DOCSLIB.ORG

Alice Parker: American Choral Composer, Arranger, and Educator

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Alice Parker: American Choral Composer, Arranger, and Educator University of Missouri, St. Louis IRL @ UMSL Dissertations UMSL Graduate Works 8-1-2005 Alice Parker: American Choral Composer, Arranger, and Educator Gail H. Fleming University of Missouri-St. Louis, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://irl.umsl.edu/dissertation Part of the Education Commons Recommended Citation Fleming, Gail H., "Alice Parker: American Choral Composer, Arranger, and Educator" (2005). Dissertations. 621. https://irl.umsl.edu/dissertation/621 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the UMSL Graduate Works at IRL @ UMSL. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of IRL @ UMSL. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ALICE PARKER: AMERICAN CHORAL COMPOSER, ARRANGER, AND EDUCATOR by GAIL H. FLEMING M.M. - SIU-Edwardsville, 1976 B.A. - Northwestern University, 1970 A DISSERTATION Submitted to the Graduate School of the UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI- ST. LOUIS In partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF EDUCATION In Learning-Instructional August, 2005 Advisory Committee Fred Willman, Ph.D. (Advisor) Kathleen Brown, Ph.D. John Hylton, Ed.D. Carole Murphy, Ed.D. © Copyright 2005 by Gail H. Fleming Fleming, Gail, 2005, UMSL, p. ii Abstract This investigation is an in-depth examination of Alice Parker’s philosophy of music in relation to choral teaching, arranging, and composing. The researcher proposes that within the context of multi-cultural American music, Alice Parker’s unique approach to music making and how it is manifested within her choral compositions, arrangements, and teaching techniques is a significant and valuable area of study for music educators and students. Further, it is beneficial to administrators and the general public, as well. Within the literature review, Alice Parker’s unique and effective approach to music making is related to the need for a philosophy of music, educational philosophies in general, the history of music education in American public education, and current trends in choral education, arranging, and composing. The scope of the study includes a detailed analysis and explanation of Alice Parker’s philosophy of music, a process that begins with the text and the melody, within three of her diverse choral compositions and arrangements. Her unique method of song leading, known as a SING, is thoroughly examined, utilizing the April 6, 2004, SING, hosted by the researcher, as an example. In addition to positive feedback from participants in Alice Parker’s workshops and SINGs, the constructive results of the researcher’s own implementation of Ms. Parker’s teaching techniques are scrutinized. The appendices include a complete “annotated works” list of Alice Parker’s choral arrangements and compositions, two CDs of an interview with Ms. Parker, conducted by the researcher, and a DVD of one of her SINGs. Fleming, Gail, 2005, UMSL, p. iii The research concludes with a discussion of the significance of Alice Parker’s theory of text and melody as the basis for successful music making and how music arranging, composing and teaching can be interwoven within the process. The researcher suggests that Ms. Parker’s multi-faceted approach to music making prompts questions for further research into more comprehensive-based, rather than strictly performance- oriented, music education programs. Fleming, Gail, 2005, UMSL, p. iv Acknowledgements Writing this doctoral dissertation has been an extremely rewarding and enriching personal and professional journey for me. Not only has my outlook towards music education changed, but I feel that I have been transformed personally, as well. None of this would have been possible without the help, guidance, and encouragement of some very special teachers, colleagues, family, and friends. I would like to thank my husband, Tim, for aiding me with editorial assistance and for encouraging me to attain my goal. I would like to thank my stepson, Tim, Jr., for assisting me in the tedious task of inserting and framing musical examples within the document. Thanks so much to the females in classical music, from Sister Hildegarde of Bingen to Clara Schumann to Nadia Boulanger, who paved the way for the rest of us to seek careers in music. And, thanks to several current females in classical music, e.g., Chen Yi, Williametta Spencer, and Ruth Slenczynska, who responded to my e-mails and graciously agreed to be interviewed. I am very grateful to one of my instructors, Dr. Kathleen Haywood, for her intelligent insights in assisting me to specify my proposal and outline the various aspects of the dissertation document. I would like to thank Dr. John Hylton, one of my committee members, who has been very supportive of my efforts and a valuable aid in the study of comprehensive music education. I must extend heartfelt thanks to both Dr. Kathleen Brown and Dr. Carole Murphy, members of my dissertation committee. These two dynamic instructors allowed me to join their cohort group of doctoral candidates, even though I am not in the education administration program, and have been a constant source of encouragement and support throughout the entire process. I can honestly say that I would not be writing this page of acknowledgments without their enthusiastic support. Fleming, Gail, 2005, UMSL, p. v To Dr. Fred Willman, my advisor and my friend, I extend a “heartfelt thank you” for all of his tireless service and assistance. My