flail

[ysobel]

So I sort of accidentally tripped and signed up for voice lesson auditions.

I didn't mean to. Well, not yet. I kind of had an at-some-point-I-might. But I poked my head into the music office to see if they had guidelines (figuring I could prepare something for next fall or whatever), and ... they did, taped to the inside of the folder that also had the sign-up list for June 1 auditions.

aaaaaand so I sort of ended up putting my name up.

/flails/

(Now I need to find something to audition with. They want a solo piece, "preferably classical", memorized but with sheet music brought. Somehow I don't think that either a) the soprano part to the choral bits of Mozart's Mass in C, or b) eastern european folk tunes (especially the hard-voice ones ahahahahano), counts.

So, um.

Any suggestions for something I can learn in half a month? >_>

Comments

[twistedchick]

What's your range? Are you a lyric soprano, contralto, spinto (in between those two) or something else? This may affect your choice.

[vass]

Nitpick: spinto does not mean between soprano and contralto. Spinto is a subcategory of soprano. The voice type between soprano and contralto is mezzo-soprano.

[twistedchick]

::sigh:: Whatever. I am a spinto; I used to be a high lyric soprano. I was giving examples of different voice ranges, not providing an entire categorization.

[krait]

I am no help at all with choosing music, because everything I know about it could fit on a pin's tip with room left over for a small illustration; but I must say WOW and WAY TO GO and I hope you find the perfect piece!

[vass]

Okay. I can help with this. Here are a few good options:

Arie antiche: these are old Italian arias from operas no longer performed. If you don't add too much ornamentation, they're reasonably easy, and are usually taught to beginning classical singers to consolidate technique. Some straightforward but still nice ones: 'Nina', 'Tu Lo Sai', 'Caro Mio Ben'.

Lieder: German art songs. For someone with reasonable musicianship but little solo experience, I would recommend Schubert. He wrote about 500 of them, but have a look at 'Heidenröslein', 'Die Forelle', and 'Wohin' and take it from there.

Elizabethan love songs. A lot of these were originally madrigals, and were then arranged for solo voice and lute, and from there passed into voice and piano repertoire. Try 'Sweete Kate', 'Faine would I change that note', 'Fine knacks for ladies'.

All of these are reasonable choices for a beginning solo singer, and come in a variety of keys depending on your range.