away
that day. (If you haven't ordered yet but would like
DVDs or CDs at £5 each, please let us know in the
next few days.
It will be lovely to see as many of you as possible! Bring anything you like for the tea (but no alcohol - church rules).
And if you can't stay for the tea, just come for the showing! If you would be willing to pay £1 each when you come, that would pay for the hire of the church and hall. We know this date and time can't possibly suit everyone, but it turned out to be the only date that we and the church (which has built-in projecting equipment and comfortable seating!) can manage this side of Christmas, so we do hope lots of you will be able to make it.
Parking at the church: There is one disabled bay, with room for two cars, outside the church on The Parks side, also a single yellow line opposite the end of Parkhouse Road for those with blue badges. There is unrestricted parking all the way up The Parks, but spaces are limited, and there is unlimited parking further up Parkhouse Road. Alternatively, it's a fairly short walk up from either the Summerland car park by the Co-op or the shopper's car park on North Road (with the pedestrian walk through to the Parade just below the Methodist Church).
And exciting news item no. 2:
2. So many people have begged for a
repeat performance of Fragments that... YES!! We are
planning to do it again next year on the day before
Remembrance Sunday - so it will be on Saturday
9th November 2019.
Let us know if you'd like to be involved!
Plans as you can imagine at this stage are embryonic, BUT...
Exciting or what?!??
Wheeeeee! Hope to see lots of you in a fortnight - and
next year!
Emily and Elizabeth
13th November 2018
Dear All
This is Elizabeth combining messages from me and from
Emily - Emily's bit first:
Dear Fragments friends
Thankyou everyone for all the amazing emails, good
wishes and shared congratulations - and thank you to
everyone who helped out in every way on Saturday - you
are wonderful.
We agree with everything you say about how exciting it has been, and we're really touched by all your messages.
It is two days later and I know I am still glowing and
already missing the pull of next rehearsal or next
thing to do, and at the same time my brain is in danger
of exploding with the continuous combination of
phrases of tunes, which never go away... So even sleep
is accompanied by them.....not a good idea....(in this
last year I have just accepted that that is how it has
got to be, but it is time for it to stop now!).
I'm going to give up and hand over to Elizabeth now
because my brain is scrambling and I need to take some
time out
Rather weary Wheeeee.
Emily
Now here's my bit (from Elizabeth): for the time being, please just send any replies just to me, to give Emily a rest.
I've just emailed a whole load of photos from Saturday to Tim to put up in the website gallery when he has a moment - many thanks to all those who sent photos in! You can go directly to the gallery from THIS LINK.
We are missing you all terribly already, and thinking about ways of bringing you back together this side of Christmas for a shared first viewing of the DVD. (Ian says it should be ready before Christmas, so that should be possible.) Some of you have already emailed in suggestions along these lines - it would be lovely to get together again - and to groan together over all the holes and mistakes the video shows up! - and it would also be a really good way of distributing the DVD and the CD to those of you who could be there. We don't have a date yet, and we haven't made any specific arrangements - but we've heard that Minehead Baptist Church has a built-in DVD-showing system, so we will explore this avenue. (If anyone has the contact details for the right person to get in touch with at the Baptist Church, please let me know.)
And in the meantime, if you're missing singing (as we are!) and want to have a really good sing for a whole weekend, some of you might like to come along as non-resident singers to the Yarn Market Hotel's A Cappella weekend this Friday-Sunday (16th-18th November), led by Ian Chesworth. It's a really fabulous weekend, covering music related to Advent and Christmas and covering a good many centuries, right up to the present. Ian is going to include some of the Russian vespers again this year, which have wonderfully deep, sonorous bass lines and amazingly mesmeric harmonies above them - lovely stuff. A good number of Fragmenteers are already taking part, and we'd love to see more of you there!
If you'd like to come along (and they would be particularly glad, as ever, of tenors and basses - but Antony says firmly that all would be warmly welcomed) please contact the hotel directly by clicking HERE. The price is £49 per person - this is for the singing only, but there is also the opportunity to pay for Sunday lunch with the resident participants.
