Christmas Concert Essays - Unison, Piano, Choir,

Christmas Concert I recently attended a Christmas concert at St. Augustine's Church in Elkdridge. For the most part, the choir blended well together. Sometimes the sopranos could be heard more clearly because their section seemed to be the most powerful. The choir had very clean cutoffs, which made them seem very unified. They communicated the text pretty well. It was easy to sense the mood of the piece from the expression they put into it. However, their dynamics could have been better. They used some dynamics, but the range from piano to forte wasn't as wide as it could have been. Their diction was excellent; they enunciated their consonants and their vowels were pure with very few diphthongs. I think this was partly because their posture was good and because they sang with the perfect mouth shape. All of them stood up straight and sang with a dropped jaw at all times. I could not judge their breath support too well just by looking at them, but I think it was fairly good because of the energy of the pieces they performed. Even when they were singing at a piano volume, their energy showed through and could be heard in the music. Without adequate breath support, this energy would not have been possible. Their breath support also made for a nice legato sound. They staggered their breathing well enough so that I never heard any spots in the music where everyone took a breath at once, except for rests. They were never off key either; their intonation was perfect. The sound was always pure and on pitch, except when they sang in unison. Their unison was still perfectly on pitch, but the sound was less pure because individual voices tended to dominate the group. Overall, I thought this was a spectacular concert. Like the choir here at Wilde Lake, I noticed some weaknesses, but their strengths easily outweighed them.

5 Words Often Mistakenly Used in Place of Others

5 Words Often Mistakenly Used in Place of Others 5 Words Often Mistakenly Used in Place of Others 5 Words Often Mistakenly Used in Place of Others By Mark Nichol When writers, amateurs and professionals alike, employ words or phrases they have heard spoken but not seen written, they often mistakenly use a homophone or near homophone of the intended word. Each of the sentences below includes a word that is often used erroneously. A discussion and revision accompanies each example. 1. Given punk rock’s innate tendency to flaunt convention, the style fits the subject matter in its own roughshod sort of way. Flaunt, a verb meaning â€Å"show off,† is frequently confused for flout, a verb meaning â€Å"show disregard for†: â€Å"Given punk rock’s innate tendency to flout convention, the style fits the subject matter in its own roughshod sort of way.† 2. Others honed in on what they consider the company’s poor customer service and monopolistic tendencies. Hone means â€Å"sharpen† or â€Å"make more effective,† but what is meant here is home, as a verb meaning â€Å"proceed† or â€Å"direct attention toward†: â€Å"Others homed in on what they consider the company’s poor customer service and monopolistic tendencies.† 3. She had been the principle trial attorney for the public defender’s office. Both principle and principal derive from the Latin term princeps, meaning â€Å"prince† (the Latin word is also the origin of prince), but principle serves only as a noun, while principal, which can be a noun that refers to a key or leading person or to an amount of money, is also an adjective meaning â€Å"most important,† as in this sentence: â€Å"She had been the principal trial attorney for the public defender’s office.† 4. They were fulfilling a central tenant of the democracy envisioned by our founders. Though tenant and tenet both stem from the same Latin word, tenere, meaning â€Å"hold,† the former refers to someone who rents or leases property, while the latter, meaning â€Å"principle,† is the correct choice for this sentence: â€Å"They were fulfilling a central tenet of the democracy envisioned by our founders.† 5. Her deep-seeded resentment erupted one day in a spontaneous burst of indignation. â€Å"Deep seeded† seems to make sense in a reference to an emotion that is submerged in someone’s psyche, but there is no such idiom; the correct phrase is â€Å"deep seated†: â€Å"Her deep-seated resentment erupted one day in a spontaneous burst of indignation.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Misused Words category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:45 Synonyms for â€Å"Food†15 Types of Documents90 Verbs Starting with â€Å"Ex-†