Choralia:
https://www.choralia.net/jk01mp3/jk01mp3en.htm
 

The Armed Man – Notes for singers

1. The Armed Man
Translation of the old French:
The armed man should be feared
Everywhere it has been proclaimed
That each man shall arm himself
With a coat of iron mail
The armed man should be feared

Have page 2 open so you don’t need to turn.
I will beat 4 in a bar.
Start p – piano. Each entry then gets successively louder.
L’homme is pronounced with an acute accent on the “e”.
Douter is pronounced with an acute accent on the “e” instead of er.
No “t” on end of partout.
Viegne is pronounced Vee- An.
Haubregon – “Hau” is pronounced “O”.
Defer is pronounced with an acute accent on the “e” instead of er.
Sops and Altos only at bat 16. Tenor and bass come in at bar 22.
Bar 16 – make sure of Bflat (not B natural or anything in between).
 
Bar 25 (and similar) – hold long note right to the end.
Bars 24, 41, 63, 78,91 are one beat bars.
Watch out for repeats: bars 55 – 57, 83 – 85.
Crescendos as marked.
Last 3 notes -bar 95 – are accented and short.
 

3. Kyrie
Page 17 is solo – Emma.
Have page 18 open so you don’t need to turn.
Bar 42 – Sops and Altos only. Very smooth. Comma after first Kyrie.
Dim bar 48.
Solo – bars 49- 56.
Kyrie should not have a hard “a” sound. The “e” should be light and pronounced as in egg.
Sops bar 69 and 70. G sharp is same as A flat!! Also 118, 133, 148.
Bar 75 – the note has a pause. Watch me for where to place the “n”.
 
I will give the basses 2 beats into bar 76.
Christus is pronounced cree not cri.
Some first basses swap to Tenor 2 at bar 85.
All tenors sing Tenor 1.
Sops – bar 83 has a G not a B. There is a misprint in some copies.
 
Watch at H and J. I need to give basses time to breath.

4. Save me from Bloody Men
Tenors and Basses only.
I will conduct in quavers.
Like Gregorian chant. Can be freer than the exact notes written.
Therefore watch conductor very carefully.
Comma after “me” in bar 1.
Bar 4 accent “figh” and Dai”.
Bar 9 accent “they” and “Ma”
Bar 10 accent “figh”
Bar 11 crescendo through the triplet and “high” is very strong and sustained.
Bar 16 accent “wor” and second “i” of iniquity.
Last note is held on for a long time with decrescendo.
 

5. Sanctus
This movement should be very percussive.
N.B. 4 bars intro ( some editions have only 2). This means that the bar numbers are different so wont use them in the Sanctus.
Sanctus needs to be pronounced in a very particular way. There should not be a hard “an” sound. Instead more like Sahng. The “tus” should be 2 distinct syllables with the “s” on the second so that the word is finished before the next beat. This is also true for the nus of dominus, The us of deus and the ot of sabaoth (sa – by – ot).
Watch out for repeats – at A and 5 after A, G and H.
The bar before E and bar before H have 5 beats!!
Excelsis has “ch” sound.
At figure B accent “Ple”, “Cae” and “Ter”. Break between “caeli” and “et terra”.
Basses – 5 bars after Figure C make sure that you get up to the Bflat. This is the key to getting the next page correct.
Sops – at Figure D all the D’s are natural. The note on “ex” is the same as “cel”.
3 bars after D – Sustain this note. Dont droop.

 

6. Hymn before action
Accent dark, gain, draw, ba in bars 7, 11, 15, 19.
Pronounce Wrath to rhyme path (pahth!)
Bar 8 – Alto and tenor final note is different in different editions. Both sing D for now and we will check the full score when it arrives.
Bar 17 – the J in Jehova is pronounced as in Jam
Bar 19,20 – very slight gap between Battles and Aid but NO breath.
Bar 29 – “fro” is correct.
Beat in 6 from bar 47. Rall.
Breath on the tied quaver in bars 44 and 46.

7. Charge!
Beware that the orchestral intro is 4 beats in a bar compound time but singers come in at B in 6/4 time.
Sops and altos – Figure C - please listen to a good recording to make sure you are singing the right intervals. Ist sops might want to practice and octave below.
 It is important that all the rests are observed especially between “double “ and “double beat” at E bar 86 etc.
Long notes at bar 112 – 115 etc should be sustained. Dont come off early. If you need to breath don’t sing the closing consonant.
At H bar 132 only sing the written length of the note. Dont sing into the rest.
At I bar 147 – Convey Horror!!! there is an initial shout then drop to piano and gradually get loudly. Sing any notes and gliss up and down until J. At J hold your note until K where I will bring you off.
Keep very still.

8. Angry Flames
Keep still.
Mostly solo. Only sing at the following:
Bar 21. Merge. Accent the M then cut back and sustain right to the end of the bar.
Bar 24. Over the whole city.
Sops – bar 24. There is a misprint in some editions. It should be AAAC.
Bar 36. Remember to do the slight cresc and decresc then hold for a long time. “S” at the very end. No early “S” Please!
Bar 42. Death. Accent the D then cut back and sustain.

9. Torches
Very rhythmic.
Very clear pronunciation.
Accents in the right places. Get markings from someone.
Clipped words
Bar 17 & 18 note different rhythm (ladies dotted)

10. Agnus Dei
Very smooth.
Pronounce Agnus as in new.
All entries piano then slight cres from bar 13. Dim at bar 18. No early “S” Please! Watch me to come off.
Bar 30 etc – the triplet is very late.
Slight rall at the end. Watch.

12. Benedictus
There is a long cello solo introduction.
Very quiet and serene to start with.
Short “s” right at the end of the word.
Bars 43, 51, 72 Slight gap between the “t” of “venit” and “in”.
Tenor bar 42 “s” on 4^th beat.
Chel (not shel)
Bar 62 – “s”on 4^th beat.

13. Better is Peace
Part 1
Starts with Solos.
Choir comes in at Tutti bar42.
Sop/tenor – note B natural (not Bflat c.f. first movement)
Contrast bar 42 with movement 1 bar 16 (page 2).
Bar 50 is a one beat bar.
(Tennyson words same as Christmas concert.)
When “ring “ has 2 quavers as in bar 67 the second is very short.
Come off early in bar 72 and 75 etc.
Bar 84, 85 – be very careful with rhythm. This is like moving from 4 in a bar to 6 in a bar.
Bar 137 – 138 watch out for repeat.
Bar 142 – the last ring is very short.
Turn page at bar 140 so you are not turning in the silence.
 
Part 2
Beat in 8.
Bar 144 decresc. On tears.
End of 146 has clean break.
Sops 147to 148 – no breath. Sing through.
Bar 148 small cresc then decresc on Crying.
End of 150 has clean break.
End of 154 has clean break. “d” right at the end.
Bar 156 decresc
Rall starts in Bar 158 .
Penultimate bar very slow and then hold and wait for last bar.
Sops – no top G.
Stand very still at the end. Dont let your copies drop.