Choral-Techniques-1.1.Pdf

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Choral-Techniques-1.1.Pdf Choral Techniques By: Gordon Lamb Choral Techniques By: Gordon Lamb Online: < http://cnx.org/content/col11191/1.1/ > CONNEXIONS Rice University, Houston, Texas This selection and arrangement of content as a collection is copyrighted by Gordon Lamb. It is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/). Collection structure revised: March 8, 2010 PDF generated: October 29, 2012 For copyright and attribution information for the modules contained in this collection, see p. 388. Table of Contents 1 Introduction 1.1 Choral Techniques Foreward . 1 2 Conducting Techniques 2.1 Conducting Posture and Use of a Baton . .. 3 2.2 Use of a Baton . 4 2.3 Holding the Baton . 4 2.4 The Preparatory Beat . 6 2.5 Starting on the First Beat . 6 2.6 Starting on the Last Beat . 17 2.7 Starting on Other Beats . 20 2.8 Starting on Fractions of Beats . 21 2.9 The Release . 54 2.10 The Conducting Beat Patterns . 55 2.11 Conducting Asymmetrical Beat Patterns . 63 2.12 Practicing the Patterns . 64 2.13 Conducting Fast Tempos . 65 2.14 Conducting Divided Beat Patterns . 66 2.15 Unmetered or Free Rhythms . 72 2.16 Mixed Meters and Other Conducting Problems . 74 2.17 The Fermata . 115 2.18 Use Of The Left Hand In Conducting . 116 2.19 Tempo Determination . 119 2.20 Change of Tempo . 121 2.21 Establishing the Mood . .. 123 2.22 Expressive Conducting . 123 2.23 Performance Conducting . .. 123 3 Score Study 3.1 Melodic Considerations . .. 125 3.2 Harmonic Considerations . 125 3.3 Rhythmic Considerations . 126 3.4 Part Examination . .. 127 3.5 Text Considerations . 127 3.6 Texture of the Choral Piece . .. 128 3.7 Applied Score Study . .. 128 3.8 Rehearsal Analysis of Indeterminate Music . 136 4 Interpreting Choral Music 4.1 Interpreting Choral Music . .. 141 4.2 The Renassiance Period (1400-1600) . .. 143 iv 4.3 The Baroque Period (1600-1750) . 147 4.4 The Classic Period (1750-1820) . 151 4.5 The Romantic Period (1820-1900) . 153 4.6 The Twentieth Century And Early Twenty-First Century . 155 5 Choral Diction: English and Latin 5.1 Choral Diction-English and Latin . 161 5.2 English . .. 162 5.3 Formation of Vowels . 167 5.4 A Relaxed Jaw . 168 5.5 A Relaxed Tongue . .. 168 5.6 Proper Space in the Mouth . 169 5.7 Vowel Modification and Range Considerations . 171 5.8 Darkening Vowels . .. 171 5.9 Consonants . 173 5.10 Marcato and Legato Diction . .. 173 5.11 Special Diction Problems . 179 5.12 Prefixes . 180 5.13 Word Seperation and Text Flow . .. 181 5.14 Liturgical Pronunciation . 188 6 Choral Tone 6.1 Choral Tone . 193 6.2 Abdominal, Diaphragmatic, or Intercostal Breathing . 195 6.3 Fundamentals of Voice . .. 197 6.4 Resonation . 197 6.5 The Choral Tone . 198 6.6 The Vibrato and Choral Singing . 199 6.7 Warm-Ups and Warm-up as a Tune-up . 200 6.8 Growth in the Choral Tone . 208 7 Selection and Placement of Voices 7.1 Selection and Placement of Voices . 213 7.2 Personal Data Card for Auditions . 214 7.3 The Audition for A Select Ensemble . ..
