h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

This summer we are putting on another concert to conclude the town's music festival. The theme of the Summer Festival (State wide) is "Over the Borders".

First rehearsal is next Saturday. The works they intend to put on are Händel's "Dixit Dominus" and Charpentier's Te Deum.

The Dixit Dominus is a jolly old sing. There's plenty to learn in it.

I haven't sung the Te Deum, but we sang Charpentier's Messe de Minuit just before Christmas, and it was straightforward enough except for the "dotting". Much of French Baroque music had the first of every pair of quavers dotted, with the second one shortened. Unfortunately they didn't write this down, so some knowledge is needed to know which passages are to be dotted and which ones aren't.

Hmm. I've got myself a CD of both the works. Haven't listened yet. When I was ordering them on Amazon, one of the comments from previous buyers was that the Charpentier is very difficult and for this reason is not often sung by amateur choirs.

As for the quavers being dotted - it somehow reminds me of the re-thinking you have to do when singing swing rhythms - there, too, two quavers are divided up into triplets, the first quaver being two triplets and the third one similar to the semi-quaver in the French Baroque.

So the difference between swing and French baroque is 1/12 of a beat!

That sounds clinical. How do you fit a semiquaver after two triplet quavers? Where does the remainder of the crotchet go?

That's a little alien to the concept of swing, isn't it?

Oh, I don't know either of these, TC. They sound fun. Must go over ti iTunes for a quick listen

Happy New Year!

I was just persuaded to join the choir here, too.

They've just started rehearsing a gospel mass by Ralf Grössler. Pity I won't be around for the performance. (If all goes well, that is )

THE PERFORMANCE

Final rehearsal this morning. 4 hours standing in that hot courtyard from about 11 am to 3 pm. Each of us mud have had a puddle under their feet by the time we'd finished. The Dixit Dominus got dropped along the way because the choir was having trouble with the runs.

So it's been replaced with a large chunk of the Messiah.

The orchestra are playing on historical instruments, which means that they are rather quiet. There was a lot of shifting of sections this morning until they could all hear each other well enough. The trumpets, who were just in front of me to the right, couldn't hear the timpanis who were only a couple of yards away to my left. Now they're right next to the drummer (who is ). Most people were wearing sunhats of various kinds and both the trumpeters had cowboy hats on. They looked great!

THE WEATHER

There is supposed to be a storm coming, so we hope that will break tonight and clear the air a bit so it's not so hot tomorrow. We will, of course, have to wear the obligatory black, but most of us will be putting off changing till just before we go on stage.

THE REST OF THIS WEEKEND's PROGRAMME

This weekend is an exact replica of previous weekends of the concert. It often, as this year, coincides with the university's end-of-year fest on the Friday. A good friend who always comes over for this arrived on Wednesday. We all had a meal together on Thursday. Friday was the shindig at the uni, Saturday (today) choir rehearsal in the afternoon and later I shall be joining my friends for a session of drinking and singing in a pub until 3 or 4 am. Sunday is the concert - starts at 8 pm, so I've got time to catch up on sleep.

WHAT'S SO SPECIAL ABOUT 2010?

1. The Germans have just won the semi-final of the world cup. Sausages are hitting barbecues as I write. The whole town will be one big party when I get there this evening.

2. Vuvuzelas will be sounding everywhere. I hope they're not too loud during the concert tomorrow evening. Ambulances and church bells can regularly be heard during these open air events, but they soon subside.

3. My son is getting married this August (Yes, it's still on!). For Sunday lunch we are all meeting at the place they're having the reception to decide the menu, the seating arrangements and everything. So I have to be up in time for lunch at 12! Son couldn't be persuaded to come to the concert, but I have procured reduced tickets for his bride, her mother and grandmother. I expect M will go for a beer with his future father-in-law while we are enjoying our baroque evening.

4. My husband won't be here for all of this. He left early this morning with some friends for a long-planned cycling trip ... part of their ongoing plan to cycle the whole length of the Rhine. They've already done quite a bit (the nice bit) except for the source to Konstanz, which is this summer's route. He is probably secretly pleased not to have to sit through the concert, although if he misses it again there will be Words. He doesn't feel he is absolutely needed to discuss the food at the reception either, and we had trouble finding a date that was mutually acceptable, so he has agreed to go along with what the rest of us decide.

Sorry to hear the Dixit Dominus was dropped - it's a great piece, although technically challenging.

Yes, I still intend to look for choir after the summer break which is good enough to cope with things like that.