Beefing up the instrumental sessions

[fipple fluter]

Just thinking about future sessions and having had a little taste of singing & playing at the last session, I was wondering how others felt. I understand that it is not always easy to find choral music that is easily accompanied by recorder players but it is possible. Sessions can include singing & playing. I wonder whether any of the singers would be interested. It would be participation singing & not rehearsed, sort of like what the instrumental sessions have been up until now. Also dancing can be included. For example, a pavan accompanied by recorders is very feasible provided we can get some elementary instruction in the pavan. I don't consider the pavan to be difficult. Pavan music can be played by ear so maybe we can tie in with the course that some members are taking in playing be ear. Can we organize the sessions to have a greater appeal?

[singdancenplay]

I know how to pavan, (and galliarde, though not as spritely as I once was), and bransle (very easy to do) as does Shannon. Belle Qui is actually very easy to learn, even in parts, by ear. This might be a good project for a session, though you'd need a site that allows dancing. (someone's rec room perhaps). Also, something to work on over the next two years if we're considering French music two years hence, (most of these dances come from a French Dance Treatise Arbeau's Orchesographie).

(Sudden inspiration, somewhere outside in the summer, or maybe the Conservatory like Village Green was doing?)

I think the usual issue with the singers is the time commitment, we have moms with large families and all the sceduling involved with that, University students with jobs, people who have multiple commitments, (Margaret and Len) so I think the singers you see at reading sessions, are the ones who already can make the time to come out.

Plus it's not alwasy easy to find music that suits both recorder and voice. Vocal music transcribed for recorders tends to be transcribed up to fit the tessitura of the intrument, but can leave soprano singers uncomfortably singing lots of high g and a. Whereas the singers can tend to sing below the recorder range and music is written as such, so picking vocal music does require a good look before hand.

So it would be nice to get the two groups together, it just might need a little more planning ahead of time to choose pieces. Perhaps we could try something like this in the summer as so far we don't have any commitments and have more time then to just enjoy reading instead of working up performance music. And the singers were already talking about getting together to just read after the recital was done. (though I usually need a month or so off afterwards for other things.)

I'll ask at the next practice if there's interest. I do like the sound of mixing singing with instrumental, so it would be nice to do.