Recommended publications
  • An Approach to the Pedagogy of Beginning Music Composition: Teaching Understanding and Realization of the First Steps in Composing Music
    AN APPROACH TO THE PEDAGOGY OF BEGINNING MUSIC COMPOSITION: TEACHING UNDERSTANDING AND REALIZATION OF THE FIRST STEPS IN COMPOSING MUSIC DOCUMENT Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Musical Arts in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Vera D. Stanojevic, Graduate Diploma, Tchaikovsky Conservatory ***** The Ohio State University 2004 Dissertation Committee: Approved By Professor Donald Harris, Adviser __________________________ Professor Patricia Flowers Adviser Professor Edward Adelson School of Music Copyright by Vera D. Stanojevic 2004 ABSTRACT Conducting a first course in music composition in a classroom setting is one of the most difficult tasks a composer/teacher faces. Such a course is much more effective when the basic elements of compositional technique are shown, as much as possible, to be universally applicable, regardless of style. When students begin to see these topics in a broader perspective and understand the roots, dynamic behaviors, and the general nature of the different elements and functions in music, they begin to treat them as open models for individual interpretation, and become much more free in dealing with them expressively. This document is not designed as a textbook, but rather as a resource for the teacher of a beginning college undergraduate course in composition. The Introduction offers some perspectives on teaching composition in the contemporary musical setting influenced by fast access to information, popular culture, and globalization. In terms of breadth, the text reflects the author’s general methodology in leading students from basic exercises in which they learn to think compositionally, to the writing of a first composition for solo instrument.
    [Show full text]
  • Music and the English Lyric Poem: Explorations in Conceptual Blending Qualification: Mmus
    Access to Electronic Thesis Author: Dr Keith Green Thesis title: Music and the English Lyric Poem: Explorations in Conceptual Blending Qualification: MMus This electronic thesis is protected by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. No reproduction is permitted without consent of the author. It is also protected by the Creative Commons Licence allowing Attributions-Non-commercial-No derivatives. If this electronic thesis has been edited by the author it will be indicated as such on the title page and in the text. Music and the English Lyric Poem: Explorations in Conceptual Blending Keith Michael Charles Green Thesis submitted for the award of Master of Music Department of Music May 2011 Music and the English Lyric Poem: Explorations in Conceptual Blending CONTENTS Chapter One: Preliminaries and Theory 1. The Nature of The Problem 1 2. Research on Poetry and Music 4 3. Saussure’s Contribution 9 4. The Nature of Poetry and Jacobson’s Theory 21 Chapter Two: The Music of Poetry and the Poetry of Music 1. Prosody of English 33 2. The Musicality of Poetry 36 3. The English Lyric Poem 39 4. English Song and the Problem of Irony 41 Chapter Three: Songs, Settings and Blended Spaces 1. Semantics and Syntax of Music 49 2. Music, Poetry and Conceptual Blending 55 3. Conceptual Blending in Butterworth’s Setting of ‘Loveliest of Trees’ 61 Bibliography 69 Chapter One: Preliminaries and Theory Of one thing we can be certain; what Hanslick called ‘the morganatic marriage of words and music’ is the least destructible of all musical elements (Gerald Finzi, Crees Lecture, 1954).
    [Show full text]
  • When We Listen to a Piece of Music Performed by an Orchestra We
    hen we listen to a piece of music performed by an orchestra we hear the melody, accompaniment, countermelodies and a whole W range of sounds that add richness and depth to the piece. But to understand the essence of a musical composition, we would start with the SING TO THE melody. The melody is the starting point for understanding the entire com- position. LORD: This article is like the melody line of a musical piece. In this case the full musical composition is the document, Sing to the Lord: Music in Divine MUSIC IN Worship. This document, which is a revision of the 1972 document, Music in Catholic Worship, was approved by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops on November 14, 2007. It provides current guidelines for DMNE those who prepare the liturgy. Sing to the Lord: Music in Divine Worship should be read in its entirety to WORSHIP be fully appreciated. Yet how many liturgical documents, books, magazines, and other publications sit on desks and coffee tables waiting to be read by A SUMMARY OF THE USCCB people with good intentions but with little time? DOCUMENT ON MUSIC This article is a summary of what is contained in Sing to the Lord: Music in Divine Worship. It is hoped that "hearing" the melody will give the reader the basic information found in the full composition. The numbers refer- Rev. ThomasB. lwanowski enced and the headings in this article correspond to the actual document. Capitalizations follow the style used in the document. Pastor I. WHY WE SING Our Lady of Czestochowa Liturgy uses words, gestures, signs, and symbols to proclaim the action of Jersey City, New Jersey God in our life and to give worship and praise to God.
