EXPLORING a TREASURE TROVE Secular Music
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EEXPLORINGX P L O R I N G A TTREASURER E A S U R E TTROVER O V E Secular Music for Mixed Voices by Ruth Watson Henderson Hilary Apfelstadt Hilary Apfelstadt is professor and director of choral activities at the University of Toronto <[email protected]>. IINTRODUCTIONNTRODUCTION of the Missa Brevis often include the Pater Noster, Ruth Watson Henderson (b. 1932) has estab- composed for the Iseler Singers in 1973, as this was lished herself as an outstanding composer of cho- how conductor Elmer Iseler frequently presented ral music, with an output that includes numerous the Missa Brevis. (Their most recent performance, works for children’s choirs, treble voices, and however, shared with the University of Toronto mixed ensembles. As accompanist of the Toronto MacMillan Singers at the 2012 national conference Children’s Chorus for 29 years, she contributed of the Association of Canadian Choral Communities much to the repertoire for that (ACCC) in Ottawa, omitted voicing. Music such as Come, the Pater Noster.) Ye Makers of Song (Gordon V. For additional information Thompson, publisher) is wide- about Henderson’s career, go ly performed. She also wrote to the Canadian Music Centre repertoire for Oriana Singers, Web site <www.musiccentre. an adult treble ensemble in ca/home>. Here you will fi nd Toronto, for which she is hon- a link to Podcasts, episode orary patron. Several of these 20, which is an interview works are featured on CD’s with Ruth Watson Henderson, made during the distinguished recorded on November 15, leadership of William Brown, 2011, in conversation with conductor from 1996–2011. John Gray, a CMC staff mem- Known for her signature ber. This exchange provides rhythmic variety, sensitive a fascinating perspective on text setting, and challenging the composer’s musical back- melodic and harmonic writing, ground and her development Henderson developed her ear as both a performer and also a for mixed choir composition by accompanying the composer. A list of complete works is also available Festival Singers (later the Elmer Iseler Singers) in through the CMC and the Web site provides links to Toronto for many years. It was there she learned numerous recordings of many of these. what singers could do, as the experience gave her As a church music director, Henderson has writ- the opportunity to learn about adult voices and ten much sacred music for choirs, and she continues their expressive possibilities. (This information to serve as organist and choir director at Kingsway- was gleaned from conversations with the com- Lambton United Church in Toronto, where the choir poser on January 29, 2012 and March 18, 2012.) frequently sings her music. A number of these works This experience gave rise to Henderson’s distin- are featured on Sing All Ye Joyful, a CD released guished early choral composition, Missa Brevis, by the Elmer Iseler Singers in 2004, conducted by composed in 1974, and now widely regarded as Lydia Adams. a stellar example of challenging unaccompanied The purpose of this article, however, is to focus choral writing for SATB choruses. Performances on the secular works for mixed chorus, as they, too, CHORAL JOURNAL Volume 53 Number 4 9 EXPLORING A TREASURE TROVE Secular Music provide a rich resource for conduc- Although Henderson’s output in- II. Accompanied tors. Many of these pieces, like most of cludes a number of folk-song arrange- Henderson’s music, are commissioned ments for mixed choirs, I have chosen 1. Crazy Times (1988) works. Most are published, but those to include only original compositions 2. The Song My Paddle Sings (1992) that are not, are available from the Ca- in this article, although some of these 3. Sing all ye Joyful (1994) nadian Music Centre. arrangements are cited in the accom- 4. Two Love Songs (1996) The secular SATB works are in two panying discography, for readers’ interest. 5. Laughter is a Simple Thing (2000) categories, unaccompanied and accom- Below is a chronological listing of the panied, the latter primarily by piano. original SATB secular works, followed by 6. The River (2002) Most are fairly short and accessible to a description of each, including musical 7. The Magic of God’s World (2004) strong ensembles at the high school, characteristics and publishers’ informa- 1. Spell of Creation; university, or community levels. They tion where relevant. 