{"id":511,"date":"2011-02-03T20:53:55","date_gmt":"2011-02-03T20:53:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/cantusfirmus\/?p=511"},"modified":"2011-02-03T20:53:55","modified_gmt":"2011-02-03T20:53:55","slug":"mozart-and-saint-saens-the-face-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/cantusfirmus\/2011\/02\/03\/mozart-and-saint-saens-the-face-off\/","title":{"rendered":"Mozart and Saint-Saens: the face-off"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"As a companion and a contrast to the Saint-Saens setting of the Ave Verum Corpus,<\/em> the Cecilian Choir today began rehearsing Mozart\u2019s setting of the same text. Two very different treatments of the text: Saint-Sa\u00ebns\u2019 quite straightforward response to the words, Mozart\u2019s much more lyrical and impassioned. I find programming two contrasting settings of a piece of text to be a interesting feature of concert-planning; each throws up facets of the other that listeners might not have otherwise noticed, or be able to compare a setting they might already know with one they\u2019ve not heard before.<\/p>\n

\"\"We gathered in the round \u2013 Circle Time! \u2013 to sing the Saint-Sa\u00ebns, and also to re-visit the plainchant \u2018Ubi Caritas\u2019 and Durufl\u00e9\u2019s setting from last week. We took the plainchant more slowly than we have done before; I find that slowing pieces down just a little opens up a conversely larger amount of space in music \u2013 there\u2019s time to really feel the phrases finish, to let the notes die away in a resonant acoustic before moving on. Getting the choir to stand in a circle really makes for a rich sound; suddenly, people can hear and relate to other voice-parts moving that they hadn\u2019t previously really been aware of; they also feel more a part of the collective whole, rather than standing strung out in two lines as we are when we are seated in rehearsal.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve now got so much sheet music that we\u2019ve had to resort to folders for everyone to be able to keep all their music together: a sure sign that the choir are able to work swiftly through repertoire and a tribute to the ease with which they pick new pieces up quickly; good news, indeed!<\/p>\n