See you all (or most of you) again - with luck - this side of Christmas, if we can get a DVD-showing sorted! And keep those Fragments tunes buzzing in your heads (as if you could stop them!) - they are too wonderful to lose! (I was stuck in traffic in Bristol yesterday evening and kept myself going by singing Fragments through from beginning to end by memory - I think I got almost all of it!!).
Elizabeth
11th November
SPEECHLESS!
Yes I am still awake. far too excited, pleased,
jubilant and generally happy to go to sleep. I have
just opened the lovely card you all signed and feel
completely overwhelmed by your wonderful generosity. It
is so kind of you all and I shall take it cherish it
and turn it into to something wonderful to remember
Fragments by. Thank you all so much but it is I who
feel privileged that you have spent all those practices
working so hard to produce such a great result. I have
a torrent of lovely images of tonight, many of them
through tears! It really was a superb evening. Well
done all of us WE DID IT! congratulations to one
and all. Champagne is kicking in (Elizabeth opens the
last bottle from our pre civil partnership, 15 + years
ago) so enough but THANK YOU...
9th November
CRUCIAL INFORMATION FOR SATURDAY CONCERNING ALL
PERFORMERS
Click HERE to view a printable PDF of
this.
30th October
Ok, we are into the final two weeks. I am awe struck
and elated both at the same time. It is incredibly
exciting.
See you FRIDAY .. WHEEEEEEEEEEEE!
19th October 2018
The sound files for practising the individual vocal
lines have ben revised yet again to eliminate all
remaining problems! These are available on the
LISTEN TO
& DOWNLOAD YOUR PART page. Look for the links
with either:
REVISED 19th October
or
NEW
next to them. Let me know if there are still any problems with these.
EXTRA REHEARSAL on the 7th
November
An extra rehearsal with for choir and orchestra has
been arranged for Wed 7th November at
Minehead Methodist Church starting at 7.30pm.
I realised that following the Nov 2nd joint rehearsal, there was the possibility of using the Wednesday 7th Nov orchestra practice for an extra rehearsal. The orchestra have kindly agreed to invite all singers for a joint choir and orchestra extra rehearsal. This will give us all an opportunity for tidying up and putting right any bits we are weak on. I think it could be invaluable. Obviously not everyone will be able to come but if as many singers as can come it will make for an excellent rehearsal. Please put it on your calendars.
HOT OFF THE PRESS!
10th Ocober 2018
Programmes for the 10th November
performance of Fragments coming hot off the press
at Exmoor Printers - Click picture (above) to
view video, or click |
Fragments concert, 10th November: things performers need to know!
(Click HERE to view a PDF printable version of this.)
Finally, THANK YOU to everyone for being part of this project: it has been amazing!
7th October 2018.
COMPLETE SET OF SATB SOUND FILES WITH PIANO
ACCOMPANIMENT NOW AVAILABLE
To help you practise, a complete set of sound files for
ALL the individual vocal lines (SATB yes,
including the Tenor parts!), with piano accompaniment,
is now available on the LISTEN TO
& DOWNLOAD YOUR PART page. Look for the links
with 
next
to them.
NB I'm afraid it will not have the words just the
melody line, but it is invaluable for practising basic
tunes and entries in the exposed parts.
5th October 2018. Rehearsal on
5th October
My goodness that was something else.. WOW that
was a wonderful rehearsal.. thank you everyone so much
WE DID IT we sang it right through. For the
first time it felt that we have something really
special to give to the audience in November!
Amazing, the whole thing - and you made a fantastic sound?.
So what we need to do between now and the next rehearsal on the 19th is to practise singing the words with real conviction so that it all comes over to the listener. Plus lots of ts and ds and observing all rests and of course singing the dynamics.?
See you at note crunching or on the 19th when Nigel will be conducting us all. And remember he has asked for it to finish at 9.30 not 9.00!
You are all wonderful - wheeee!