first class at the University of Missouri- St. Louis was with Dr. Willman, and he has served as a guide and mentor all along the way. He is an inspiring instructor and a patient advisor. I am forever indebted. This paper would not be a reality if it were not for the creative genius of Alice Parker. From my first inquiry, Ms. Parker has been a gracious and enthusiastic participant. I wish to express my thanks for her generous support of this project, the confidence that she has instilled in me and in others, and for her invaluable contribution to American choral music as an arranger, a composer, and as an educator. Fleming, Gail, 2005, UMSL, p. vi Table of Contents Abstract --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ii Acknowledgements ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- iv List of Figures ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ viii Introduction ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 Purpose of the Study --------------------------------------------------------------------- 7 Delimitations --------------------------------------------------------------------- 8 Limitations ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 Definition of Terms --------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 Significance of the Study --------------------------------------------------------------- 10 Review of Literature ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13 Purposes of Philosophical Research -------------------------------------------------- 13 Educational Philosophies -------------------------------------------------------------- 15 Alice Parker’s Philosophy of Music Education and Educational Philosophies --------------------------------------------------------------------- 18 The History of Music Education in American Public Education ----------------- 19 Alice Parker’s Philosophy of Music Education and the Mason-Pestalozzi Principles -------------------------------------------------- 21 Music Education in American Public Schools in the 20th Century --------------- 22 The Advent of Comprehensive Musicianship in American Public Education -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 24 Alice Parker’s Philosophy of Music Education and the Method of Music Training within American Public Education ----------------------- 26 Choral Music in American Public Education --------------------------------------- 28 Current Trends in Choral Music Education ----------------------------------------- 29 Alice Parker’s Choral Teaching Methods ---------------------------------- 33 Current Trends in Choral Arranging and Composition ---------------------------- 37 Alice Parker’s Choral Composition and Arranging Techniques -------- 38 Methods ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 41 Instruments to gather data ------------------------------------------------------------- 41 Procedures to analyze data ------------------------------------------------------------ 45 Historical Background ----------------------------------------------------------------- 46 Composing/Arranging Techniques --------------------------------------------------- 46 Fleming, Gail, 2005, UMSL, p. vii Results of the Study ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 48 Musical Examples: Two Choral Arrangements by Alice Parker ----------------- 48 “God is Seen”------------------------------------------------------------------- 48 “Come on Up ------------------------------------------------------------------- 60 An Analysis of an Original Choral Composition by Alice Parker --------------- 74 “An American Kedushah” ---------------------------------------------------- 74 Summation of “An American Kedushah” --------------------------------- 104 SING with Alice Parker ---------------------------------------------------------------
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Smith College Alumnae Chorus to Honor Composer Alice Parker, Class of 1947, in Special Concert
    Published on GazetteNet (http://www.gazettenet.com) Print this Page A lifetime of music; Smith College Alumnae Chorus to honor composer Alice Parker, class of 1947, in special concert By STEVE PFARRER Staff Writer Wednesday, September 17, 2014 (Published in print: Thursday, September 18, 2014) Who says your time singing in college has to end with graduation? For members of the Smith College Alumnae Chorus, launched four years ago, choral music remains a means for forging connections among graduates of different classes and keeping their voices raised in song. For Alice Parker, Smith class of 1947, choral music has been a lifelong calling — as a composer, a conductor and teacher. Parker, 88, has composed for decades, earning particular notice for her arrangements of folk songs and hymns for vocal ensembles. She collaborated for years on such material with the late Robert Shaw, known as “the Dean of American Choral Conductors.” On Sunday, Sept. 21, Parker and the Alumnae Chorus (SCAC) will join forces at Smith to celebrate Parker’s lifetime achievements in a 2 p.m. show at Sweeney Concert Hall. Part of the performance, which will be conducted by Parker, has a special connection to the Valley as well: Parker will lead the chorus in a rendition of her song cycle “Three Seas,” a suite based on the poetry of Emily Dickinson. Members of the SCAS, most of whom performed with one of more vocals groups at Smith when they were students, say the opportunity to work with Parker is an exciting one. “It’s really an honor,” Sarah Muffly, class of 2008 and the chorus’ secretary, said in a recent phone call from her home in the New York area.
