The original score was missing the pickup 8th notes going into m.13 (the "first" measure), so I decided to go back to the original soundtrack album and replace the missing notes with a 6/4 measure, which became m.12. I added a repeat from m.12-15, and that gets us close enough to the original.
One of the challenges of this piece is figuring out how to divide the American and Russian delegations up. There's nothing special in the background lyrics that forces them one way or the other, so it's sort of wide open. We had all the Russians singing at m.20, all the Americans responding at m.22, the Russians at m.24, and then the Americans at m.26.
What really drives the vocal choices is the blocking. The director should be free to block this any way they want to, and the music choices should reflect those choices -- NOT the other way around. It becomes more natural looking. But in general, the song should be a kind of "call/response" style.
One minor change in m.57: Instead of "Wingeing Peasants", I replaced it with "Whining Peasants". Seemed less complicated, and something that wouldn't puzzle audiences.
For the coda, I simplified the Russian 4-part choir by getting rid of the caesura and fermata. It's one of those spots where seeing a conductor is critical, and since they can't see me, it made more sense to just put a ritard on it. Then m.74 is sung a capella, and held -- THAT is where the fermata goes. And as they hold that note, we segue into The Arbiter.
The first measure of Arbiter is that F# minor 3rd played as a trill. I let the guitarist establish that, bring it out, and then counted in the drums. One of the really neat things about this moment is that the last song ended in F# minor, so the transition is seamless.
I cut a bunch of measures, and just repeated m.6 4X, then jumped to m.8, and went into the song from there. Much simpler. It's one of those times where adding complexity doesn't buy you anything, and you might as well keep it simple.
We played this song pretty much straightforward, but made a big cut at the end, going from the end of m.78 to m.159. Then played to the fermata in m.164, and spiked on an 11 count. This is another of those "no conductor" moments; in this case, we all need to cut off together, so the number of counts for the last note is "pre-programmed".
On the applause segue, we jumped to m.167 3X, vamped on m.171 until "OVERRULED", then on to m.175, vamp m.178 until "ALUMINIUM", then jump to m.182, vamp m.184 until "OBJECTION!", then vamp m.189 until "SPIRIT OF CHESS", then play the last two bars.
The choices that were made for these two pieces highlight the use of the original soundtrack album in making musical decisions. In general, I favor going with simple, because it's quicker for rehearsals and easier on the ears. There's not a single audience member who will complain because there weren't enough vamps, or because the intro to Arbiter wasn't long enough. Simplifying those musical moments helps keep the show moving, which is something that most directors want.
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