Mark Hayes- arranger

Mark Hayes

Hayes was born in Ladysmith, Wisconsin on March 28, 1953 . After receiving a bachelor's degree in piano performance from Baylor University, he entered a career in composing and arranging music. He has written numerous choral arrangements of sacred music, and published several books of arrangements for solo singers and solo piano.

Waldesgespräch- Robert Schumann

Character Study:
I.Before
1.The events that have occurred prior to this song that have led me to this point is that I have gone into the dark forest on a hunt.
2.  My thoughts and feelings before the song begins are eagerness and confidence.
II.  During
1.  I am a wandering huntsman.
2.  I am young and handsome, smart, confident, and valiant.
3.  The other character involved is the witch Lorelei.
4.  Lorelei is a temptress sorceress who calls sailors and ships to their death on the rocks.  She is very beautiful and seems to be sweet.
5.  I am in the dark forest.
6.  I am speaking to Lorelei.
7.  Yes, we have seen each other in the woods.
8.  Right now I think that Lorelei is just a harmless beautiful maiden and I am telling her that it is getting dark and cold and that I will take her home.
9.  My thoughts throughout this song are that I am going to be a lucky guy and get to take this beautiful maiden home with me.
10.  N/A
III.  After
1.  My thoughts and feelings as the song ends are dread and fear because I have just realized this beautiful young lady is the treacherous witch Lorelei and that I have been cursed.
2.  The events that will occur as a result of this song is that I will most likely die or become her slave.

Lyrics and Translations:
Es ist schon spät, es ist schon kalt,
It is already late, it is already cold;
Was reit'st du einsam durch den Wald
why do you ride alone through the forest?
Der Wald is lang, du bist allein,
The forest is vast, you are alone;
Du schöne Braut! ich führ' dich heim!
you beautiful bride! I will see you home.

Gross ist der Männer Trug und list,
Great are men's deceit ad cunning;
Vor schmerz mein Herz gebrochen ist,
my heart is broken with sorrow
Wohl irrt das Waldhorn her und hin
the straying horn sounds here and there
O flieh'! du weisst nicht, wer ich bin.
O flee! You know not who I am.

So reich geschmückt ist ross unt weib
So richly adorned and both horse and lady
So wunderschön der junge Leib;
so wondrously beautiful is your young body
Jetzt kenn' ich dich--Gott steh' mir bei!--
now I know you--God be with me!--
Du bist die Hexe Lorelei!
you are the Sorceress Lorelei!

Du kennst mich wohl--von hohem stein
You know me well--from a high cliff
Schaut still mein schloss tief in den Rhein
my castle silently gazes deep into the Rhein
Es ist schon spät, es ist schon kalt
It is already late, it is already cold
Kommst nimmermehr aus diesem Wald
never again shall you leave this forest.

Untitled #34

This week I have been working on my composer bios, IPA's, translations, and character studies for my voice folder.  My primary focus as far as the music has been Ici Bas.  I plan to sing this on recital for Tuesday night.  The main concern was that I may have been singing too heavily with this song.  Ive been practicing and warming up with lots of buzzes and some bright E's, I's, and Ah's.  When I warm up I haven't of course been only focusing on the higher end of my range.  I've been trying to also focus on the lower end of my range so that I can keep it forward and bright and not so heavy and chesty, but I try not to spend too much time down there because its very exhausting for me after a while.  I don't want to hurt myself.  As for memorization, it wasn't difficult for me to get back into it at all.  I was happy to realize that I wouldn't require any work on that.  I'm glad to focus mainly on the musical/technical aspects of the song and really work on perfecting it.  Another concern of mine is the french pronunciations.  I feel like most of the words are correct but I feel that as time has passed since I've sung it, some of the vowels or pronunciations have fallen by the way side.  I would like to check back with you on Monday to be sure things are 100%.

It's good to be back!

So I just had a three day weekend and I didn't have to work. Yay! I decided to take this time to organize, regroup, and do something fun with the family.  First, I did all of my homework that is going to be due shortly and practiced some piano and worked on my voice folder.  During our studio meeting last week, I took a lot of notes so I decided to type them up.  I also looked up all of my songs off iTunes, bought an mp3 player, and a speaker system that clips to you belt so that I can listen to my music at work (good for swing choir music too).  Im not allowed to wear head phones to work because its a safety hazard.  I also bought some tabs and a black binder.  After I had most of my resources gathered such as; music, notes, table of contents, syllabus...etc. I began putting it together and organizing it.  I also had time to bust out some of my old notes for some of the songs I have done from previous semesters and sat down and reviewed them.  I really want to take these songs to a whole-other level.  I believe that I can perfect them and that there is something more to be obtained from getting a chance to review literature I've experienced in the past.  I am super excited to get started.  I want to see what I can really do with these puppies!

Untitled #33

I have been working very diligently on Non so piu and O del mio dolce.  Wednesday in Studio I sang Non so piu for the first time and it went well but I still have problems with putting a "schwa" in cosa and some other words in the lyrics.  I am also working on not holding back because as you and other people have pointed out, I will approach a note with power and intensity and then back off quite noticeably.  I am also trying not to push so hard because I dont want to hurt myself.  I get very fatigued after I sing Non so Piu or O del mio Dolce and I want to sing more efficiently and more healthily.  So as I am practicing my repertoire this weekend, I am trying to sing lighter.  Does that make sense?  I feel like the reason I am getting so fatigued is because I push to hard and sing to heavy.  So I am trying to sing lighter and more effortlessly.  I also got the comment that the words sound too harsh for Italian... I'm not exactly sure what that means, but maybe I am enunciating too harshly?  Or am I overdoing the accents and the vowels?

Goodnews =)

btw... I sang Aus Meinen Grossen in recital yesterday and I aced it!!!! woohoo!!!! Thankyou so much Dr.H.  I am thinkin about you and hope that you are filled with peace:)

Untitled #32

Why is memorizing a foreign language so hard??? I can memorize any English song with no problem...I will spend over a month working on a foreign language song that is less that half the length of the English song and still mess up every single word.  And what's more frustrating??? I can even speak all the foreign lyrics out in rhythm correctly, but when I get up to sing it...Phhhttt! it all goes out the window like I don't even know what I'm doing! Like I've never even sang it before!! What is my problem??!! I am tired of this...lets move on...
I have been working on the last verse of O Del Mio Dolce Ardor.  I never fail to mess up this one note and its so easy, I just cant get myself to hear it.  The first tone starts on a fifth and goes directly down to the third and then there is some ornamentation.  After the ornamentation it goes back up to the fifth where I originally started.  I have no problem finding that pitch, but for some reason (and it baffles me) I cannot for the life of me find the third again! I always go to the fourth.  I've been pounding it into my brain I have been telling myself over and over...Chelsey it is the same interval! this is not that hard! but I continue to miss it every time :(