Emily
23rd September 2018. Rehearsal on
5th October
Thinking ahead to our rehearsal on 5th
October: this will be our last rehearsal with just us,
as it were. After this, Nigel will be taking over
conducting because he is coming on the 19th
then the 2nd Nov and then of course on the
10th November!
I shall be terribly sorry not to be conducting
rehearsals because I love doing it, but also I shall be
extremely pleased to see Nigel because he will bring a
whole new level of expertise, encouragement and
crucially a proper singer's perspective to it.
So taking all this into account, I think we should take the plunge on the 5th Oct and SING THE WHOLE THING ALL THE WAY THROUGH!
I have been thinking about this a lot and I know we are
not note perfect for all bits by any means... But many
of you have never actually heard how the whole thing
fits together. Also, I think to know that we can each
actually get through it from start to finish will be a
real boost and also it will give everyone the feel of
the whole piece from the inside...
So that is the plan....
Therefore to prepare for this I think it is going to be the entries that are the stumbling blocks (not of course that there will be any stumbling blocks or hitches at all no, no, no,......) You will all have your own particular parts where you might feel a bit iffy, but here are some of the link parts I would pick out to look at before 5th October - AND to keep on working at whenever you can, right up to the performance on 10th November!
August 1914
Pg 6 bar 60 .. But I hear there's a war.
Pg7 bar 71 Join the war and the S and A If I stop a
bit of German lead
Abschied
We will start from pg 19 bar 103 on the 5th
Look out for... Pg 21 bar 128 Wir ziehn zum
Krieg
pg 24 bar 165 Die Mutter weint
Lament: use the easy to read version at the end of
the copy
Watch the dynamics and count like mad!
Canary girls
Try and get the words of the verses by heart if you
can...
Pg 32 bar 20 remember the silence ........... Our
shed
Pg 40 bar 113 pp then bar 117 Death only a quaver ...
And last note straight off.
Knock on the Door
Pg 42 bar 15 getting your note... Use the
accompaniment
Practise your standing up on the word GEORGE
.......whilst singing correct note
Pg 46 bar 56 Enlist or desert
Under a Cloudless Blue Sky
Pg 54 Big Boots. and Out of Breath ..... Even if you
can't get the notes come in with the words on
time.
Pg 57 bar 70 onwards The Mire etc ... Just keeping
counting and head for the unison Die in the mire....
Then
Pg 58 bar 83 There is trench foot...
Pg 61 bar 140 Screams
Pg 62 bar 160 your Johnny died peacefully and then
Walter starb ruhig ...
Kuchen
Remember we are singing the words in the repeat
too.
And the next bit after the repeat is pronounced "Hapt
ihr gehurt!
Three Tommies
Different tunes in verse 4 pg 86
We only do verses 1, 4,5, and 6
Pg 86 bar 67 not breathing....... Then slowing down at
bar 76
Pg 91 last bar watch for slow down.
Duty Alone
Try and listen to this online: it is bitty for all of
you but count and watch other people's parts....
Opening. Tenors and Basses your notes will be given to
you
Pg 92 opening for all. Get notes and silence in
between.
Vale
Yes we will hear it on the 5th, so you get
the idea of what it sounds like and how it fits. (It?s
a solo for Jamie and only lasts about a minute and a
half.)
Lament 3
Yes we will do it
Lest We Forget
Pg 104 opening
Pg 107 bar 58 your different "suff'ring world" entries
I realise there is a lot listed above and not everyone will be able to look at all of it, but at least it gives an idea of places to look at. I might have got the bar number wrong by one here and there, but it is roughly right I think.
See you on 5th Oct......... Well will see
Tenors and Basses before that for note crunching on
Friday 28th Sept.
Wheeeeeee
Emily.
21st September.
Dear Fragmenters...
It was an extremely hard working rehearsal
AGAIN...You constantly inspire and impress me
with your level of hard work and commitment... And yes
I felt the hall gave us little in return.. There you
were working your socks off, but could we all hear it??
Could we even hear each other???? talking to people
after the rehearsal I think a resounding NO is
the answer.....!!
