You should have been assigned to the second of the three male choirs and downloaded the MIDI files of the 3 choruses: Gegrüßt o König, Der Hahn erhebt, Seht die Sonne. (Alternatively you may have received an audio CD containing all of the MIDI files for the Bass section, in which case these are tracks 3, 4, and 7.) The MIDI files match directly to the score, starting from Page 2 at bar 144; refer to the bar-by-bar notes below.
The MIDI files contain the individual vocal part in Trombone voice in the left stereo channel, with the piano accompaniment and full chorus sounding as Acoustic Grand Piano in the right channel. This allows you to control the "mix" of vocal part and accompaniment by using the balance control on a stereo system. A click track is not provided as this is often inimical to the complex rhythms; in the actual concert you will still have to count, and without a click track for a crutch!
The choice of trombone voicing is because the "Vox humana" MIDI sounds can vary largely from system to system; the tone of the Trombone voice is usually strong and clear throughout its tessitura ranging from high tenor to low bass notes; and the Trombone sustains unlike the sound envelope of the Acoustic Grand Piano, which decays immediately after the initial attack.
Note that the first choral entry is actually in the middle of the bass soloist's lied (the soloist's part is marked Bauer, or "peasant"). Four bars of the bass soloist's line is given from bar 108, then at bar 112 there is a subito pianissimo and a quick crescendo. At bar 114 the full orchestra explodes triple forte, and the male chorus shouts "holla!" in the rhythm indicated; the diamond-shaped note indicates only approximate pitch, so pitch the shout roughly at the top of your chest range.
This section from bar 108 to bar 123 is not provided as a MIDI file, since the vocal line is shouted, not sung. The context given in the score, showing the six bars before the choir entry, should be sufficient in rehearsal.
After 20 more bars sung by the bass soloist, at bar 144 there is the start of an enormous orchestral crescendo into the first chorus. The marking at bar 149 Nach und nach rascher indicates a gradual accelerando to the Allegro at bar 157. At bar 168 poco pesante there is a dissonant series of trills before the tonality of G is established with the Bass 2 entry.
For the time being, choir II 1st basses should learn the lower note in the divisi (D). This may be changed later on.
A crescendo hairpin should be added from the start of the bar up to the fortissimo marking.
The Choir II basses are in exact canon with the tenors at a minim's distance and an octave lower. But the tenors are in synchrony with the G minor/D major chord changes whereas the basses are a minim behind, so on Page 7 at bar 191, the basses are still singing slightly dissonant notes against the D major of the accompaniment - until the third beat and the change to D major notes.
Do not labour the triplets. Make sure you sing these lightly and in time, in order to be halfway through bar 194 and on the beat.
All basses are in unison here. Note the first section to bar 205 is in B major, and then turns to B minor on the last quaver of bar 205. B minor is then gradually abandoned after bar 210. 1st basses should learn the unison bass part, but be aware that with the tenors divided in up to 9 parts, some 1st basses may be needed to join the 2nd tenors (singing the small stave marked for Baritone II).
1st basses should sing the upper E flat in bars 230 and 231. Note in bar 232 the triplet rhythm begins in the accompaniment in the previous bar.
The first note given here is a low D as in the orchestral score rather than a high D above middle C as in the vocal score.
The regular one-in-a-bar disappears from the accompaniment, so you must count.
The new Collected Edition of Schönberg’s works published in 2002 has correctly numbered bars from figure 39 onward; at some point after 1911 Schönberg compressed two bars in the original version into one bar (the current bar 389 with 3/4 time signature) with the result that only 9 bars separate figures 39 and 40, and figure 40 is really bar 399 rather than bar 400. All of the subsequent bar numbers given in this edition are one greater than the numberings in the Collected Edition.
Choir II should learn the lower stave of the Bass 1 divisi. Where this lower stave is divided in two parts (e.g. bars 674 - 678), sing the higher notes. The sequence of chords in bars 672 - 674 is both chromatic and weird, so the phrases will have to be carefully memorised. The chord sequence keeps moving from the minor key to the major key a semitone higher, and lowering a semitone at each repetition. Starting halfway through bar 672: E flat minor, E major, D minor, E flat major, D flat minor, D major, and so on until B flat minor is reached at bar 674.
For these 2 bars only, learn the bottom line of the lower stave of the Bass 1 divisi (D natural - F flat - D natural).
Choir II should learn the bottom line of the Bass 1 divisi.
(Note, an early version of the MIDI file mistakenly followed the upper line instead.)
Remember C flat = B natural.
The Choir 2 Bass 1 part has a bar's rest in the Universal Edition full score and vocal score. The editor believes it to be a mistake by either the composer or the publishers, since it interrupts the phrase in mid-sentence, and destroys the basses' otherwise exact repetition of music sung 4 bars earlier and an octave higher by the tenors. Furthermore the extra bar, comprising two E flats lasting for a crotchet in total, does not interfere with the harmonic structure, but reinforces similar notes in two other tenor parts.
These two pages may be sung by a semi-chorus.
On the initial audio CD the second note in this bar is given as A, following the typeset orchestral score. A comparison with the manuscript, as well as the 2nd viola and 2nd horn parts of the full score indicate the note should be F, a semitone higher than the preceding E.
The final word, Pracht, may be expected to last a very long time (up to 20 seconds, with a crescendo, in one popular recording). Stagger breathing.