[cantabile] Report on the November 6 meeting

We went through the playlist in order (below) and decided on some
details about when we’ll tune, etc. If I have any of this wrong,
please correct me.

Basically, I want to tune before a piece whenever anyone has to
change an instrument, or when we don’t mind having a break between the
pieces because of a change of mood.

We also expanded our country dance set, in case it’s necessary to
play longer before the play because of a delay in the curtain going
up.

Playlist

Before the play

  • He that will an Alehouse Keep Drinking
    songs book     (General tuning to A)
  • Dulcina PDF
    (Stuart gives pitch to Anne)
  • O Portsmouth Drinking
    songs book     (Stuart gives pitch)
  • Quand je Bois Drinking
    songs book     (Tune last note; Ishmael starts)
  • Vignons, vignons Drinking
    songs book     (Ishmael starts)
  • Country dance set. All of these will be started by Ishmael and
    Bruce, with Stuart joining on the second verse and Barney taking the
    lead on soprano recorder on the third verse. (Stuart starts the first
    verse when Bruce isn’t playing.) Others may join ad lib on voice or
    low recorders. I will work out a signal for when the play is about to
    start with the stage manager.

  • Fanfare, TBD

Intermission

  • Greensleeves, PDF.
    Note that this includes some things we won’t be doing, so you don’t
    have to print out pages 5 and 6. (General tuning, to first chord of
    Bransle de la torche). The route is:

    1. Bransle de la torche, all recorders, Stuart joining pizzicato on B
      section.
    2. Triple Greensleeves, Bruce (Ishmael when no Bruce) first verse
    3. Duple Greensleeves, Anne, Second verse
    4. Bransle de la torche, as above
    5. Triple Greensleeves, All sing 4-part arrangement, last verse,
      Stuart plays the pickup, and the singing starts on the downbeat.
  • Fair Phyllis PDF,
    MIDI
    (All tune to last note; Bonnie starts)
  • Silly Bees, PDF,
    MIDI.
    (All tune to first note)
  • Shepherd in a shade, PDF,
    MIDI,
  • Changeons propos Drinking
    songs book     (All tune to last note; Ishmael starts)
  • Vive la Serpe Drinking
    songs book     (All tune to last note; Ishmael starts)
  • Dance? I will discuss this with the stage manager — we may
    decide that it makes sense to just stop when we’ve gotten to the end,
    even if intermission lasts a couple of minutes longer. Or if there’s
    time, we may play the
    Greensleeves set again, or play some of the country dances.

Stage manager questions

I will be dropping in at the dress rehearsal for the play on
Wednesday at about 6:30 to discuss logistics with the stage manager.
Here are the questions I can think of at the moment that I’ve promised
to ask; let me know if you want me to discuss anything else.

  • Parking, and handicapped parking.
  • Arrival time, and whether a small amount of rehearsing would be
    appropriate.
  • Signal to cut off before-play set, and intermission set.
  • Area to store stands and other things we may feel OK about leaving
    between performances.
  • Where to put stands, chairs, etc. at the end of the
    before-the-play set.
  • Fanfare (whether there is one, where it happens in relation to
    moving the chairs and stands).
  • End of the intermission set — should we attempt to go until the
    curtain rises, or just play our pieces and stop?
  • Are they anticipating sellout of the Saturday (this Saturday?)
    performance.
  • Publicity. Is there a flyer we could distribute, and where’s the
    blurb they promised us for e-publicity?

Schedule

Thursday’s rehearsal is at 7:45 at my place. Ishmael may be a bit
late, but everyone else should attempt to arrive on time. We used
half an hour of our extra 45 minutes last night on rehearsing, so two
hours and fifteen minutes is not an excessive amount of time.

I’m told we neglected to wish Bruce a Happy Birthday last week, so
we will make up for it this week.

I will discuss arrival logistics with the stage manager Wednesday,
but plan on arriving in time to be comfortably set up and start
playing at 7:40 for each performance.

We really need the Tuesday, November 15 rehearsal time for the
Lowell gig, so people who are not playing Lowell can plan on having
the evening off. People who have still not committed to playing
Lowell need to decide before then whether they can do it. Preferably
as soon as possible.

Leave a comment