Step13 Repertoire

My Funny Valentine

is a show tune from the 1937 Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart musical Babes in Arms.

The song became a popular jazz standard, appearing on over 1300 albums performed by over 600 artists. 

 Although I haven’t studied all 600, I have always loved the Chet Baker version

(2) Chet Baker - My Funny Valentine - YouTube

 and we will use this as our pronunciation guide singing a new a capella arrangement.

 We discovered while recording Morten Lauridsen – O Magnum Mysterium that chromatic works that are challenging to sing live become much easier in the virtual world, so I have made it pretty scrunchy!

Bogorodyitse Devo

is the fifth movement of Rachmaninov's famous fifteen-movement All-Night Vigil, or 'Vespers' (Op. 37), and is a tribute to Theotokos ('God Bearer' - the Orthodox name for Mary, mother of Jesus), making it similar in concept to the 'Ave Maria' of the Roman Catholic tradition.

 If you don’t know it check this out - (2) Rachmaninov - “Bogoroditse Devo” All-Night Vigil (Oktavist, Yuri Vishnyakov) - YouTube

 These two exquisitely contrasted pieces were written 25 years apart in the first half of the twentieth century.

All our regular Learning Resources will be available for both pieces.

 I hope you approve……………

BP