'When the fire to ice does burn...'
Our round for August might not not have a *huge* amount to do with August but we love it anyway. It was published in 2014 for the 50th anniversary of our friends Sing for Pleasure, and they kindly gave us permission to include it here.
Using the round
This round can be sung in four parts – with entries at the end of each line, or for the more adventurous round singer, in 8 parts. It has an optional ostinato which adds a further layer of crunch to the piece!
The notes are not difficult, but the round has a fair range to it, so think carefully about where to pitch it (our recording is down a tone from the written pitch). The real challenge of this round is breathing - it’s really tricky to find somewhere to breath in the last two lines! When I wrote this round, it was designed to challenge singers to plan their breath and think ahead to those last two lines – but now (January 2021!) when choral singers have been singing so little for the best part of the year, and then mostly in isolation on Zoom etc – it really is a challenge. But there are work arounds – have a listen to our recording for one suggestion!
The notes are not difficult, but the round has a fair range to it, so think carefully about where to pitch it (our recording is down a tone from the written pitch). The real challenge of this round is breathing - it’s really tricky to find somewhere to breath in the last two lines! When I wrote this round, it was designed to challenge singers to plan their breath and think ahead to those last two lines – but now (January 2021!) when choral singers have been singing so little for the best part of the year, and then mostly in isolation on Zoom etc – it really is a challenge. But there are work arounds – have a listen to our recording for one suggestion!