    [Show full text]
  • Benjamin Britten: Art Song, a Synthesis of Words and Music — Issues and Approaches to Text-Setting
    Benjamin Britten: art song, a synthesis of words and music — issues and approaches to text-setting Paul Higgins The clarity of verbal expression evident throughout Benjamin Britten’s (1913-1976) art songs serves to highlight the central role which the setting of pre-existing written poetic texts occupies in his compositional process and in the aesthetic appreciation of his interpretation. For Britten, text acts initially as a source of musical imagination, but it also provides the composer with a framework with which to express musically his selected, literary-based ideas. To place Britten’s contribution against the backdrop of an important musicological debate, it is necessary to clarify a number of key issues. Firstly, text-setting is often loosely perceived as the composition of music of a pre-existing written text, yet in Britten this approach has been expanded to incorporate the process whereby music and text are simultaneously generated. A good example of this is Britten’s close collaboration with W.H. Auden in the song cycle Our Hunting Fathers op.8 (1936),1 in which Auden not only wrote two poems but also selected and modernised three other poems, specifically for Britten to set to music. Secondly, that text-setting is a broader concern than the activity of mere text underlay and is significant to all text-based vocal music: its study also involves syntactic and semantic considerations. Syntactic concerns make reference to the musical response of the work to the structure of the source text, at both the level of overall form, and sentence and word patterns.
    [Show full text]
  • Understanding Music Past and Present
    Understanding Music Past and Present N. Alan Clark, PhD Thomas Heflin, DMA Jeffrey Kluball, EdD Elizabeth Kramer, PhD Understanding Music Past and Present N. Alan Clark, PhD Thomas Heflin, DMA Jeffrey Kluball, EdD Elizabeth Kramer, PhD Dahlonega, GA Understanding Music: Past and Present is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribu- tion-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. This license allows you to remix, tweak, and build upon this work, even commercially, as long as you credit this original source for the creation and license the new creation under identical terms. If you reuse this content elsewhere, in order to comply with the attribution requirements of the license please attribute the original source to the University System of Georgia. NOTE: The above copyright license which University System of Georgia uses for their original content does not extend to or include content which was accessed and incorpo- rated, and which is licensed under various other CC Licenses, such as ND licenses. Nor does it extend to or include any Special Permissions which were granted to us by the rightsholders for our use of their content. Image Disclaimer: All images and figures in this book are believed to be (after a rea- sonable investigation) either public domain or carry a compatible Creative Commons license. If you are the copyright owner of images in this book and you have not authorized the use of your work under these terms, please contact the University of North Georgia Press at [email protected] to have the content removed. ISBN: 978-1-940771-33-5 Produced by: University System of Georgia Published by: University of North Georgia Press Dahlonega, Georgia Cover Design and Layout Design: Corey Parson For more information, please visit http://ung.edu/university-press Or email [email protected] TABLE OF C ONTENTS MUSIC FUNDAMENTALS 1 N.
    [Show full text]
  • Setting Text in English to Music by Matthew C
    Setting Text in English to Music by Matthew C. Saunders All Rights Reserved © 2008 Permission to Duplicate Granted for Personal and Educational Uses www.martiandances.com Setting an English text to music is a crucial skill for many composers, arrangers and songwriters. A few basic considerations exist that will help you to communicate your chosen text more clearly. Many of these considerations will also prove helpful in languages other than English. I. Patterns of Stress and Meter A. Pronunciation of any multisyllabic English word includes both stressed and unstressed syllables. Unlike other languages, for example, Spanish, there are no hard and fast rules about the placement of stress in spoken English, but each word has a “correct” pattern of stress. Consider: a-poth -e-car-y ho-mo-gen -e-ous ho-mo -ge-nize While in some languages, such as German, the lexical root is nearly always a stressed syllable, this is clearly not the case in English as shown above. The musical implication of this fact is that setting an English text requires a very clear understanding of both the stress patterns of the text and the metrical patterns of the music. These should generally occur in such a way as to reinforce each other. Stressed syllables should be musically accented in some way, if not in multiple ways. When developing the melody for your text, consider the following types of accent: 1. Metric accent—the most common and most clearly understood in tonal music. By placing a word or syllable on the strong beat of a measure in relation to other words, we highlight its importance.