    [Show full text]
  • Emily Dickinson in Song
    1 Emily Dickinson in Song A Discography, 1925-2019 Compiled by Georgiana Strickland 2 Copyright © 2019 by Georgiana W. Strickland All rights reserved 3 What would the Dower be Had I the Art to stun myself With Bolts of Melody! Emily Dickinson 4 Contents Preface 5 Introduction 7 I. Recordings with Vocal Works by a Single Composer 9 Alphabetical by composer II. Compilations: Recordings with Vocal Works by Multiple Composers 54 Alphabetical by record title III. Recordings with Non-Vocal Works 72 Alphabetical by composer or record title IV: Recordings with Works in Miscellaneous Formats 76 Alphabetical by composer or record title Sources 81 Acknowledgments 83 5 Preface The American poet Emily Dickinson (1830-1886), unknown in her lifetime, is today revered by poets and poetry lovers throughout the world, and her revolutionary poetic style has been widely influential. Yet her equally wide influence on the world of music was largely unrecognized until 1992, when the late Carlton Lowenberg published his groundbreaking study Musicians Wrestle Everywhere: Emily Dickinson and Music (Fallen Leaf Press), an examination of Dickinson's involvement in the music of her time, and a "detailed inventory" of 1,615 musical settings of her poems. The result is a survey of an important segment of twentieth-century music. In the years since Lowenberg's inventory appeared, the number of Dickinson settings is estimated to have more than doubled, and a large number of them have been performed and recorded. One critic has described Dickinson as "the darling of modern composers."1 The intriguing question of why this should be so has been answered in many ways by composers and others.
    [Show full text]
  • Usc Thornton Oriana Women's Choir and Apollo Men's Chorus
    UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA THORNTON SCHOOL OF MUSIC USC THORNTON ORIANA WOMEN’S CHOIR AND APOLLO MEN’S CHORUS FRIDAY | OCTOBER 28, 2016 | 8:00PM NEWMAN RECITAL HALL ORIANA WOMEN’S CHOIR IRENE APANOVITCH conductor MICHAEL DAWSON co-conductor ASHLEY RAMSEY co-conductor HANBO MA accompanist APOLLO MEN’S CHORUS ERNEST H. HARRISON conductor SCOTT RIEKER co-conductor DA’JON JAMES co-conductor LUIS REYES accompanist PROGRAM ORIANA WOMEN’S CHOIR PABLO CASALS Eucaristica Ashley Ramsey, conductor CHARLES IVES At the River Irene Apanovitch, conductor RANDALL THOMPSON “A Girl’s Garden” from Frostiana Irene Apanovitch, conductor MICHAEL MCGLYNN The White Rose Michael Dawson, conductor GIDEON KLEIN Bachuri Le’an Tisa Ashley Ramsey, conductor Katharine LaMattina, soloist EUGENE SUCHON Bodaj by vás čerti vzali Michael Dawson, conductor MICHAEL MCGLYNN, arr. Song for Jerusalem Michael Dawson, conductor Sunmi Shin, soloist Kathy Tu, soloist Clare Wallmark, soloist SRUL IRVING GLICK “Psalm 23” from Psalm Trilogy Irene Apanovitch, conductor OSCAR PETERSON Hymn to Freedom Irene Apanovitch, conductor APOLLO MEN’S CHORUS MICHAEL COX Praise him! Ernest H. Harrison, conductor MXOLISI MATYILA Bawo Thixo Somnadla Mxolisi Matyila Ernest H. Harrison, conductor AARON COPLAND Simple Gifts Scott Rieker, conductor ROBERT SHAW & Blow the Man Down Scott Rieker, conductor ALICE PARKER Da’Jon James, soloist Daniel Newman-Lessler, soloist David Massatt, soloist ROBERT SHAW & Vive L’Amour Da’Jon James, conductor ALICE PARKER Stephan Pellisier, soloist Ivan Tsung, soloist Luke Can Lant, soloist JOHN FARMER Fair Phyllis Scott Rieker, conductor AARON COPLAND The Dodger Ernest H. Harrison, conductor Chung Ming Zen, soloist Daniel Newman-Lessler, soloist Stephan Pellissier, soloist PAUL BASLER Sing to the Lord Ernest H.
