The singthrough

Yesterday was the day of the singthrough of The Forest of Eoren.

I began the day (well, the part that was related to the singthrough) with a trip to the supermarket to buy some dryad and lumberjack themed snacks. I bought mushrooms (apparently a dryad's favourite food) and fruit and nuts for the dryads, along with the watermelon we happened to have in the fridge, and beef jerky for the lumberjacks. I also made a lumberjack cake. I knew that this type of cake exists, though I didn't know what was in it, and still don't know why it is named such. I found a recipe online, which called for pear, dates and coconut.

I headed to campus early to play through some of the piano parts. I had practised the week before last also, but last week I was pretty busy with conferences, so I wanted another run. Also, I perhaps foolishly wrote one of the pieces in F# major. It makes sense in context: it comes back in the finale, and after an A minor - A major - F# minor - F# major progression, it is a natural key. And I decided I wouldn't make the women learn it in two keys, so I just had to put up with the six sharps. To be honest, it wasn't so bad after a little practice.

Kelsey, probably the most dedicated of the singers, also came for a little practice. It was amusing hearing her sing the soprano line of the soprano/baritone duet: I've sung and hummed through the score several times, but I usually sing the lower parts because they fit in my range, so I had mostly forgotten what the soprano part in that song sounded like.

We had eleven singers, pretty well spread through the voice parts, one clarinetist and me on piano. We warmed up and tested the voice recorder with Happy Birthday, in honour of the scores zeroth birthday, and jumped right into it. In the first few notes, I was worried that people were going to be very hesitant, but it wore off quickly: they may have just been observing the implied piano dynamics.

I was expecting everything to fall apart in the double chorus (women singing slowly, men singing quickly), but in fact it stayed together very nearly perfectly - with the exception of words for the men which I knew were tricky, and somewhat under tempo. I guess I was lucky to have an extremely capable group of friends.

I discovered once again that I'm not good at predicting when I'm funny. There were meant to be some funny lines in the dialogue, and people found that there were, but they weren't always the same.

Kelsey and Barratt pointed out that a particular phrase in the trio - as well as to some extent the rhythmic pulse - feels quite a bit like "Rapture, rapture" from The Yeomen of the Guard. I hadn't noticed it before - I felt that the trio bears closer resemblance to "If you go in" from Iolanthe, though in positioning in the show rather than melody - but I do agree. I checked my Yeomen score, and there is a distinct section (3.5 measures) that is the same (though in a different key), but that's fine with me.

I was amazed at how well Lizi, Jess, Josh and Dan sang their unaccompanied quartet. It was a highlight of the singthrough, despite being probably the most difficult piece to sing for the first time (presumably they had each practised separately, but never together).

We reached the happy ending, and enjoyed snacks and good cheer and company for a bit longer. It was very fun, and I haven't worn out my desire to write operettas... though I will not let myself begin another (or similar creative project) until I have a job!

I will certainly pass on some of the recording when I have it.