Resources for Planets
Resources for Elijah 7 June 2026
Elijah individual voice part rehearsal tracks on Chord Perfect
Paul McCreesh Elijah – Darius preferred version (each movement separate)
Elijah YouTube Bryn Terfel and Renee Fleming – playlist (each movement separate)
Advice about preparing for rehearsals
Before rehearsals
- Get to know the score – are there solo parts, does your voice part stop at any point, does the music divide at any point?
- Make sure you know which line you should be on, and mark where it isn’t clear.
- Mark repeats and where they go back to a previous page; use a tab to easily find it.
- Have a look at where your note comes from for a new entry and join it to yours.
- Put tabs in for different sections of the piece to make them easier to find.
- Use paper clips to close off any sections that are going to be missed out.
During rehearsals
- Always bring a pencil to mark your score, especially the points provided by Darius.
- Mark all breaths.
- For staggered breathing take a whole beat out to take a proper breath. Mark where you are going to take it so you do it in the same place each time.
- Make a note of any section that needs a little more work. Don’t rely on your memory.
More work at home
- Focus on the sections that you find difficult. Don’t try and get through it all every time, focus on small chunks and learn them well.
- Use rehearsal tracks (see below), a piano, or even your old descant recorder for the sections that need extra work.
- Read through the text in rhythm, especially for fast sections and when singing in a foreign language. This is just as important as learning the notes.
- Listen to a recording of the work; it will give you a good idea of the piece as a whole. Use your score to help you sing along, or just listen to it as frequently as you can. You will find recordings of most classical works on YouTube. but there are always links to the recordings recommended by Darius at the top of this page.
Rehearsal tracks
- Rehearsal tracks, where available, help you learn your voice part by listening to it in isolation and/or with the other voice parts in the background.
- Some have words, others don’t.
- Where available there will be links to rehearsal tracks at the top of this page.
- Where to find rehearsal tracks:
- Cyberbass, which has a huge catalogue and is free to use online; http://www.cyberbass.com.
- Chord Perfect – free, good resources for a limited number of works – most of the ‘big works’ are there.
- Choralia, for listening to, or downloading, mp3 files of your voice part, just notes (no words) http://www.choralia.net/mp3catalogue.htm.
- Learn Choral Music, which provides free Midi files; http://www.learnchoralmusic.co.uk.
- choraline.com. These aren’t free. The Chorus has a 10% discount; type SHEFFIELD in the discount code box on the shopping basket page, or say you’re a member of SPC if ordering over the telephone on 01285 644845.
- Divageek; not easy to search but has rehearsal resources for some lesser-known works, so worth a search; https://www.divageek.org/
Other resources
- If you have an IPad or IPhone there is an excellent App called ‘Learn my part’ by Steve Tyler; get it here. To see what it offers and how to use it, have a look at this useful video.
- The National Youth Choirs of Great Britain free online musicianship course to help singers improve their skills in rhythm, tonal centering, and intervals. For their worksheets or resources see www.nycgb.org.uk/musicianship.
Vocal scores
- The Chorus Librarian hires vocal scores for members (£5 hire fee to cover costs).
- The librarian sometimes arranges bulk buys of vocal scores for members who wish to buy their own copies.
- Choraline has a huge library of scores which you can check out online; however, always check before buying a score so that you don’t waste money on the wrong edition.
Go to next page: Preparing Your Voice