    [Show full text]
  • Three Choral Compositions by Alice Parker
    Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Major Papers Graduate School 2005 Three choral compositions by Alice Parker: a conductor's analysis of Songstream, Angels and Challengers, and Songs from "The Dragon Quilt" Jennifer Sue King Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_majorpapers Part of the Music Commons Recommended Citation King, Jennifer Sue, "Three choral compositions by Alice Parker: a conductor's analysis of Songstream, Angels and Challengers, and Songs from "The Dragon Quilt"" (2005). LSU Major Papers. 48. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_majorpapers/48 This Major Paper is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Major Papers by an authorized graduate school editor of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THREE CHORAL COMPOSITIONS BY ALICE PARKER: A CONDUCTOR’S ANALYSIS OF SONGSTREAM, ANGELS AND CHALLENGERS, AND SONGS FROM “THE DRAGON QUILT” A Monograph Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts in The School of Music by Jennifer S. King B. Mus. New Mexico State University, 1986 M. Mus., University of New Mexico, 1996 D.M.A., Louisiana State University, May, 2005 Acknowledgements My undying thanks and love go to my husband and children for many years of sacrifice and support. I owe a debt of gratitude to Dr. Kenneth Fulton at Louisiana State University for his inspiration, assistance, and patience.
    [Show full text]
  • Composer Alice Parker to Teach at University June 14-19
    University of Montana ScholarWorks at University of Montana University of Montana News Releases, 1928, 1956-present University Relations 6-7-1976 Composer Alice Parker to teach at University June 14-19 University of Montana--Missoula. Office of University Relations Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umt.edu/newsreleases Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation University of Montana--Missoula. Office of University Relations, "Composer Alice Parker to teach at University June 14-19" (1976). University of Montana News Releases, 1928, 1956-present. 27339. https://scholarworks.umt.edu/newsreleases/27339 This News Article is brought to you for free and open access by the University Relations at ScholarWorks at University of Montana. It has been accepted for inclusion in University of Montana News Releases, 1928, 1956-present by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at University of Montana. For more information, please contact [email protected]. news Information Services • University of montana • missoula, montana 59801 • (406) 243-2522 IMMEDIATELY dwyer/brown/rb COMPOSER ALICE PARKER TO TEACH 6-7-76 AT UNIVERSITY JUNE 14-19 state + cs MISSOULA-- Alice Parker of New York City, N.Y., a composer and conductor noted for her arrangements for the Robert Shaw Chorale, will teach a class combining choral arranging and score study June 14-18 and a workshop on church music June 19 at the University of Montana in Missoula. The class combining choral arranging and score study, which will meet from 9 a.m.-noon and 1-4:30 p.m. ~1onday through Friday, June 14-18, in room 218 of the UM Music Building (MB), is being offered for three credits through the UM Center for Continuing Education and Summer Programs.