2. Barter; require rhythmic acuity and excellent 4. Dream Song pitch, indeed, the biggest challenge likely being the intervallic relationships charac- SSECULARECULAR CCHORALHORAL WWORKSORKS 8. Music Comes (2008) teristic of Henderson’s style. While her FFOROR MMIXEDIXED CCHOIRSHOIRS 9. A Song of the Seasons (2009) compositions are essentially tonal, they are not necessarily predictable melodi- I. Unaccompanied cally or harmonically and singers must DDESCRIPTIONSESCRIPTIONS be very attuned to individual intervals 1. A Sequence of Dreams (1983) in order to sing them accurately. In pre- (optional accompaniment provided) I. Unaccompanied Works paring choirs to sing her works, I have 2. Shades of Love (1995) always found that considerable work on I.1. A Sequence of Dreams (1983) 3. Colours: A Tonal Palette (2003) aural discrimination, intervals, and scales (manuscript) (including chromatic and whole tone) 4. Daffodils (2005) is very helpful in enabling the singers to 5. Spirit of Delight (2008) This work was commissioned by the learn the music successfully. 6. Paths of a Luminous Earth (2010) Ontario Choral Federation for the 1983 Ontario Youth Choir and comprises four movements: I. “Night Thoughts;” II. “The Solo;” III. “Wistful Mistress;” and IV. “Lord of the River.” The text is by Andrew Donaldson. In keeping with the title, the poetry GUIDEPOSTS TO SINGING — CD’S FEATURING is whimsical and the musical setting re- fl ects that, using a variety of vocal effects The such as tongue clicks, speaking, and imi- Manhattan Transfer tative sounds (e.g., in #4, singers make sounds reminiscent of train engines as Share a Voice Lesson with Cheryl, Janis, Alan or Tim one of the characters is about to leave Sop/Alto CD $25 Ten/Bass CD $25 on a journey.) Its duration is 16 minutes. In the fi rst movement, the role of the Tracks 1-6 Cheryl Bentyne Tracks 1-6 Alan Paul Dreamer is sung by a mezzo-soprano Tracks 7-12 Janis Siegel Tracks 7-12 Tim Hauser and that of the Child by a soprano with an appropriately light voice. The chorus Check * Money Order * Purchase Order to: provides harmonic background mostly Please Add Shipping on All Orders Just $5 on neutral syllables with some com- Roland Wyatt mentary in text. There is a brief spoken Also by Mr. Wyatt, Guideposts to Singing Chronicles P. O. Box 33 A soft-bound book with practical and specific exercises Loveland, CO 80539 solo for a tenor. In II, the optional piano With useful instructions to help solve vocal issues. $35 hƩp://rolandwyaƩ.com part can be quite helpful in securing pitches, as there are key changes and 10 CHORAL JOURNAL Volume 53 Number 4 for Mixed Voices by Ruth Watson Henderson some dissonant intervals. Movement III triplet fi gures). Laura Lane, conductor, and comprises begins as a conversation between the This is a challenging and engaging fi ve pieces, which may be performed Dreamer and a bass soloist, accompa- work with reasonable ranges and excel- separately or as a set (duration approxi- nied by the chorus. This is followed by lent musical variety that would appeal to mately 16 minutes). Given freedom to an unaccompanied SATB section that singers and audiences alike. It deserves choose the topic and text, the composer leads to a brief solo by the Dreamer, to be performed and its availability in read many poems until she was satisfi ed followed by a choral coda. As with all of Finale (pending) should make that more with the particular combination she se- Henderson’s writing, the rhythm of the likely. lected. Regarding the music, Henderson text dictates the rhythm of the music, writes: which fl ows naturally. Movement IV includes solos for a small ensemble of I.2. Shades of Love (1995) The path of love is not always eight SA and four men, two B1 and two (published in 1997 by Boosey and sunlit. In Shades of Love, the music B2. The choral parts comprise rhythmic Hawkes, OCT6925-2929) expresses a variety of emotions brought on by diverse stages of syllables imitating sounds of a train and love: ecstasy, tenderness, bitterness, later, neutral syllables that conjure up im- This set of pieces was commissioned wistfulness, (and) eternal devotion. ages of the fl owing river (e.g., undulating by the Nova Singers of Galesburg, Illinois, The colours and harmonies shift to ndsu choral symposium of the americas call for papers headliners The North Dakota State University Department of Music and the American Choral t %BMF8BSMBOE Directors Association announce the NDSU Choral Symposium: Music of the Americas, t *NBOU3BNJOTI May 3-5, 2013, Fargo, N.D. This event will showcase the choral music and traditions t )JMBSZ"QGFMTUBEU of North, Central and South America. t #SBJOFSE#MZEFO5BZMPS t .BSJB(VJOBOE The symposium will focus on the choral repertoire of the Americas and the cultural and t 8JMMJBN#FMBO social influences that have guided the development of this music. The symposium also t+PSHF$Ózatl will include discussion of what the choral traditions have in common, and what makes each of the choral traditions unique and representative of its respective culture. keynote speaker 5JN4IBSQ "$%"&YFDVUJWF%JSFDUPS NDSU and ACDA invite proposals for papers, presentations and poster sessions. Proposals should relate to the focus of the symposium. Please include a one- to two- ndsu.edu/finearts/cmota page abstract, equipment requirements and a short résumé.