You should have been assigned to the third 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 Tenor section, in which case these are tracks 13, 14, and 15.) 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 key of G minor is established with the Bass 2 entry.
For the time being, choir III 2nd tenors should learn the lower note in the divisi (D). This may be changed later on.
The last note of the bar lacks a staccato mark in the Universal Edition orchestral score, and appears thus in editions 1 and 2 of my score, but is present in the composer’s manuscript full score. The staccato mark should be added.
Do not labour the triplets. Make sure you sing these lightly and in time, in order to be at the start of bar 193 and on the beat.
The first note of bar 204 requires an accent (>). 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. For the time being, learn the upper notes where there are 2nd tenor divisi, but be aware that this section may be re-divided to achieve a proper balance. It is possible some 1st basses will join in here to sing the lower notes of the 2nd tenor divisi.
(Note, the first version of the PDF score and MIDI sound files available for download before mid-November omitted some of the notes in bar 209 doubled by the 1st and 2nd tenors. The poor legibility of the orchestral score contributed to this error.)
Note the triplet rhythm begins in the accompaniment at bar 231.
The 2nd and 3rd notes are both A as in the orchestral score rather than D 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.
Note the F sharp and D sharp at the beginning of this bar should be the same pitches as the G flat and E flat in the previous bar. For the third note in the bar Choir III should sing the lower D natural.
Choir III should learn the lower stave of the Tenor 2 divisi. Where this lower stave is divided in two parts (e.g. bars 675 - 677), sing the lower part. 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.
Choir III should learn the lower line of the Tenor 2 divisi.
Remember E double flat = D natural.
These two pages may be sung by a semi-chorus.
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.