Dear 2017 BVWOH Musicians, It is a privilege for me to be coming back to assist Carl for the 40 th anniversary of this unique event. It will be such a glorious celebration of what Don and Carl have built over the years through their untiring dedication and hard work. We owe them immense gratitude for the opportunity they have given us to make music at Bay View. Every single musician attending this year has been part of this event before. This means you already know what degree of preparation is needed to deliver on our mission statement: The Bay View Week of Handbells exists to give advanced ringers an opportunity to prepare a concert to be performed at a high professional level. Please take as seriously as ever the need to purchase your music early, incorporate the performance notes, mark your bell changes, practice on a regular basis and send Carl and me any questions you may have along the way. Being able to ring all the music at tempo at the first rehearsal is not a suggestion. It’s a requirement. It’s a considerable amount of work, but the payoff is being able to join with dear friends in presenting exquisite music in a place of amazing beauty. Let’s make the 40 th a year to remember! Fred Gramann Let me start with a quick word about Watch Windows which are included in these performance notes. I am requesting that you to put a box around the treble and bass clefs in the places that involve tempo changes. The box serves a dual purpose. First, it makes it impossible to accidentally miss a tempo change. You can see the Watch Window coming and know that it signals a tempo change, thus a time to watch. Secondly, for the BVWOH you are asked to memorize these spots. This is not new. It is included under the list of expectations for this event: Memorize short passages of music in order to better watch the director and make page turns. The beauty of the box is that you can see where to look up and where to look back to in the music so you do not lose your place on the page. Here is an example from Anitra’s Dance: Let me also say a word about memorization . If this isn’t something you regularly do and are simply petrified of trying, let me make this easier for you: A SUPER IMPORTANT FACT : You don’t have to memorize everyone’s part. Only your own pattern. (Say that over to yourself several times. Let it sink in.) Let’s take the example on the previous page from Anitra’s Dance . Let’s say you’re pos. 5 (D5E5). What’s your pattern? I can hear you saying, “Wait just a minute! That looks like a level 1 piece. You mean it could be that easy if I just look at my own pattern?” My reply: “Yes, it can be, if you just look at your own pattern.” So, memorize these two measures. (Got it?) Now mallet the notes in m. 83 and m. 84 while pretending to look at a conductor. Imagine he’s slowing down. (He is!) :^) Okay so far? (Take a breath.) Now, SLOWLY ring measure 82 while looking at the score, then look up at m. 83 (Find Fred!)(You know your pattern. Don’t panic.), then look back down at m. 85 and keep ringing. Do it again. Make it a habit. Make it automatic. Each time you rehearse this spot over the next few months, review it (what’s my pattern?) and do it several times. Eventually you can try this with the practice files that will be available. In the massed rehearsals you will of course listen to all the notes around you, but your only responsibility will be to know your pattern and watch me during those two measures so you line up exactly with my beats. It’s as simple as that. Let’s look at some other patterns: Pos. 8 (C6D6) is a little harder, but not much. Because you play part of the grace note figure (I’ll explain how to deal with them later in the notes), it’s best to also memorize the last note of m. 82: Follow the same steps as above. Pos. 9 (E6F6): Here’s what you have to learn by memory: Follow the same steps as above. Having trouble? Chunk it down into manageable sections. Memorize just the second measure. Got it? Now add the first measure. Pos. 7 (A5B5): Like C6D6, you need to memorize the end of m. 82 as part of your pattern. (The explanation of grace notes under Anitra’s Dance will explain why you actually ring an eighth note at the end of m. 82) Follow the same steps as above. “Oh, Fred, will every Watch Window be this easy to memorize,” you ask with slightly moistened eyes. Fred answers: “Some will be easier. Some will be harder. But if you focus on your pattern and work this process, it is totally possible. Approach it with a positive attitude and patience. You can do it.” (Fred pats you gently on the shoulder at this point.)(You sigh.) Okay, dry those eyes (sniff) and let’s get on with the notes. PASSACAILLE mm. 1-8 Please do not guess at the rhythm. Subdivide like crazy. Got a metronome? (If not try the free app “Metronome Beats.”) Set it on 300 beats per minute (or slower to start with) and work the dotted eighth note and sixteenth note rhythm. Clap it. Snap it. Tap it. TD it. Ring it. Ring the sixteenth notes lighter (slightly softer) than the eighth notes. m. 25 The dotted quarter equals the quarter note in m. 24, thus the same main pulse. mm. 33-36 Black notes: subdivide into sixteenth notes. Achieve mathematical exactness. mm. 37-43 Note which of your two consecutive bells is “strong” (thus on the main subdivisions: 1st and 3 rd sixteenth notes of each pattern). Know your pattern. Emphasize the strong bell. Think “eighth notes divided in two” instead a stream of sixteenths. Note that each sixteenth note pattern is repeated once. In the following measure the pattern moves one sixteenth note earlier, changing which of your bells is on the strong subdivision. m. 45-47 The LV indication is for a single note in each measure. The others are R. m. 49-56 The chromatics can be handled by weaving. One exception: Pos. 4 (B4C5) should ring the A4 in m. 51. m. 51 The cautionary accidentals on C6 & 7 are a typo. Disregard. m. 57-59 The LV s are obviously only for the bass clef. m. 60 The LV starts on 3.4 (C5 & 6) and is for both clefs. m. 67-68 Put a Watch-Window around them and memorize your pattern. The poco a poco rit. will depend on your being with me 100%. ANITRA’S DANCE Staccato Please mallet all staccato notes except for the following which are TD : mm. 15-18/31-34 A#6 & B6 (pos. 11 TDs both bells) mm. 97-100 D#7 & E7 ( TD as marked) Rows 1, 3, 5 cover E6 only Rows 2 & 4 TD D#7, E7 only Pos. 2 (E4F4) should mallet both the D#4 and E4 Pit 3s: One ringer should mallet both the D#3 and E3. You can decide who will do that. Dynamics Use a highlighter and mark them all. They make or break the piece. Especially observe the quick change from f to p in mm. 43-45/51-53. End of m. 81 through m. 84 the dim. goes from mf to p. Please write in a hairpin decrescendo in these measures to remind you. Watch Window There is one: mm. 83-84 – poco rit. to a tempo . M & M (mark and memorize) Grace notes Let me try to de-mystify these pesky little added notes and explain how to ring them confidently: 1) They come before the beat. 2) You observe the note value indicated, stealing it from the previous beat. 3) Where there are two grace notes do not damp the first, only the second. is actually is actually When you ring both grace notes, no problem. Right? When they are shared, still no problem - if you think them this way: is actua lly Pos. 5 (D5E5) thinks this: Pos. 6 (F5G5) thinks this, placing the sixteenth note exactly where it belongs: Approaching it this way allows adequate prep time for the sixteenth. If you wait to hear the first grace note I bet you’ll be late. :^( [Having trouble with the sixteenth? Mallet the following down-beat on the foam.] If both positions do what they are supposed to do it will be perfect. :^) Apply this concept to any combination of grace notes in this piece. Page turn Manage a SILENT page turn when repeating from the 1 st ending back to m. 39. Doubling As noted mm. 89-96. PRELUDE AND HYMN The footnotes are quite clear. Read and observe them. There will be complete cut-offs at the end of mm. 2 and 4. The SB indications through m. 12 are for all bells except the G6-D7-B6 figure in mm. 4 and 7, all up-stemmed notes from m. 10 onwards, and G3. mm. 1-12 Pos. 2 (E4F4) should take care of the G4 Pos. 3 (G4A4) the A4 Pos. 4 (B4C5) the B4 Pos. 5 (D5E5) the D5 Pos.