Volume 2, Issue 2 (May, 2012) Issue of The Trumpet

[Will Fitzgerald]

It's always a delight to announce a new issue of The Trumpet to this group, and I am delighted again to do so:

Volume 2, Issue 2, The Trumpet [http://singthetrumpet.com/?attachment_id=104]

Here are the fine tunes we are publishing this time around:

• Laurelton, Deidra M. Montgomery, 67
• Walton, Ed E. Thacker, 68
• Joshua, Glenn Keeton & Chris Ballinger, 69
• Flaming Tongues, Gabrielle Fulmer, 70
• Olive Tree, Carol Mendicott & R.C. Webber, 71
• Evergreen, Logan Green, 72
• Palmer, Kevin Barrans, 73
• The Trumpet Sounds, K.R. Swenson, 74
• Kyrkjebøbakken, James Solheim, 76
• Forest Rose, Thurlow Weed, 77
• Lamb of God, Theresa Hamrick Westmoreland, 78
• Allegheny, G.J. Hoffman, 78
• Runyan, Micah Sommer, 79
• NoW I Was Free, Jesse Pearlman Karlsberg, 80
• Needful, Janie Short, 82

If you hold a Trumpet singing, let us know!

[Wade Kotter]

Thanks to Will, Tom, Robert and James for another great issue of The Trumpet. I look forward to singing every song.

Wade

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From: Will Fitzgerald <will.fi...@gmail.com>
To: fasola-so...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Thursday, May 17, 2012 8:59 AM
Subject: [fasola-songwriters: 1078] Volume 2, Issue 2 (May, 2012) Issue of The Trumpet

[Will Fitzgerald]

I would be remiss unless I mention the excellent work of James Gingerich, who typesets the music again — a real labor of love — and, new to this issue, Clarissa Fetrow, who proofed, and saw to it there were many fewer mistakes creeping through — plus some great insights on design.

Will

On Thursday, May 17, 2012 8:22:21 AM UTC-7, Wade Kotter wrote:

Thanks to Will, Tom, Robert and James for another great issue of The Trumpet. I look forward to singing every song.

Wade

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From: Will Fitzgerald <will.fi...@gmail.com>

To: fasola-songwriters@googlegroups.com

Sent: Thursday, May 17, 2012 8:59 AM
Subject: [fasola-songwriters: 1078] Volume 2, Issue 2 (May, 2012) Issue of The Trumpet

[Will Fitzgerald]

There was a small, but important, error in our first publishing
(missing bass part from FLAMING TONGUES). This has been corrected; you
can download from the announcement site:

http://singthetrumpet.com/2012/05/17/volume-2-issue-2-may-2012-issue-of-the-trumpet-announced/

Or directly at:

http://entish.org/sh/trumpet/2-1-trumpet-2012-2-1.pdf

[Fynnian Titford-Mock]

After seeing Wade's tune, and having a quick sing through the parts to myself (it's really nice!), I thought I'd post my tune also called Bremen (written for the Sacred Harp singing group in the original Bremen in Germany) to get some feedback. After all, I only started writing (or attempting to write) fasola music just over a year ago, so any comments would be greatly appreciated. 

Fynn

[Will Fitzgerald]

A few more errors have been discovered; read about them at 

http://singthetrumpet.com/2012/05/18/revisions-to-volume-2-issue-2/

Or download the latest version at:

http://entish.org/sh/trumpet/2-2-trumpet-2012-2-2.pdf

http://entish.org/sh/trumpet/2-2-trumpet-2012-2-2.pdf

[Wade Kotter]

Thanks for posting your tune, Fynn. I like the overall flow and harmony of the tune; it fits these wonderful words very well. Although I make no claim to being an expert, I do have a few minor observations/suggestions:

1. The range from a low 6-la in the bass to a high 5-so in all three of the upper parts would probably make it difficult to pitch.

2. The part on the second staff  (2nd treble I presume) has a very high tessitura; even strong trebles like myself might find it a little taxing to stay that high throughout the tune. Perhaps you might explore some ways of dropping it down in a few places where the 1st treble and/or tenor are higher in order to give the singers a rest.

3. In the bass on the words "No mortal cares shall" you alternate between 5-la and 1-fa; similarly, in the 2nd treble on the words "heart in tune be" you alternate between 1-fa and 5-la. To me, these jumps up and down disrupt the melodic flow of the respective parts. You might want to explore ways to make these sections more melodic while retaining the same harmonic progression.

