CHAPPELL
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ACT II
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Act II, No. 1 (No. 16)
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tempo: dotted quarter = 60-63
Generally: There are a number of ways Sir Ruthven can be played. One, of
course, is more or less straight as a villain. I rather prefer that Sir
Ruthven be peeved at this villainy; thus, for instance, the "ha! ha!" would
be more annoyed than maniacal. Adam, in contrast, could take up the role
more eagerly (at least until quelled by Sir Ruthven); his first "ha! ha!"
might thus be stereotypically villainous, with the second starting that way
but dying off at a glance or gesture from Sir Ruthven.
95,2,1: tempo is dotted quarter = 66 at vocal entry
95,2,3: nyoo
95,3,4: roll r in Ruthven
95,4,4: styoo-ahd
96,1,1-2: more legato here -- a bit menacing
96,1,2 et seq.: legato
96,2,2: accent on bad; cut off t of Bart. on second eighth
Act II, No. 2 (No. 17)
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tempo: dotted quarter = 116-120
98,1,4: watch the eighth rest. Slight crescendo on sustained note.
98,3,1: though you should observe the eighth rest, try not to break the
phrase, which ends at "me" in 98,3,3.
98,5,1: drop back a little in dynamics, to allow for a crescendo in 98,5,4
98,5,5: drop back to mf/mp
99,1,1 et seq.: keep the dotted rhythms crisp. We should have a sense that
this sequence is going somewhere; a steady crescendo may help.
99,2,3: t in trim should not be made into ch
99,3,1 et seq.: chorus should be careful not to let the dotted rhythms
slide into triplets. Count-singing is helpful here. As with Richard, some
movement within this rhythmically repetitious passage is necessary, though
not everyone needs a crescendo.
99,4,3-4: altos should watch tuning, especially at the octaves
100,1,1 et seq.: generally, make the commas audible with phrase breaks
(especially at quarter notes, which you can cut a little short). Almost a
sense of pouting at first.
100,4,4: here Rose should sound more annoyed -- more consonants, less legato.
101,1,1: lots of f and fl
101,1,3: marcato, with lots of t
101,1,4: glottal attack on "ah," to give sense of anger
101,2,1: same exaggerated consonants
101,2,3: this "Ah" should be lyrical, relaxed -- I fancy that Richard may
have a bit of business that overcomes Rose's annoyance.
101,2,4: this is back to the winsome, (almost) artless Rose
102,3,3: women are accompaniment here; drop down to mp or a little above
Act II, No. 3
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tempo: quarter = 66-76 (fluctuates - slower at the start, a little faster
around "By the old love," slower again at the end)
103,1,3: slight phrase break after "love" -- cut that note a little short;
slight accent on "Thou."
103,3,1: crescendo through measure and into next
103,3,2: phrase tails off at end of measure; small ritard
103,3,3-4: diminuendo through phrase, starting from about mf or a little under
103,4,1: t'thou
103,4,2: keep phrase alive without swooping
104,1,1: we'll extend the rests a bit. The final eighth will be in the new
tempo.
104,1,2: tempo is dotted quarter = 116-120 (as before)
104,1,4: prepare the high G with a good full breath before 104,1,3. No
accent.
104,2,1-3: watch the dotted rhythm, lest it turn into triplets
104,3,1-3: this is usually incomprehensible. Lots of consonants will help.
104,3,4 et seq.: carry over notes from last number
Act II, No. 4
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tempo: dotted quarter = 52
106,1,4: tempo is dotted quarter = 40
106,1,6: back to 52-56
106,4,1 et seq.: breathy sound -- lots of air, lots of consonants. But
don't remove all support. Though the tempo is slow, we need to keep the
pulse firmly in mind.
106,4,4: s on second beat
106,5,4: no aspirate on eighth
107,1,3-6: crescendo through phrase, adding body to the voice (less
breathiness, more resonance) as you ascend
107,4,1: tempo is dotted quarter = 42; solid forte. T of baronet goes with
that word, not at start of "of."
107,4,2: tempo is a little slower -- tenuto, pesante
107,4,3: lots of k sound
107,4,4: back to 42 (same for next sequence)
108,1,4 et seq.: poco a poco accelerando through 109,2,1. Poco a poco
crescendo through 108,2,2; start this passage around mp. Lots of consonants.
108,2,3: You should be up to a little over mf here. Now diminuendo for two
bars.