    [Show full text]
  • Renaissance Terms
    Renaissance Terms Cantus firmus: ("Fixed song") The process of using a pre-existing tune as the structural basis for a new polyphonic composition. Choralis Constantinus: A collection of over 350 polyphonic motets (using Gregorian chant as the cantus firmus) written by the German composer Heinrich Isaac and his pupil Ludwig Senfl. Contenance angloise: ("The English sound") A term for the style or quality of music that writers on the continent associated with the works of John Dunstable (mostly triadic harmony, which sounded quite different than late Medieval music). Counterpoint: Combining two or more independent melodies to make an intricate polyphonic texture. Fauxbourdon: A musical texture prevalent in the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance, produced by three voices in mostly parallel motion first-inversion triads. Only two of the three voices were notated (the chant/cantus firmus, and a voice a sixth below); the third voice was "realized" by a singer a 4th below the chant. Glogauer Liederbuch: This German part-book from the 1470s is a collection of 3-part instrumental arrangements of popular French songs (chanson). Homophonic: A polyphonic musical texture in which all the voices move together in note-for-note chordal fashion, and when there is a text it is rendered at the same time in all voices. Imitation: A polyphonic musical texture in which a melodic idea is freely or strictly echoed by successive voices. A section of freer echoing in this manner if often referred to as a "point of imitation"; Strict imitation is called "canon." Musica Reservata: This term applies to High/Late Renaissance composers who "suited the music to the meaning of the words, expressing the power of each affection." Musica Transalpina: ("Music across the Alps") A printed anthology of Italian popular music translated into English and published in England in 1588.
    [Show full text]
  • 21M011 (Spring, 2006) Ellen T. Harris Lecture VIII Romantic Era (Nineteenth Century) Literature: Gothic Novels (Mary Shelley, F
    21M011 (spring, 2006) Ellen T. Harris Lecture VIII Romantic Era (Nineteenth Century) Literature: Gothic novels (Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, 1818), Grimm brothers Fairy Tales, Thoreau’s Walden, Dickens Poetry: Goethe, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Shelley, Keats, Byron, Whitman, Blake, Edgar Allan Poe Visual Arts: Constable, Turner, Cezanne, Rodin, Renoir, Monet, Seurat, Van Gogh Science, engineering and industrialization: Pasteur; McCormick’s mechanical reaper; Morse’s telegraph; Daguerre’s photographs; first electric light; ether used for first time as anesthetic (1846); Darwin Origin of Species (1859); first Atlantic cable (1864); first transcontinental railway in U.S. (1869); Suez Canal (1869); Bell’s telephone (1876); Edison’s phonograph; automobile patented by Daimler; Roentgen’s X-ray Exploration: Lewis and Clark reach the Pacific (1806); first steamship crosses the Atlantic (1818); Japan opened to the West (1853) Politics: 1804: Napoleon crowns self Emperor; 1805: Battle of Trafalgar; War of 1812 between England and U.S.; Napoleon invades Russia (1812); Battle of Waterloo (1815); Greek War of Independence (1822); July Revolution in France (1830); Polish revolt (1830); Revolutions in France, Prussia, Austria-Hungary and Italian states (1848); Marx and Engels, Communist Manifesto (1848); Italian risorgimento (1859-1861); Anti-slavery movement in U.S.; Abraham Lincoln, United States Civil War (1861-1865); Spanish- American War starts (1898) Kerman/Tomlinson provides a good introduction to this century (pp. 235-242). The following builds on that, emphasizing certain aspects. 1. The Romantic Era is closely tied to literature; the very name comes from the literary world, whose authors themselves adopted the name “Romantics.” For music, the close tie with literature is a dominant feature of the period.