So it was not a very rewarding rehearsal for you all and for this I am really sorry. Having said that, the hard grind of getting those tricky notes and entries right and also putting in the ts and ds and spitting out the cs etc will all pay off ten fold next time because the good news is that next time we will be in the much better resonating hall with the wooden floor where we were for the June rehearsal. (We couldn't be in there yesterday because it was set up for the Village Breakfast happening this morning.) So you will certainly hear yourselves then.. If anything too much..!
So once again THANK YOU for all the hard work... Do not be discouraged - I honestly think we will hear the results of this session's hard grind coming through at the next rehearsal - and I'm really looking forward to it. It's the last one for the full choir before Nigel comes on the 19th. So now we can pull out all the stops and go back to enjoying ourselves!
And just a reminder - there's a note-crunching session for any tenors & basses who can make it AT OUR HOUSE - NOT ST ANDREW'S CHURCH - next Friday, 28th September, from 5-6.30.
See you all on 5th October at the Rec!
Wheeee!
Emily.
5th September 2018. Workshop
changes
The rehearsal scheduled for the 5th October
will NOT now be with Nigel Perrin and will run
from 7:30pm until 9pm. Instead Nigel will be taking the
rehearsal on the 19th October which will
commence at 7:30pm and end at the later time of 9:30pm.
Click HERE for details of all the
rehearsals.
24th August 2018. The full FRAGMENTS
libretto is now available
The full Fragments LIBRETTO is available (as a PDF),
and can be accessed HERE or via the FIND OUT MORE ABOUT
FRAGMENTS AND LISTEN TO AUDIO CLIPS page. On the
same page, there are revised descriptions for the
component sections of the piece.
3rd August 2018. FRAGMENTS Gallery
Updated
The FRAGMENTS Gallery has now been updated with video
clips of the Workshop held on the 21st July.
CLICK HERE to
view the gallery or use the FRAGMENTS
GALLERY links in the side bar menus.
28th July 2018. Extra Sessions
We have scheduled a series of extra sessions for
singers and orchestral players and these are listed on
the updated DIARY page.
We know that many of you will have other commitments on these extra dates, but we're hoping that you will all be able to benefit from some of the extra sessions. They certainly pay off in terms of both growth in confidence and knowledge of the notes - and that feeds straight into the rehearsals with everyone together.
28th July 2018. Page-by-page translation
and glossary of German terms, with pronunciation
hints
This is now available and has been provided for us by
Philippa Gerry - thank you, Philippa! (Again, if you
were with us on the 21st July, you already
have this - although I've now corrected two errors I
made in transcription! ) This is available HERE and also on the
GERMAN
PRONUNCIATION GUIDANCE page together with our
online tutorials.
21st July 2018.
Dear All,
Thank you all so much for a really rewarding and lovely
rehearsal. You all worked incredibly hard and I don't
know about you but I felt that we had made a real step
change.....the change since the last rehearsal felt
enormous the music is starting to really fit together
So many many congratulations. Definitely not there
yet....but it feels like we are getting a glimpse of
what it could be like.
Thank you so much for all the hard work and Elizabeth says the clips of the videos taken at the rehearsal will be put on the new gallery page soon.
See you at the next note crunching that you can make
WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
Emily
17th July 2018.
Important information for this Saturday's Fragments
workshop
Greetings, All!
It seems ages since the 9th June workshop,
and we're buzzing in anticipation of working with you
all again on Saturday.
Don't forget we're back in our original venue,
Carhampton Village Hall, and the session will be from
10am to 1pm. There will be a mid-way break as usual
with refreshments, including more wonderful home-made
cake at £1 per slice - and bring some extra cash
with you if you'd like to buy a RAFFLE TICKET!
(See details below.)
Lots of exciting things to tell you:
What to practice for Saturday: Emily is going to concentrate on words and rhythms at Saturday's rehearsal, so here are some suggestions for things you can look at:
And, of course, we will also be doing the trickiest bits:
Right - see you on Saturday!