4. The dissonance between mi and 1-fa on the word "found" occurs on the first beat of a measure, which is a stressed beat. Although I know what you were doing here harmonically, I believe such a dissonance on a stressed beat is very rare in the fasola style. Of course, just because it's rare doesn't mean you shouldn't do it.

Hope this makes sense. Again, I like the tune overall and think you're definitely getting the hang of the 4-shape dispersed harmony style. Please consider posting some of your other tunes.

Wade Kotter

South Ogden, UT

[Fynnian Titford-Mock]

Thanks for your comments, Wade. Something I ought to get into doing a bit more is posting my tunes here (before they get published somewhere! I know you'd probably have some things to say about my two tunes already in the Trumpet...)

This tune, Bremen, has already given me a few sleepless nights! You'll be surprised to know I originally wrote it in D... 

Somehow I often end up writing a higher tenor part than treble (something I'm slowly correcting), and this causes problems for harmonizing the other parts. I've sung this a couple of times with different groups, but it hasn't always gone as well as I hear it in my head!

The 2nd line down is intended as an alto, but it fit on the staff better written up the octave. As such it is a somewhat lower alto part.

>>3. In the bass on the words "No mortal cares shall" you alternate between 5-la and 1-fa; similarly, in the 2nd treble on the words "heart in tune be" you alternate between 1-fa and 5-la. To me, these jumps up and down disrupt the melodic flow of the respective parts. You might want to explore ways to make these sections more melodic while retaining the same harmonic progression. 

The 2nd treble/alto part on "heart in tune be" has now been altered (it wasn't a great flow, I agree) to a simpler 1-fa 1-fa|2-sol 3-la|  . Agonizing over the bass now. I think it might be best to set the tune down another tone and re-harmonize the whole thing!

The dissonance - I know it's not a stylistic feature of SH to have stressed dissonances (of course there are exceptions I can think of: 385 Fight On b.6 & b.10, or penultimate bar of 163t Morning) especially of a mi-fa nature. Hmmm. I was looking for a nice touch like in 347 Christian's Farewell (b.6 "leave", treble 4-fa - 3-la). Something else might occur if I re-harmonize it though. 

I also have a feeling that there are a lot of full chords, and not as many open chords as I'd like...

I'll be posting another revision soon   :-)

cheers

Fynn

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Date: Fri, 18 May 2012 12:23:49 -0700
From: wadek...@yahoo.com
Subject: Re: [fasola-songwriters: 1086] Another Bremen
To: fasola-so...@googlegroups.com

[Wade Kotter]

Should have thought about the second line possibly being a low alto written up an octave. Anyway, I look forward to seeing your revision. I'll also take a closer look at your two pieces in The Trumpet; I sang through all the songs when those issues came out, but didn't take the time necessary to come up with any meaningful comments.

Wade

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From: Fynnian Titford-Mock <fin...@hotmail.com>
To: fasola-so...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Friday, May 18, 2012 2:34 PM
Subject: RE: [fasola-songwriters: 1087] Another Bremen

[Fynnian Titford-Mock]

Here's the revised harmonization. Quite pleased with this now, I think. Moved it down to B-flat, and the parts have better ranges (tenor remains unaltered); Alto is back in usual octave. After much deliberation I decided to discard the juicy dissonance (nice, but not really Sacred Harp after all); also realised that most of the old alto part worked better as a treble part.

See what anyone else thinks.

Fynn

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Date: Fri, 18 May 2012 14:41:47 -0700
From: wadek...@yahoo.com
Subject: Re: [fasola-songwriters: 1088] Another Bremen
To: fasola-so...@googlegroups.com

[Wade Kotter]

Very nice, Fynn! You've managed to make the treble, alto and bass a little more melodic and interesting while retaining basically the same harmonic scheme. And I think singers will be more comfortable with both the key and range. Finding a good balance between open chords and full chords is always a challenge, at least for me, and I think you've done very well. The singers of Bremen should be very happy with this song you wrote for them.

Wade Kotter

South Ogden, UT

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From: Fynnian Titford-Mock <fin...@hotmail.com>
To: fasola-so...@googlegroups.com

Sent: Friday, May 18, 2012 5:21 PM
Subject: RE: [fasola-songwriters: 1089] Another Bremen