Sidney Campbell Sing we merrily
This anthem has to be full of energy. A recurrent nightmare of mine is that I’ll find myself with a choir which insists upon Sing we mare-illy—as in “old grey mare”. The first syllable each time the words appear is an accented MAY—as in MAY-REALLY.
The recurrent running sixteenth-notes should be clearly articulated, like Handelian runs:
and at "merrily' on page 3:
The same sort of thing comes later in the Alleluias, too.
We will of course want to enunciate both consonants at the start of the word BLOW—as B’LOW
The letter L is important also in the word ALLELUIA, which is repeated several times on pages 6 & 7.
Pwease don't sing AWAYWOOYA! L always comes out better if it's enunciated with the point of the tongue, not the middle of it as we usually do in ordinary speech.
A lot can be done just in preparing the clear enunciation of the text:
Sing we merrily unto God our strength; make a cheerful noise unto the God of Jacob. Blow up the trumpt! Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, ev'n in the time appointed: for this was made a *statute for Israel, and a law of the God of Jacob. Alleluia!
* Be sure you enunciate the second T of STATUTE-- it seems to me that Israel had quite a bad time when they began to worship a STATUE--as in the golden calf.