E & E
15th June 2018.
NIGEL'S COMING BACK! Friday 5th October
7.30-9.30pm
Fabulous news - at the end of the workshop on
9th June, Nigel offered to come back for one
of our Autumn rehearsals before he returns for our
final rehearsals (and performance!) in November.
So we've arranged for him to come and take the rehearsal on FRIDAY 5th OCTOBER - already on your calendars, but please note this will be a 2-HOUR session, finishing at 9.30 rather than 9pm - so 7.30 to 9.30. (This - and all the other Friday night rehearsals in the Autumn - will be in the Recreation Centre where we had the 9th June workshop, but in the carpeted Long Hall, which has a far less disturbing and less echoey acoustic than the Sports Hall where we were on 9th June.)
This is an amazing and unexpected extra boost to the project - many many thanks, Nigel!
All the best - happy singing!
Elizabeth and Emily
10th June 2018.
VOLUNTARY EXTRA NOTE-CRUNCHING SESSIONS and other
important information
Dear folks
My sincere apologies - in all the excitement of
yesterday, and with all the other things I needed to
tell you, I stupidly forgot to give you several bits of
important information. So here they are:
The church is next to Wetherspoon's at the top of
Minehead Parade - you can't miss it!
If you can get to this session (and it will be well
worth it!) please take your diaries so Simon can
arrange further sessions that suit as many people as
possible.
If you can't, don't panic - there will be more sessions
to come.
We'll let you have the dates as soon as we've worked out when we're free!
In the meantime, take note of Nigel's advice yesterday - the music is here on the website for you to hear and practice - do use it if you can!
I also forgot to tell you that the huge amount of work Lucy and Kay put into providing us with gallons of tea and coffee and mountains of cake (all made by Lucy!) yesterday was in order to raise funds for the ongoing support and improvement of the Recreation Centre - I'm sure you'll agree it's a fantastic building and a wonderful resource - we are amazingly lucky to have not one but two brilliant publicly available halls in Carhampton!
And my sincere apologies to Bill Griffiths, who particularly asked me to tell you this yesterday:
FINALLY:
Hope to see you then!
Elizabeth
9th June 2018.
WOW! Thank you!
Dear everyone .. absolutely one and all ... what a
wonderful day ... I loved it ... every bit of it. Thank
you all so much for everything ... the enthusiasm, the
travelling from far and wide ... Scotland, Cambridge,
Hertfordshire, London ... even Devon! The admin help,
the tenacity, the patience with typos and Sibelius
wrong doings, the bravery of superb solo singers that
had many of us in tears, the unbelievable help in
setting up, tidying up, carting loads of chairs, and
above all just the zest and wonderful enjoyment of
life. Special thank you should go to Ian Norman the
amazing cameraman who spent the whole day filming with
his incredibly high quality cameras.
Obviously still a few problems to solve ... Sibelius print typos, some tricky bits still to get right, number imbalance of sopranos to altos (but congratulations sops you did superbly given that imbalance...). So thinking hats will go on to find solutions.
But for now it was an amazing day, the music exceeded
all expectations! You are all brilliant thank
you!
Love Emily and Elizabeth.
See you at the next rehearsal wheeeeeee...
Here are a few video clips of the day.
4th June 2018.
Greetings, All!
The whole-day workshop with our fabulous conductor,
Nigel Perrin, is NEXT SATURDAY, 9th
June.
Here's everything you need to know for the day:
We are really looking forward to the day!
Emily and Elizabeth
4th June 2018.
Singers please note that additional Sound Files for
practising your parts are now available.
Sound files with the Soprano, Alto and
Bass parts accentuated are now available on the
LISTEN TO
& DOWNLOAD YOUR PART page for August
1914, Kuchen!, Duty Alone and Lest
we Forget. There is also an accentuated
Tenor sound file available for Kuchen!.
Apologies to the Tenors as we are having a technical glitch in producing your accentuated sound files for August 1914, Duty Alone & Lest we Forget. We will post an update as soon as the problem has been solved and the files are available.
