Hey guys!
So on Friday, we learnt a new piece called Ave Maria. (How many songs do have that start with ave? 2? 3?) AND WE MANAGED TO LEARN THE ENTIRE PIECE ONCE AGAIN!
Which is, quite obviously, awesome. Well, not the entire piece. We managed to learn all the choral bits and the solo bits before the other solo part. Wait. That didn't make sense. Lemme try again. We learnt the solo bits for verses 1 and 2. After we learnt the notes for the first 2 verses, we put in the text and made sure to underline the syllables that we were supposed to emphasise. FYI, for German Latin (which is the language this piece is in) here are the general rules:
Emphasis is placed on the 1st syllable if the word's got 2 syllables
For 3-syllable words, if the last syllable's got a 'u' in it, then the emphasis is placed on the last syllable of the word. If not, then it's on the first syllable of the word.
These rules are pretty general and not hard and fast, I think. There are exceptions, for example, Dominus. It's a 3-syllable word with a 'u' vowel at the end, but the emphasis is placed on the 1st syllable. So yeah.
Just a gentle reminder to those whom this is applicable: please write stuff down in your choir journal. Or, if you didn't bring it, on your score(s). It'll help you remember whatever the conductors said during practice for future practices :)
Lotsa love,
Ankita