    [Show full text]
  • NUPTIAL MASS MUSIC PLANNING WORKSHEET Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish
    NUPTIAL MASS MUSIC PLANNING WORKSHEET Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish Overall principles to remember in considering your wedding music: 1. In the Roman Catholic Nuptial Liturgy, every effort should be made to involve the Assembly in “full, conscious, and active participation” in the Liturgy, including elements of the music. 2. The text of the music chosen should ideally speak of the love between husband and wife as a reflection of God’s love for us, his Church. Secular love songs may not be used in the liturgy. 3. A wedding liturgy is not a “wedding with concert attached.” The music selection and the musicians must be servants of the liturgy, not the other way around. 4. In Roman Catholic Liturgy, we worship together, here and now. Therefore, the Church does not allow recorded music or accompaniment/karaoke tracks in the Liturgy. OUTLINE OF THE NUPTIAL MASS: *Denotes a point in the liturgy where music may be used +Denotes musical setting of the Ordinary parts of the Mass. Should all be chosen from the same setting. *Prelude: About 20 minutes of music; can be instrumental and/or vocal. *Seating of the Mother(s): Music to accompany the mothers as they are seated. May be either an instrumental or vocal selection. INTRODUCTORY RITES *Procession(s): Plural if music changes for the bride. Greeting *Gloria Should be a song of the entire Assembly if possible. At OLMC, possibilities include: • Simple Latin chant (Journeysongs #169) click here to listen • Roman Missal chant in English (Journeysongs #146) click here to listen (videos 5, 11, 12, 14, & 16) • Mass of Wisdom (Janco) click here to listen • Mass of Renewal (Stephan): (Journeysongs #176) click here to listen Opening Prayer LITURGY OF THE WORD 1st Reading May be read by a Catholic lay reader.
    [Show full text]
  • Classic Terms
    Classic Terms Alberti Bass: "Broken" arpeggiated triads in a bass line, common in many types of Classic keyboard music; named after Domenico Alberti (1710-1740) who used it extensively but did not invent it. Aria: A lyrical type of singing with a steady beat, accompanied by orchestra; a songful monologue or duet in an opera or other dramatic vocal work. Bel Canto: (Italian for "beautiful singing") An Italian singing tradition primarily in opera seria and opera buffa in the late17th- to early-19th century. Characterized by seamless phrasing (legato), great breath control, flexibility, tone, and agility. Most often associated with singing done in the early-Romantic operas of Rossini, Bellini and Donizetti. Cadenza: An improvised or written-out ornamental virtuosic passage played by a soloist in a concerto. In Classic concertos, a cadenza occurs at a dramatic moment before the end of a movement, when the orchestra stops so the soloist can play in free time, and then after the cadenza is finished the orchestra reenters to bring the movement to its conclusion. Castrato The term for a male singer who was castrated before puberty to preserve his high soprano range (this practice in Italy lasted until the late 1800s). Today, the rendering of castrato roles is problematic because it requires either a male singing falsetto (weak) or a mezzo-soprano (strong, but woman must impersonate a man). Counterpoint: Combining two or more independent melodies to make an intricate polyphonic texture. Empindsam: (German for "sensitive") The term used to describe a highly-expressive style of German pre- Classic/early Classic instrumental music, that was intended to intensely express true and natural feelings, featuring sudden contrasts of mood.
    [Show full text]
  • Inforiwatfonto USERS
    INFORIWATfONTO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction Is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand comer and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6” x 9" black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. ProQuest Information and teaming 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 USA 800-521-0600 UMI' THE ART SWGS OF ANDRÉ PREVIN WITH LYRICS BY TONI MORRISON: HONEY AND RUE AND FOUR SOSGS FOR SOPRANO, CELLO AND PIANO A PERFORMER'S PERSPECTIVE D.M.A. DOCUMENT Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Misical Arts in the Graduate School of the School of The Ohio State University By Stephanie McClure Adrian, B.M., M M ***** The Ohio State University 2001 D.M.A.
    [Show full text]
  • The Conducting Manual of the Basic Music Course
    B A S I C M U S I C C O U R S E CONDUCTING COURSE THE CONDUCTING MANUAL OF THE BASIC MUSIC COURSE Copyright © 1992 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints All Rights Reserved Printed in the United States of America Published by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Salt Lake City, Utah 31241 5/92 CONTENTS Introduction to the Basic Music Course......1 Pickup Beats...........................................38 Some Tips on Conducting.........................63 Advice to Students ......................................3 The Cutoff between Verses Interpreting Hymns....................................64 in Hymns with Pickup Beats..................39 Learning about Beats and Rhythm .............4 Sight Singing .............................................65 Fermatas ................................................40 Counting the Beats .....................................6 Cutoff: Review.........................................41 Guidelines for Teachers.............................67 The Time Signature ....................................7 Dotted Notes ..........................................42 How to Set Up Basic Time and Tempo ........................................8 Music Course Programs .......................67 Hymns with Dotted Notes .......................43 The Downbeat.............................................9 In Stakes ..............................................67 The Two-beat Pattern................................44 Notes and Rhythm ....................................10 In Wards ..............................................67
    [Show full text]