3rd June 2018.
Soprano and alto's note crunching (1st
June).
Note crunching for sop and alto went really well on
Friday evening), I Really enjoyed it albeit I still
can't sing lots of the more difficult bits... Who wrote
this stuff anyway.....???????!
CORRECTION NEEDED...
Having said that we made a couple of very useful
discoveries about Lament (the very last page of the
APPENDIX Lament 1 & 3 Easy to read
version in the vocal score) and why we were
finding it so hard... I had written the sop 1 part
...WRONG in the most difficult syncopated bar 37
and then again in bar 39. The rhythm should be
the same as the alto parts in bars 36 and 38.
The Notes are different but the rhythm is the same.
CORRECTION 1 So the SOP 1 part at bar 37 should be quaver rest, then quaver C tied to a dotted crochet C with the word 'none', then the final quaver C of the bar has the word 'are'. Similarly in Sop 1 bar 39 exactly the same rhythm as above. It sounds suitably complicated but actually it is very simple when you look at the alto timing.
And while we are on changes CORRECTION 2, Bar 39 (bottom of page 29), BASS change the word you have from 'are' to 'none' so we all sing the same word. I will take everybody through this (or Nigel will) at the rehearsal but to be honest I suspect most of us were singing this anyway and to the few serious music readers were trying desperately to equate what I was asking for with what was actually written on the page. I give a very big SORRY. Here is a picture of the score page with the corrected notes & words in red.
We enjoyed the note crunching so much we are looking at the possibility of doing it again if people are interested... more about that later. But now On to the big rehearsal ........ See you all there..wheeeeeeeeee!
5th May 2018.
Today's workshop - THANK YOU!
Dear fragmented Fragmenters
Phew! Gosh, you worked hard today. Thank you all so
much - it was really worth it. I should have said at
the beginning that this rehearsal was going to be very
bitty, because we had to do all the difficult bits in
preparation for 9th June. So, sorry about
that - but you did it. Congratulations! And as a
result, I think we now have something really worthwhile
for Nigel to work on with us. And despite all the hard
work, I really enjoyed the rehearsal. Thank you - I
hope you did too.
NOTE: Voluntary note-crunching session for any sopranos & altos who want it: Friday 1st June from 5.30-7.00 at our house (The Cottage, Main Road, Carhampton - tel 01643 821756). We'll email directions to our house at the end of the month. No need to inform us - just turn up! And Simon Robinson has kindly offered to do a session or two with the tenors and basses - dates coming by email.
And while we're on the subject, can I give a special mention to the tenors and basses. Your number may have been small today, but your effect was huge. And special thanks to Keith for his extraordinary skills as a rehearsal pianist. From July, he will be joining the basses, and Chris Pereira will be taking over at the piano from June. (Thank you, Chris!)
So, see you on 9th June. (NB Bring a packed lunch - it will be a short lunch break & the pub isn't open at lunchtime.)
Meanwhile, if you want to keep yourselves busy(!) you can:
Alternatively, you can just get in the sunshine/garden and recover!
Emily
Here are a few snapshots from the 5th May Workshop.
1st May 2018.
Greetings, Fragments singers - and welcome to those of
you who will be joining us for the first time on
Saturday 5th May. Judging by the success of
the first workshop, you are in for a treat!
Arrangements are the same as for the first workshop,
except that you don't all need to turn up at 9.30 to
collect scores and pay. For those of you who do need to
do this, though, please allow time before we start at
10 o'clock. (Emily's timekeeping was amazing last time
- down to the minute!)
Here is a reminder of the sections you might like to have a look at before Saturday, and here some general points for workshops and rehearsals. You can click on the live links above and below to take you straight to the relevant page of the website.
Note: If you decide to use the sound files of your own part on our website for practising (see the 'downloads page' link here) please note that you will hear ALL of the music for that section, but your own part will be enhanced. You will not just hear your own line. We hope that will help you to get a sense of how your part fits in with the others, and the overall feel of the music. Or you can just listen to the music without your part being enhanced on the same page. If you don't want to practise in this way, don't worry - it's just there for you to use if you want it.