    [Show full text]
  • Reshaping American Music: the Quotation of Shape-Note Hymns by Twentieth-Century Composers
    RESHAPING AMERICAN MUSIC: THE QUOTATION OF SHAPE-NOTE HYMNS BY TWENTIETH-CENTURY COMPOSERS by Joanna Ruth Smolko B.A. Music, Covenant College, 2000 M.M. Music Theory & Composition, University of Georgia, 2002 Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The Faculty of Arts and Science in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Ph.D. in Historical Musicology University of Pittsburgh 2009 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH ARTS AND SCIENCES This dissertation was presented by Joanna Ruth Smolko It was defended on March 27, 2009 and approved by James P. Cassaro, Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Music Mary S. Lewis, Professor, Department of Music Alan Shockley, Assistant Professor, Cole Conservatory of Music Philip E. Smith, Associate Professor, Department of English Dissertation Advisor: Deane L. Root, Professor, Department of Music ii Copyright © by Joanna Ruth Smolko 2009 iii RESHAPING AMERICAN MUSIC: THE QUOTATION OF SHAPE-NOTE HYMNS BY TWENTIETH-CENTURY COMPOSERS Joanna Ruth Smolko, PhD University of Pittsburgh, 2009 Throughout the twentieth century, American composers have quoted nineteenth-century shape- note hymns in their concert works, including instrumental and vocal works and film scores. When referenced in other works the hymns become lenses into the shifting web of American musical and national identity. This study reveals these complex interactions using cultural and musical analyses of six compositions from the 1930s to the present as case studies. The works presented are Virgil Thomson’s film score to The River (1937), Aaron Copland’s arrangement of “Zion’s Walls” (1952), Samuel Jones’s symphonic poem Let Us Now Praise Famous Men (1974), Alice Parker’s opera Singers Glen (1978), William Duckworth’s choral work Southern Harmony and Musical Companion (1980-81), and the score compiled by T Bone Burnett for the film Cold Mountain (2003).
    [Show full text]
  • The Collaborative Arrangements of Alice
    THE COLLABORATIVE ARRANGEMENTS OF ALICE PARKER AND ROBERT SHAW by JAMES EDWARD TAYLOR JOHN RATLEDGE, COMMITTEE CHAIR DON FADER METKA ZUPANCIC SUSAN FLEMING KENNETH OZZELLO MARVIN JOHNSON A DOCUMENT Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts in the School of Music in the Graduate School of The University of Alabama TUSCALOOSA, ALABAMA 2012 Copyright James Edward Taylor 2012 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ABSTRACT This document is a comprehensive survey of the two hundred and twenty-three choral arrangements created in the collaboration between Alice Parker (b.1925) and Robert Shaw (1916-1999). This repertoire was written between 1950 and 1967 for seventeen RCA Victor recordings made by the Robert Shaw Chorale. Part I presents an overview of the music, title listings, and publisher information. Part II is a history of the collaboration, beginning with its genesis and the working relationship between the two. Their work occurred in the “Golden Age” of choral music in America and during the American folk music revival, both of which contributed to commercial album sales and the fame of Shaw and the Chorale. Part III describes the style of the arrangements, whose nineteen style characteristics are demonstrated in excerpts from six different songs. A detailed method developed by Dr. Parker for identifying distinguishing features of these arrangements is applied to one of the folk hymns. Over half of the Parker-Shaw arrangements are then compared in spreadsheets, found in Appendix III, with successive appendices presenting summaries of the results of the comparisons. This process reveals, among other things, the central role of melody and counterpoint in determining the nature of this music, and the arrangers’ preference for working with melodies based on traditional church modes and gapped scales over those with strong tonal implications.