108,3,1: Resume crescendo to end (but observe marked dynamics).
109,1,1: tempo should be up to 66-69
109,2,1: tempo holds around 72; final bars may slow a little
109,2,4: cutoff is start of next measure -- keep it going, with staggered
breathing if need be
109,2,5: tempo is 60 per dotted quarter
109,3,6: tempo is 50 per dotted quarter
109,4,4 et seq.: somewhat flexible, though retaining rhythmic backbone
110,1,3: accent stern
110,1,5 - 110,2,1: extend rest a little; "who knows how?" should be
breathier, scared/perplexed.
110,2,2: start out at comfortable mf, with a steady crescendo through the line
110,3,2-3: lots of consonants
110,3,4 - 110,4,1: slight accent on poor; hold "ghost" a little beyond the
marked eighth
110,4,3: cut "goes" a little short to end phrase
110,5,2: don't anticipate l of jollier -- put in on 2d syllable
Act II, No. 5
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tempo: quarter = 132
generally: My favorite recording of this is the 1962 D'Oyly Carte -- Donald
Adams at his best. I don't recommend copying anyone else's performance,
but there is plenty of food for thought here.
111,2,3: wihnd may be easier to sing than wynd; as you prefer, though
111,3,2: little accent on bat
111,4,2-3: keep phrase going through octave jump
112,1,1: lots of bl and d in "black dogs bay"
112,1,2 et seq.: hold a little something back for 112,2,3 - 112,3,2; doing
this passage on the low side of forte should do it
112,2,2: men should start out mf+ and crescendo through the descending
chromatics
113,1,3: sts of "ghost's" should fall before the third beat, so the attack
on "high" can come exactly on the third beat
113,2,1: closing n on downbeat of next measure
113,3,2: sts of "mists" at end of first quarter, so l of "lie" can fall
exactly on second beat
113,3,3: cut off "fen" at start of third beat; accent "From"
113,4,2: keep phrase going to 114,1,1; if you need a breath somewhere in
here, try cutting "stones" short in 113,4,1
114,1,3: lots of m
114,2,3: copy notes from previous verse (same with chorus)
116,1,1: lots of k
116,1,3: roll rs; lots of gr
116,3,3: crescendo and diminuendo in this phrase
116,4,1-2: keep this phrase mp or a little above (chorus still sings ff)
116,4,3 - 117,1,1: solid forte
117,3,2: If David's staging permits, and if Roderic is comfortable, we may
sustain the high D to the end of the line. Choral "Ha! Ha!" staccato,
almost shouted.
Act II, No. 6
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tempo: half = 104-108
118,1,3 et seq.: relatively bright sound for the first page or so
118,1,5: keep the eighth short -- no triplets here
118,2,4: accent on eighth
118,3,1: watch the rhythm; the first note is a quarter, not, as I have
heard it, an eighth
118,3,3: see above
118,3,5: see above
119,1,1 et seq.: darken sound; start mp and crescendo through the bar
119,1,3: partial diminuendo
119,1,4: back up
119,1,5: brighten sound
119,2,5 - 119,3,1: legato; give sense of regret
119,3,2-3: legato; one phrase
119,3,3-4: same
119,3,4 - 4,1: same
119,4,1-2: ff under accents
119,4,2 et seq.: same as above
120,1,3: tempo is half = 40 for Ruthven's recitative; back up at start of
120,1,5
120,1,5: each "He pardons us" is one phrase, but less legato, relatively
bright sound
120,2,3-4: accent each syllable of "Hurrah!"
120,4,1: ritard
120,4,6: tempo is dotted quarter = 52-54
121,1,1 et seq.: carry over instructions from before. Very much sostenuto.
121,2,5: start diminuendo, through end of singing. Slight ritard at last
few bars. Start this passage around mp, so you have somewhere to go.
121,3,1: slight pause at comma
121,3,3: a tempo
Act II, No. 7
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tempo: dotted quarter = 69
122,4,4: slight stress on "No"
122,5,3: slight stress on "blush"
124,2,1-3: a bit of bounce in the voice (perhaps the old Margaret is
readying a re-appearance? No, but . . .)