See you (or most of you) on Saturday
Elizabeth and Emily
22nd April 2018.
Dear lovely Fragmenters
Inspired by your enthusiasm and glorious singing at the
first workshop last Saturday, we spent the rest of the
weekend both thinking ahead to the next workshop and
creating exciting updates for the website. (If you
haven't yet had a look at the website, now is a very
good time - it's amazing!)
NEW DEVELOPMENTS:
Finally, a thousand thank-yous to Tim Pettigrew, our Web Wizard (and also our wonderful bass soloist from the chorus for 'The Knock on the Door'). Without Tim, the website wouldn't exist, even in the barest form. With him, it is a work of art and a thing of wonder...
See you on 5th May! (Workshop 2: Carhampton Village Hall 10am - 1pm - click on the venue name for a map). And don't forget the BIG DAY: whole-day workshop on Saturday 9th June, 10am - 4.30pm, led by the amazing Nigel Perrin! (This will be at Carhampton Recreation Centre, not at the Village Hall - click on the venue name for a map.)
Happy singing!
Emily and Elizabeth
16th April 2018.
Dear Fragmenters
What an amazing morning we had on Saturday. Thank you
all so much for all your incredible hard work and
patience and lovely music making. The singing sounded
most impressive, in fact absolutely lovely at times. Of
course we have lots of work to do etc. etc. etc., but
this was a first workshop and we covered a huge amount
of material and got far far further on than I had
imagined we possibly could. AND your singing was really
lovely. The german was fantastic Elizabeth says and
exceeded all her expectations. I was hugely nervous
before the workshop but now I am just looking forward
to the next one...
Thank you thank you thank you! without you this could
not happen.
Emily
(For those not able to attend, here are some quick "takes" of what went on!)
9th April 2018.
Greetings, Fragments singers!
We are fast approaching the first choral workshop for
Fragments: Voices from the First World War, so here are
some essential details for you all.
We know you can't all come to everything, but hope you
can make it to as many sessions as possible. (See
HERE for all dates and venues.)
We are looking forward very much to singing with you all! It is VERY EXCITING. wheeeeeeee
Emily and Elizabeth
22nd March 2018.
Amendments to the Diary page as follow:
Fragments Joint whole-day choral and orchestral
workshop led by Nigel Perrin and Mary Eade starting at
10:00am on Saturday 9th June 2018, at the Carhampton
Recreation Centre. Please note that this will now
end at 4:30pm (NOT 4:00pm as originally
advertised).
Fragments Evening rehearsal for all led by Nigel Perrin and Mary Eade starting at 7:30pm on Friday 2nd November 2018, at Minehead Methodist Church. Please note that this will now end at 9.15pm (NOT 9:00pm as originally advertised).
Please see the DIARY page for full details for all the Fragments rehearsals.
5th March 2018.
Audio clips for Under A
Cloudless Blue Sky and Vale have been
added.
4th March 2018.
A new audio clip for
The Knock on the Door has been added.
The audio clips for Abschied and Lament have been updated.
3rd March 2018.
Audio clips for the
Three Tommies and the
Canary Girls have been updated.
1st March 2018.
Orchestral and vocal parts for The Knock at the
Door have been added to the Listen to and
download your part page.
Vocal score for The Three Tommies and the bass line vocal score for The Knock at the Door added to the Listen to and download your part page.
28th February 2018.
Dear potentially snowy Fragments participants
....
Just a brief note to let you know that your parts
(some, not all) for Fragments, are now on our website
HERE.
It went LIVE on Sunday evening.......wheeeeeee but there is still lots more to do. So in case you are snowed in and can't get to a choir rehearsal or whatever ... You can go to the website and click on listen to / download your part and away you go.
Obviously we will be supplying you with printed parts at the first workshop, but we have also put each part as a "single line download" on the website so you can follow the sound file using a paper copy. Alternatively you can of course download and follow your part in the full "vocal score ", also available to download, and which is for SATB and piano.
