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orichalcum: (teaching)
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Quote of the Day

posted by [personal profile] orichalcum at 03:37pm on 06/02/2009
Hey choral singers...

So, I'm reading 2 Kings for teaching, and just came across the section where Isaiah prophesies: "Some of your own sons who are born to you shall be taken away; they shall be eunuchs in the palace of Babylon." (2 Kings 20:18).

This reminded me of once having heard a piece of choral music which included a resounding section that went, I think, "They shall be EU-NUCHS!" My offhand memory is Yale Glee Club, but that could be wrong. Anyways, it was somewhat racy but great fun and I really liked it. Does anyone know what the heck I'm remembering?
Mood:: 'worried' worried
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There are 10 comments on this entry. (Reply.)
 

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posted by [identity profile] holmes-iv.livejournal.com at 11:42pm on 06/02/2009
Belshazzar's Feast, William Walton. Yale Glee Club, Camerata, and Symphony. Spring semester of ... 1998, on a guess?
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posted by [identity profile] orichalcum.livejournal.com at 11:57pm on 06/02/2009
Yes. Thank you. That was fast. I love collective memory and wisdom. :)

Spring semester of 1998 sounds very plausible, given that I remember CP attending with me.

New Quote of the Day: "I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down." - 2 Kings 21:13.
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posted by [identity profile] holmes-iv.livejournal.com at 12:11am on 07/02/2009

Yeah, it helps that I was YSO stage manager at the time. :-) And actually, I think you were right—it was probably just the Glee Club, not the Camerata. I don't think we had everybody down on the Woolsey stage until Carmina, which was the year after the Walton. Now I'm trying to remember who was involved the next time I was in it (Camerata, much more recently). Possibly Philharmonia?

I'm rather fond of it, truth be told—it's a very cheesy piece, but so much fun to sing. :-)

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posted by [identity profile] orichalcum.livejournal.com at 04:03am on 07/02/2009
I remember stone_and_star having much the same slightly embarrassed but fond reaction - as if it were a Twinkie or something. :)
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posted by [identity profile] stone-and-star.livejournal.com at 11:28pm on 07/02/2009
I knew that was the piece in question, but I have no memory of singing the word "eunuchs," especially not in such an emphasized way. It's possible that wasn't in the alto line. Though it's also possible that this piece has been overwhelmed in my mind by the memory of "Peaceable Kingdom," which is what I think is running through my head right now. My memory of Belshazzar may not be very clear.
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posted by [identity profile] holmes-iv.livejournal.com at 11:32pm on 07/02/2009
You didn't—it's men only for that section. Your first line would have been "by the waters of Babylon," I think.
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posted by [identity profile] viking-cat.livejournal.com at 02:03pm on 07/02/2009
Dude, you're like a machine. Good memory.
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posted by [identity profile] holmes-iv.livejournal.com at 11:57pm on 06/02/2009

And having successfully beaten [livejournal.com profile] apintrix on the buzzer (<grin>), I can add that the lick in question is the opening of the piece, and is for four-part men's chorus, a capella , and runs "Thus spake Isaiah: 'thy sons which thou shalt beget, they shall be taken away, and be eunuchs in the palace of the King of Babylon. Howl ye! Howl ye, therefore! For the day of the LORD is at hand.'"

The orchestra then comes back in (for "by the waters of Babylon"), and we find out how much pitch the men lost in that page and a half. ;-)

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posted by [identity profile] amethyst73.livejournal.com at 04:29am on 07/02/2009
Oh, that sounds exciting....

.. though maybe not in the way the chorus would like it to be. A page and a half a capella?? Wow, that's long!
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posted by [identity profile] holmes-iv.livejournal.com at 04:55am on 07/02/2009
Heh. I think we did OK... but yeah, it's an adventure. It's a bit of a misleading page and a half, I think—it's only about 30 seconds, as I time myself doing it (from memory, so I might have miss-timed it, but that seems about right). And fortunately for the choir, nobody knows what the pitch relation of the next orchestral entrance to the final note of the choir section is. :-D
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