    [Show full text]
  • The Music of Alice Parker Hymns Spirituals Folk Songs
    The MIT Concert Choir Dr. William Cutter, Music Director Joseph Turbessi, pianist The Music of Alice Parker Hymns Spirituals Folk Songs Friday, December 7, 2012 Kresge Auditorium, MIT MIT Concert Choir PROGRAM Featuring the Music of Alice Parker (b. 1925) HYMN TUNES Saints Bound for Heaven (Traditional) Arr. Alice Parker Robert Shaw (1916-1999) Wondrous Love (Traditional) Arr. Parker/Shaw Hymn Charles Ives (1874-1954) Hark, I Hear the Harps Eternal (Traditional) Arr. Parker Lauren Burke, soprano & Anders Kaseorg, baritone SPIRITUALS My Lord, What a Mornin’ (Spiritual) Arr. H.T. Burleigh (1866-1949) I Got Shoes (Spiritual) Arr. Parker / Shaw There’s a Light (Shaker Melody) Arr. William Cutter (b.1956) Elijah Rock (Spiritual) Arr. Jester Hairston (1901-2000) FOLK MUSIC St. Paul’s Suite, Op. 29 Gustav Holst (1874-1934) 1. Jig 2. Ostinato 3. Intermezzo 4. The Dargason My Gentle Harp (Irish) Arr. Alice Parker Rebecca Bogers, harp Old Grandma (Canadian) Arr. Parker Zhu Zhu, conductor Joseph Turbessi, pianist Irish Folk Song Arr. Arthur Foote (1853-1937) (“You’ll wander far and wide”) Three Hungarian Folk Songs Arr. Matyas Seiber (1905-1960) 1. The Handsome Butcher 2. Apple, Apple 3. The Old Woman Auprès de ma Blonde (French) Arr. Parker / Shaw In my father’s garden the lilacs are blooming: All the birds in the world come to make their nests. Close to my blond how good it is to be! All the birds in the world come to make their nests: The quail, the turtle-dove, and the pretty partridge. The quail, the turtle-dove, and the pretty partridge, And my pretty dove that sings day and night.
    [Show full text]
  • Emily Dickinson in Translation
    THE EMILY DICKINSON INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY Volume 27, Number 1 May/June 2015 “The Only News I know / Is Bulletins all Day / From Immortality.” Puuseppä, itseoppinut olin – jo aikani höyläni kanssa puuhannut kun saapui mestari Emily Dickinson in перевод Käännös Взирать он должен – лишь всего - Translation На Ширь Владения – Старик с горы Нево! Кровит Мой суд – ради Тебя! Översättning 翻译 Jag aldrig sett en hed. Jag aldrig sett havet – men vet ändå hur ljung ser ut och vad en bölja är – Jag aldrig talat med Gud, i himlen aldrig gjort visit – men vet lika säkert var den är som om jag ägt biljett – 1 | EDIS Bulletin Officers President: Martha Nell Smith Vice-President: Barbara Mossberg Secretary: Nancy Pridgen Treasurer: James C. Fraser Board Members Antoine Cazé Jonnie Guerra Eliza Richards Paul Crumbley Eleanor Heginbotham Martha Nell Smith Páraic Finnerty Suzanne Juhasz Alexandra Socarides Cindy Dickinson (Honorary Member) Barbara Mossberg Jane Wald (Honorary Member) James C. Fraser Elizabeth Petrino Marta Werner Vivian Pollak Legal Advisor: Louis N. Levine Chapter Development Chair: Nancy Pridgen Nominations Chair: Alexandra Socarides Book Review Editor: Renée Bergland Membership Chair: Elizabeth Petrino Bulletin Editor: Daniel Manheim Dickinson and the Arts Chair: Jonnie Guerra Journal Editor: Cristanne Miller Sustaining Members Mary Elizabeth K. Bernhard Jane D. Eberwein Jonnie G. Guerra Richard Brantley Robert Eberwein Barbara Mossberg Carolyn L. Cooley Judith Farr Martha Nell Smith James C. Fraser Contributing Members Antoine Cazé Eleanor Heginbotham Daniel Manheim LeeAnn Gorthey Suzanne Juhasz Ethan Tarasov Linda Healy Niels Kjaer Robin Tarasov EDIS gratefully acknowledges the generous financial contributions of these members. EDIS Bulletin (ISSN 1055-3932) is published twice yearly, May/June and November/December, by The Emily Dickinson International Society, Inc.