I would advise you to listen to the full orchestral version first to get an idea of the whole thing before you listen to your individual part. And I'm sorry there are no words in the computer sound part.... You need to follow the printed vocal score of your part for that.
A final admission.... the vocal score for the Three
Tommies is missing... I think I have deleted the piano
part by mistake! So when I have finished tearing my
hair out I will be replacing the piano part.
Back to the hot computer,
Best snowy wishes, Emily
25th February 2018.
The Listen to and download your
part section of the website is now available.
The parts for Abschied, Lament, The Canary Girls,
Under A Cloudless Blue Sky and Vale are now
uploaded. The other parts will be available soon, check
this part of the website for updates.
Singers have the option of either downloading PDF's of the full vocal scores (with all the SATB parts), or else PDF's of their individual vocal lines. There are individual SATB sound files (MP3) for each vocal part. These are best listened to with a print out of the appropriate vocal scores.
21st February 2018.
Dear wonderful Fragments participants .... (NB if you
are not planning to be a participant, my apologies).
There are over 50 of you so far!
I thought a brief update of where the project has got to might be useful. Everything is coming on amazingly well. No, the piece is not finished yet, but lots more of it is done and I am now quite happy that it will all be done in good time..........( 2 mins before performance?)! No ... I JOKE.
As you may know, but I am going to tell you again anyway, we have been given the Arts Council grant that we applied for. This is absolutely wonderful as it means we can (and we have!):
Have a whole day choral workshop with NIGEL PERRIN on Saturday 9th June AND have Nigel as our conductor for the 10th November performance and the last 2 rehearsals...Wheeee!
Nigel is an ex-King's Singer and conductor of the Exeter Festival Chorus and the Bath Bach Choir. He is a superb choral coach and can make you see, feel and sing the music in a way that really brings out the meaning and gives the music a whole new dimension. Frankly I am over the moon that we are able to have him.
Book Jamie Rock to be our baritone soloist. If you have heard him sing you will know the breadth of tone, atmosphere and sheer range he can cover. Again he is one who takes in the whole audience as soon as he starts singing. He lives the words that he sings and just communicates the meaning of the music all the time. It is not just exciting that he has said yes, it is also deeply satisfying as he will bring all the best out of what is there.
Book 5 professional musicians, including Mary Eade as the orchestra leader, to work alongside the orchestra in the June workshop and at the final rehearsals and performance.
Mary (leader of the Taunton Sinfonietta and the Eade Quartet) is a great violinist. For anyone who has seen her at work at the Minehead Choral concerts, you will know that she lifts the music making to another level. It is inspiring to watch and be part of.
Book two superb rehearsal pianists: Keith Jones and Christine Pereira. For those of you that know them I need say no more. For those of you that don't, you have a real pleasure to come. It makes me feel that we have all the very best people taking part in this amazing project.
My challenge now therefore is to continue to get the piece finished.
Several sections of the piece are already on the website, and more will be uploaded in the next week or so.
Tim, our website guru, has talked me through uploading more sound and graphic files so eventually we shall be able to have all the music in downloadable and listenable to form in case you want to learn your parts before we even give you the music at the first choral workshop, which is on Saturday 14th April at Carhampton Village Hall from 10am to 1pm.
Right, that is the end of a long announcement. Now I shall go back to composing...
Very best wishes and THANK YOU for being involved in this project. I am getting extremely excited. Emily
PS I attach the Flyer for the project - please send it to any singers or players who might be interested.
PPS Just putting downloadable sound files of your parts onto the website now, to be released soon along with PDFs of the score - fingers crossed!
14th February 2018.
Rehearsal Timetable for Fragments UPDATED.
Web site first published 20th July
2017.
Last updated 18th December 2018
Website designed & maintained by Tim Pettigrew for
Emily Feldberg
© Emily Feldberg 2017 - 2018.
-14-04-2018thmb.jpg "[Warm Up Mouth Movements! at the April 2018 workshop - click to view video]")
