Teaching Notes
God of Nations
Sing our national anthem with pride and at a fairly brisk pace! In our Festival we sing a straight choral version with no
riffs or melismas (“twiddley bits”!). “God” is pronounced as it is written with a short “o”, rather than the “Gard” often
heard at sports fixtures. Ensure that the first line of the Maori verse is pronounced phonetically as follows: “Air - ee - hor
- ah - ah - too - ah”. Keep the mouth shape north-and-south especially on the “a” vowels e.g. “God”, “na -tions” *nayshones]. Ensure that the final consonants are produced, especially on words ending in “d” e.g. New Zealand. Sing the
following lines as one phrase to make sense of the text: “Kia hua kote pai, Kia tau tou atawhai” (v.1), and “Guard
Pacific's triple star from the shafts of strife and war” (v.2) – there is an arrow above the middle of the phrase to remind
you not to take a break there. Please note that in the version we now use featuring the Concert Band the anthem starts
with a drum roll.
The Bare Necessities
This was a timely choice given the recently released remake of the film. Keep the energy flowing throughout. Things to
look out for are a quick entry into bar 4 after the initial beat rest and all the words ending in a hard consonant, like “t” or
“d”, and the softer ones, like “f” and “m” – we want to hear them all, but be careful not to overstate them, too. At letter
C (bar 28) be careful as these words are tricky – it’s “bees” but “tree” and “me”. The children will need to be superconfident here because the Senior Choir goes into harmony and comes off the tune. Be careful with the tuning of the
perfect 5th leaps at letter C (Bs-Es). Work on bars 15-16 when the melody suddenly jumps up to that E – ensure it
doesn’t “pop out”, remaining part of the relatively smooth melodic line (imagine a curved line rather than a sudden
spike).
Tihore Mai
The translation for this song is: Clear the sky, cease the rain, let the sunshine.
Fly, Kingfisher, onto the puwharawhara, ruffle your wings lest you catch a chill
Flee, o worm, out of your burrow lest it be filled with water and you drown.
This song is written in a great key for the children but it is essential that they are singing in their head voices as it would
be very easy to belt it out in the chest voice and create a harsh tone. Always keep the tone smooth and round and don’t
force the sound. A few specific things to watch – bars 18-19 no breath; bar 23 “ua” is sung like crotchets u + a; and bars
27-28 no breath.
You’ll Be In My Heart
Again an excellent range for your students, but beware of a “shout” tone. We need to have a warm rounded tone on
this piece as it is a mother (ape) singing to her baby. Be very clear on all the cut-offs i.e. don’t carry the notes longer
than they should. Articulate the words well as, like some of the other songs, this has a story that we need to hear. The
arrangement we have used is similar to the Phil Collins recording but lots of his little touches of ornamentation have
been “ironed out” to work better with our large choirs.
Windy Nights
Robert Louis Stevenson was inspired to write the haunting poem “Windy Nights” by the nights he spent in Scotland as a
boy. Lying in bed he was often mesmerized by the galloping rhythm he heard in the wind as it whipped about his house.
It would be useful to introduce the song to children as a poem initially and have them speak it aloud using the correct
rhythms. It is important to put the consonants clearly on to the ends of words so that the story is easily heard e.g. “all
night long in the dark and wet” and “late in the night when the fires are out”. Please teach the “by he comes back at the
gallop again” phrases carefully as they are not the same.
Didn’t It Rain
The story of Noah and the flood is the subject of this lively setting based on the traditional spiritual. It is very important
that the audience is able to hear all the words to follow this story, especially in the verses. Please sing the word “rain”
with a tall “north-and-south” mouth shape each time it occurs in the text. At letters B (bar 27) and E (bar 55) we really
need to hear these words as these sections tell the story but are very wordy. At letters C (bar 35) and F (bar 63) ask the
children to sing more softly but intensely so it has the effect of an excited whisper.
An Imaginary Menagerie
With this song, the words are the most important part in order to communicate the story. Consonants such as “t” and
“d” should be over-enunciated. At letter C (bar 24) you will notice where diction and pronunciation will be critical in
order to hear the difference between the words “flew” and “flue”. “Flue” should be sung with slightly more rounded lips
than when singing the word “flew”. At bar 45, the word “two” should again be pronounced with very rounded lips,
“toad” with slightly less rounded lips, and the word “toed” with slightly less rounded lips again. Bar 76 and onwards
should remain light and delicate to ensure the sound does not become too pushed or shouted while singing at this
lower range. We hope the children will really enjoy the tongue-twisting lyrics in this humorous song written especially
for us by Philip Norman.
Joy to the World
The opening of this medley is the well-known Joy to the World by G.F. Handel, often sung at Christmas time. It should be
sung in as much a classical singing style as possible with focus on rounded, tall vowels (north-and-south singing). Bar 24
in the first verse, the “v’n” of “Heav’n” should be elided to the word “and” following it, as is usual. The next section
(“Jeremiah was a bullfrog”), the singing style can be a bit more relaxed from this point onwards – however, it must not
be pushed or shouted. There are a number of different versions of this well-known song but it is important that we sing
the Music Festival version as accurately as possible so that there is a unison sound amongst the many singers who will
be performing this. Ensure long notes (minims, dotted minims, semibreves) are sung to their full length throughout,
especially at letter G (bar 88).
Babe
The singing in this song must be as legato (smooth) as possible while still ensuring that words are pronounced clearly.
There should be a clear difference between the verse at letter A (bar 9) and the verse at letter B (bar 17) – while they
are the same words and same notes, the dynamic level and intensity has increased slightly. At letter C (bar 25) there will
be a large orchestral presence so it is important that the beginnings and endings of words are over-pronounced so that
this travels over the orchestra.
Octopus’s Garden
Conducted in two (beats), this piece is bright and fun. If we make sure all cut-offs are in the right spot, the long notes
are held for their full value and the students have their head voices engaged, this will be a very rewarding song to sing.
Be aware that at letter G (bar 73) the Senior Choir cut out and sing a counter-melody and then harmony, so the melody
must still remain super-confident without their support.
Circle of Life
This finishes the show so let’s make it a strong ending! Please note that on your rehearsal CD the first 12 bars are
omitted as this is being performed by the Special Choir. The tessitura of the opening is quite low so work on projection
and the words so we hear it. At bar 32 ensure the children take a breath but don’t enter late for “It’s the circle of life”.
Also note that at bars 44 and 68 they are singing E naturals where the prevailing chord uses E flats – this is intentional
and is what is sung (we use the movie version, not the stage version). The main thing here is to get that “drag” on the
triplet crotchets.
General Note
In order to help with musical phrasing, all of the songs have been specially arranged so that instead of cumbersome –
and sometimes confusing – phrase marks, breaths can usually be taken where rests appear on the staves. We find this
is helpful to both teachers and children alike and makes phrasing a lot easier and clearer. Where it is the intention to
carry on without a breath, an arrow appears above the stave e.g. in “God Defend New Zealand”.
The Music Festival Team would like to thank you in advance for all your hard work and support.