Welcome to Tactic Tuesday. Simon Rattle rehearses the choir and orchestra of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra as they get ready for a performance of Haydn’s Creation. This brief clip demonstrates rehearsal instructions centered choral diction around a brief passage in Haydn’s Creation. The frequent stopping and starting indicates rare high-quality footage of a professional organization engaged in a true detail rehearsal, not merely a dress rehearsal run-through.

Subscribe:

Here is an outline of this rehearsal segment with some commentary.

“Und eine neue Welt.” Haydn, Die Schöpfung (The Creation) - Part I, No. 2 (Score):

• :07 – Ch/Orch begin

• :10 – R shown mouthing text.

  • (Liz Garnett and the majority of conductors in the choral tradition encourage conductors not to do this. What’s your view?)

• :16 – R stops all at the end of the phrase. “Can I hear the ends of ‘Welt’? The second time, also ‘Welt’ before ‘entspringt,’ that would be great. Nur mitt choir (choir only).”

  • :22 – Microscopic pause. “And…” very briefly waits for a musician to stop playing.

• :23 – Counts off “one-and-two.”

  • Choir sings phrase alone.

• :35 – Stops at end of phrase. "It’s a little bit kind of [disappointed sigh] ‘Rishi Sunak’ uhh… [takes face in hand] [chant-mimics phrase roughly in time as if very bored / boring]

  • :43 – Choir heard chuckling. R continues parody. Still in character: “‘Why doesn’t everybody love me?’”

  • :48 – Continues, now breaking character: “Can we, can we, ‘einmal erstaunt’?” (something like “[sing it] again [as if] amazed”) .

    • Here, he’s succinctly motivating the phrase with just a single word, erstaunt.

  • Models the music with a general vividness of character, articulating without text. Pulls eyes open with fingers: “big eyes!”

• :54 – Lifts hands to conduct, breathes with singers

  • :56 – A whole new choir sings the phrase…

This is just a one-minute sample of the work demonstrated in this video and demonstrates a rapid pace, Rattle’s characteristic tenacity to seek the sound he’s after, and a reminder that the world’s best ensembles don’t show up to rehearsal shimmering; it takes hard work.

Also check out Rattle in this rehearsal of Hans Zender’s version of Schubert’s Winterreise. He’s just as handy when training young musicians. (And what a score, by the way!)