124,3,3-4: lots of p -- very disapproving (the new Despard loathes attention)
125,1,2: slight slide up in "wand'ring" to point the word
125,1,4 - 125,2,1: little stress on "dab"; brighter sound -- Despard takes
pride in this
125,2,1-3: Margaret should give sense of boredom or stifled yawn -- perhaps
darker sound, dying off at end of phrase
125,4,2-3: accent "dull"; phrase break; slightly resentful at end of phrase
Act II, No. 8:
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tempo: half note = 120 (depending on our singers; I'd like to have a little
in reserve for the final trio passage)
Generally: There's little point in detailed notes here; just get the words
and notes out cleanly and crisply. When (if?) you have to take a breath,
it is generally best to take it at the start of a phrase and convert the
two eighths into an eighth rest (for the breath) and two sixteenths. Do
not take a break and then come back in with the old words and note values;
the orchestra will have passed you by then. If possible, we'll accelerate
starting at the trio passage starting 132,4,1.
Act II, No. 9:
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tempo: half = 112
Act II, No. 10
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tempo: quarter = 92
135,2,4: no pauses after cower, mickle, sever, as in some recordings
135,3,1-2: verse 3 -- though still legato, set off "Aye, for ever and for
ever" a bit from the surrounding phrases -- a little more resolute, perhaps
135,3,5 - 135,4,1: follow dynamics in accompaniment
135,4,2 - 136,1,1: the groups of three quarter notes should be brought out
a little, in the context of legato. In particular, the eighths for "pretty
little flower" should be somewhat lighter than the quarters for "great oak
tree."
136,1,2: Roderic should enter p/mp, with a slight crescendo starting at
136,1,3.
136,2,2: bring out the comma, but don't interrupt the phrase until the
exclamation point. Turn the quarter of "day" to an eighth and eighth rest,
so you can take a catch-breath.
136,3,3: don't end the phrase at "free" -- keep it going through "flower"
in the next measure
136,4,3-5: I'll dictate the last few bars, which will slow quite a bit and
extend the rests a bit more.
No. 11
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tempo: half = 100-104
Here I can't give notes for the Chappell score in the usual way, because
my Chappell has only the Toye ending. (Oddly enough, I couldn't get the
newer Chappell through any U.S. or even Canadian distributor.) However,
the musical notes from the end of the Act I finale will apply here as well,
which helps.
First, the structure. We will start with the original finale ("When a man
has been a naughty baronet"). We will sing this through the choral cutoff
on "Basingstoke!" just before the transformed version of "Oh, happy the
lily." We will then cut to the Act I finale, where the chorus enters with
the nine-eight "Oh, happy the lily," taking this to the end. Connecting
the two choral sections is the first two bars of the introduction to the
Toye Act II finale. The "-stoke!" of the old finale will be cut to a
quarter-note.
You can mark this in your scores by drawing a line immediately after the
final choral "Basingstoke!" in the original finale, directing you to go to
the Toye finale. There cross out the third bar (the bar immediately before
the choral entry). This will give you all the vocal music, though the Toye
finale abridges the dance section after. Alternatively, you can turn to
the Act I finale at 89,3,2; while the accopmaniment is different at 89,3,2,
and while Robin will not be singing, that will give you all the music.
Now for a few musical notes.
Chorus (verses 1-3): At the end of each of the first three choral entries,
the three quarter notes should be detached. The final consonants for
verses one and three should fall on the start of the fourth quarter-note.
Robin: pull back dynamics slightly at "For I'm naturally diffident and meek!"
Robin, Despard, and Margaret: be sure that "Is to" (Robin) and "From this"
(D&M) is an Ab, not an A natural, as I have heard too often in performance.
Despard and Margaret: lots of closing k, in each case falling at the start
of the fourth quarter of the measure. Accent each syllable of "Basingstoke."
Chorus (fourth verse): as with D&M, closing ks should be firm and on the
start of the fourth quarter note of the pertinent measure (until the end).
The last "They will toddle off tomorrow" should start around mp/mf and
build to a solid forte at "town." The rapid "settle"s will be much easier
to sing if you sing se-teuh-se-teuh-se-teuh, etc., putting in an l only for
the final settle (se-teuh-se-teuh-lin'-the . . .). Put in a break after
"town" by cutting the last half-note to a quarter with a quarter rest, on
which the n will fall. The "stoke!" at the end should be cut to a dotted
quarter in the new nine-eight meter, with the k falling at the start of the
second beat.
Then repeat the notes from the Act I finale, beginning at 89,4,1.
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