    [Show full text]
  • The Choral Arrangements of Alice Parker and Robert Shaw
    The Choral Arrangements of Alice Parker and Robert Shaw Jim Taylor Alice Parker (b.1925) and Robert Shaw (1916–1999) created two hundred arrangements of carols, early American folk hymns, love songs, sea shanties, hymns, Irish songs, spirituals, and Stephen Foster songs for audio recordings made by the Robert Shaw Chorale between 1950 and 1967 for the RCA Victor Corporation. The Parker/Shaw arrangements have been great favorites over the years with choral conductors because they are well-crafted, earnest and passionate, and fun to sing and hear. Their accessibility and lively sense of musical intelligence make them excellent vehicles for training developing singers in the art of four-part unaccompanied singing, particularly in building skills in contrapuntal independence, text expression, and rhythmic vitality. This article provides an overview of Parker’s and Shaw’s output, and describes their remarkable collaboration and the unique time in which they worked. Jim Taylor is drector of choral activities at Kilgore College in Kilgore, Texas. His graduate studies were at the University of Miami (MM) and the University of Alabama (DMA) <[email protected]>. CHORAL JOURNAL Volume 52 Number 11 31 The Choral Arrangements of The Robert Shaw Chorale made The Nine Genres of • Stephen Foster songs seventeen recordings between 1950 and Parker-Shaw Arrangements A Stephen Foster Songbook 1967 that contained arrangements by Alice Parker and Robert Shaw (Table 1). • Easter and Christmas carols • Early American folk hymns Of the musical material on these albums, A Treasury of Easter Songs What Wondrous Love some were arranged by Shaw alone, or Christmas Hymns and Carols, Vol.
    [Show full text]
  • “Sermon from the Mountain”
    “SERMON FROM THE MOUNTAIN” Texts from Martin Luther King, Scripture and Spirituals Music by Alice Parker Presented at Idlewild Presbyterian Church Sunday, April 10, 2011 as part of the 11:00 a.m. worship service SERMON FROM THE MOUNTAIN Texts from Martin Luther King, Scripture, and Spirituals Music by Alice Parker I. Invitation Dr. Montgomery “We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn’t matter with me now. Because I’ve been to the mountain top. I won’t mind. Like anybody, I would like to have a long life. Longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over, and I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you, but I want you to know tonight that we as a people will get to the promised land.” Baritone Solo Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will tell us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths. (Isaiah 2:3) Tenor Solo and Chorus Way up on the mountain, Lord, Mountain top, Lord, I heard God talkin’, Lord, Chilun, a-talk of home, Lord. II. Blessings The Reverend Margaret Burnett “I have nothing but praise for those of you who have already stood unflinchingly before threats and intimidation, inconvenience and unpopularity, arrest and physical violence, to declare the doctrine of the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man.
    [Show full text]
  • Choral Music This Publication Was Produced by the National Endowment for the Arts and Chorus America
    NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS AND CHORUS AMERICA NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS AND CHORUS AMERICA CCCHORALHORALHORAL MUSIMUSICCC American Masterpieces: Choral Music This publication was produced by the National Endowment for the Arts and Chorus America. September 2006 Production Credits Philip Brunelle, Executive Editor Don Ball, Publication Manager Katryn Conlin, Designer Catherine Davies, Editor Kara Fairchild, Image Researcher Rex Levang, Recording Researcher Bill Parker, Author National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts is a public agency dedicated to supporting excellence in the arts, both new and established; bringing the arts to all Americans; and providing leadership in arts education. Established by Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government, the Endowment is the nation’s largest annual funder of the arts, bringing great art to all 50 states, including rural areas, inner cities, and military bases. National Endowment for the Arts Dana Gioia, Chairman 1100 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W. Wayne Brown, Director of Music and Opera Washington, D.C. 20506-0001 Felicia K. Knight, Director of Communications 202-682-5400 Court Burns, Music Specialist www.arts.gov Victoria Hutter, Communications Specialist Don Ball, Publications Manager Chorus America Founded in 1977, Chorus America serves the spectrum of professional, volunteer, children/youth, and symphony/opera choruses. To accomplish its mission of strengthening choruses and increasing appreciation of choral music so that more people are enriched by its beauty and power, Chorus America provides information, publications, conferences, consulting, training programs, surveys, networking, and awards to support choruses throughout North America. Chorus America Ann Meier Baker, President and CEO 1156 15th Street N.W., Suite 310 Robin Perry Allen, Director of Communications Washington, D.C.
    [Show full text]