Christmas Musicals for Church
Issue link: http://read.jwpepper.com/i/1399477
A Word about the Instrumentation/Orchestration of Angel Band A large aspect of the conception of Angel Band was the imaginative use of an array of traditional and non-traditional instruments together. This instrumentation is exciting both aurally and visually to the overall presentation of the music, and instruments should be prominently displayed as they perform for the enjoyment of all. In the instance of the acoustic instruments associated with mountain ballads and bluegrass music, a rhythm chart guides what is played. Each instrument adds a unique timbre and should be encouraged to use their own improvised "fills" and "riffs", and substitution of instrumentation or doubling of certain instruments is possible when needed. Percussion parts can be spread out over multiple players, or reduced, if necessary. For example, if a bodhran is not available, a floor tom-tom or cajón may be used. If there is no accordion, a concertina or harmonica could be substituted. A Word about Pronunciation The pronunciation of the word "angel" merits particular consideration for Angel Band, since this one word is the focus of the work and occurs many times throughout. Pronunciation of the second syllable, "-gel", is the reason we draw attention to the word. The composers strongly encourage the performance of this syllable with no accent, and purposefully de-accented as if there were no "e" at all in the syllable. This is called the unaccented "schwa" in phonetics, and is the mid-central vowel sound in the middle of the vowel chart, denoted by the International Phonetic Symbol [ə]. An example in English of this sound is the vowel sound of the "a" in the word about. The sound we do not want is the stressed or accented version of this vowel sound, or the pronunciation of the vowel as an "eh" sound as in the word "yell." A Word about the Service Included in the publication of Angel Band is a suggested order of service taken directly from The Book of Common Prayer service of Evening Prayer, or Evensong. Angel Band was conceived for concert performance, but was also composed for possible use in a service or liturgical setting. The printed service, scriptures, and prayers may be adopted or adapted as desired or as appropriate to a given occasion.