Alleluia! It's Over

I don't have time to write much, but I realized that I hadn't let readers know how I made out with Alleluia.  It went amazingly well.  I was able to sing the first high A in a light head voice that I had never been able to carry up that high before (A flat had always been the limit, at least recently since my voice has gotten so much bigger - or rather since its real size has been unveiled) and, thanks to the paucity of sopranos and the large number of people on the lower parts, I was able to sing the stringendo section in the middle (with the two high A naturals) full voice.  I didn't sing the two measures leading up to the two high As but I am not apologizing.  If it had been a mezzo aria (e.g. something by Donizetti) there would have been a tradition in place to be silent, even if notes were written.

So now it's back to other things.

I sang through the Saint Saens piece, which is very easy to sing; the point for me is to be secure in relation to what I am doing in relation to the accompaniment.  I could not find the piece on You Tube, and as a primarily auditory learner I am always nervous about trying to sing something I haven't heard, but plunking the accompaniment on the keyboard will have to be good enough.

Then I went back to the Requiem.  Singing "Liber Scriptus" feels easier.  And really, the only thing in the entire Requiem that I am at all nervous about is that big climactic A flat in "Liber Scriptus".  Now that I have changed where I am breathing in the a capella section of "Lux Aeterna" (that goes up to a G) I find that very easy to sing (it's just like singing soprano with the choir) and everything else is in a very easy range. I might not be heard in the lowest sections of "Recordare" but that only involves three or four measures.

I was also pleasantly surprised at how well I am making out singing against the recording (or rather, against the soprano; anything else is no problem).  That is one huge benefit I have gotten out of five years singing with this choir.  Being one of three (sometimes only one of two or only one of one) second sopranos on numerous occasions has helped train my ear to hear harmonies and improved my skills in that area dramatically.

And I'm really hoping I have made a vocal breakthrough.  I think when I started studying with this teacher (or re-started, rather) I was not using my whole voice, I was using the voice I had had in the 70s when I was singing roles like Cherubino.  Then when I began singing with my whole voice it felt like it had a lot of weight to it and I had trouble with higher notes (I mean I had always had trouble with anything higher than an A but As themselves had always been easy).  Now I'm hoping that has passed and that I am able to sing lightly with my new larger voice (if that makes sense).  Some people think it's odd for me as a mezzo to like singing soprano in a choir (well, I don't really have a choice as there are 7 ot 8 altos and only four other sopranos) but I find that it helps keep me technically on my toes and has done worlds for my ability to sing a real pianissimo in my upper range.