Benson Dissertation

Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2011 A Study of Three Choral Pedagogues and Their Use of Movement in the Choral Rehearsal Jeffrey S. (Jeffrey Scott) Benson Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF MUSIC A STUDY OF THREE CHORAL PEDAGOGUES AND THEIR USE OF MOVEMENT IN THE CHORAL REHEARSAL By JEFFREY S. BENSON A Dissertation submitted to the College of Music in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Degree Awarded: Summer Semester, 2011 The members of the committee approve the dissertation of Jeffrey Benson defended on July 1, 2011. Kevin Fenton Professor Directing Dissertation Matthew Shaftel University Representative André J. Thomas Committee Member Judy Bowers Committee Member The Graduate School has verified and approved the above-named committee members. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I first would like to thank each member of my committee: Dr. Kevin Fenton, my major professor; Dr. André Thomas; Dr. Judy Bowers; and Dr. Matthew Shaftel. The support and advice I received from each of them is forever a testament to their amazing skills as scholars, teachers, and friends. Thank you for helping me through this entire journey. I would also like to thank the three women who made this dissertation possible: Dr. Janet Galván, Dr. Therees Hibbard, and Dr. Sandra Snow. They opened up their rehearsals and their hearts to me. I will forever treasure the new friendships and colleagues I have made because of this project. I would not be here today if it were not for my family. My brothers, David and Michael, and my parents, Sherry and David, supported me from the very beginning of this endeavor. I thank them for their love and support. Finally, I thank my other “family,” the great circle of friends in my life, who have helped me through this process. Thank you to my dear friends Casey Robinson, Michael DiGiacinto and Bonny Tynch. I owe much of my success to them for their love and support of me. I also wish to thank my friends and colleagues at Florida State University: Troy and Stephanie Robertson; Michael Hanawalt and Justine Sasanfar; Emily Brown; Lauren Pashke; Jeffery Redding; and Charlie Toomer. They have inspired me to achieve more than I thought possible. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES vi LIST OF FIGURES vii ABSTRACT viii CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1 Problem Statement 5 Subproblems 5 Definition of Terms 6 Delimitations 6 Need for the Study 6 Purpose of the Study 8 Procedures 9 Organization of the Study 9 CHAPTER TWO: JANET GALVÁN: COMMUNITY-BUILDER 10 Background 10 Influences 12 Philosophy of Conducting and Music Education 14 Movement in the Choral Rehearsal 15 Philosophy Behind the Movement 22 Singers’ Reactions 24 Rehearsal Observations 25 Catalogue of Movements Used in Rehearsals 29 CHAPTER THREE: THEREES HIBBARD: SERVANT-LEADER 33 Background 33 Influences 35 Philosophy of Conducting and Music Education 36 Movement in the Choral Rehearsal 37 Philosophy Behind the Movement 42 Singers’ Reactions 43 Rehearsal Observations 46 Catalogue of Movements Used in Rehearsals 51 CHAPTER FOUR: SANDRA SNOW: CONDUCTOR-TEACHER 55 Background 55 Influences 57 Philosophy of Conducting and Music Education 58 Movement in the Choral Rehearsal 60 Philosophy Behind the Movement 64 iv Singers’ Reactions 65 Rehearsal Observations 68 Catalogue of Movements Used in Rehearsals 70 CHAPTER FIVE: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF MOVEMENT AND CONCLUSIONS 74 A Comparative Study of Movement 74 Conclusions 77 Recommendations for Further Study 80 APPENDIX A: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS FOR CONDUCTORS 82 APPENDIX B: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS FOR STUDENTS 84 APPENDIX C: JANET GALVÁN INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT 85 APPENDIX D: THEREES HIBBARD INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT 98 APPENDIX E: SANDRA SNOW INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT 113 APPENDIX F: ITHACA COLLEGE SINGERS’ INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTS 122 APPENDIX G: UNIVERSITY OF LINCOLN-NEBRASKA SINGERS’ INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTS 131 APPENDIX H: MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY SINGERS’ INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTS 147 APPENDIX I: THEREES HIBBARD’S REHEARSAL MUSIC PLAYLISTS 153 APPENDIX J: PERMISSIONS TO USE PHOTOGRAPHS 155 APPENDIX K: INFORMED CONSENT FORM 156 BIBLIOGRAPHY 158 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 162 v LIST OF TABLES 2.1 Catalogue of Movements Used by Janet Galván 29 3.1 Catalogue of Movements Used by Therees Hibbard 51 4.1 Catalogue of Movements Used by Sandra Snow 71 vi LIST OF FIGURES 2.1 Janet Galván 12 2.2 Ithaca College Women’s Chorale performing in Ford Hall 19 3.1 Therees Hibbard 35 3.2 Hibbard working with the Youth Choral Academy at the Oregon Bach Festival 39 3.3 Hibbard’s singers moving in opposing rows 49 4.1 Sandra Snow 57 4.2 Michigan State University Women’s Chamber Ensemble in their performance of Brunner’s All We Were Doing Was Breathing at the 2009 National ACDA Conference 63 vii ABSTRACT Janet Galván, Therees Hibbard and Sandra Snow are well-known choral pedagogues who have made significant contributions to the field of choral music and movement through their research and conducting engagements. They regularly incorporate movement into their rehearsals. Through their use of movement and their research, each of these conductors has developed a movement-based approach to the choral rehearsal. The purpose of this study was to document each conductor’s use of bodily movement in the choral rehearsal and provide a history of each conductor’s contributions to the field of movement in the choral rehearsal. This study determined: (1) each conductor’s philosophical basis for using movement in rehearsal; (2) the movement-based activities that each conductor used in order to improve the choral ensemble; (3) why each conductor uses movement; (4) how effective the conductors perceive movement to be and how effective their students perceive movement to be; and (5) specific gestures used by all three conductors and how they could be codified. Galván, Hibbard and Snow engaged their singers in a whole-body approach to the music-making process. Movement allowed the conductors to quickly connect the singers to their bodies and to the musical ideas they were presenting. Movement was one rehearsal technique that each conductor used to affect the choral ensemble and the individual singers in a positive way. While it was not the only technique that any of these conductors used, movement was an efficient and effective rehearsal tool. Students singing in each of Galván, Hibbard and Snow’s choirs perceived movement to be an effective rehearsal technique that improved their individual sound and the sound of the ensemble. Students had a greater understanding of the music and its relationship to style and culture, due in part to the fact that they had moved in rehearsal. Students agreed that movement engaged them in the viii music-making process, connected them to the music and to one another, and improved the overall sound of the ensemble. ix CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION Since the 1950s and 1960s American choral conductors have explored ways to use movement as a teaching tool in the music curricula. Expanding on the work of Emile Jaques-Dalcroze, conductors continue to use movement to improve tone and rhythm and to encourage musical expression.1 The idea of bodily-kinesthetic intelligence emerged in the 1980s and conductors found more evidence for using movement as a method for connecting students’ psychomotor skills with expression.2 During the last fifty years conductors and teachers have used Alexander Technique, Body Mapping, Laban Movement Theory, movement instruction associated with Carl Orff and Zoltán Kodály’s methodologies, and Dalcroze Eurhythmics in the training of conductors and their singers. As a result, researchers have examined the effect of the use of body movement as a teaching tool in the choral rehearsal setting. Researchers agree that choral music educators should include movement in the choral rehearsal in order to maximize effectiveness. 3 Ramona Wis asserts that physical activity and the use of the body as a mode of learning is fundamental for higher forms of intellectual development.4 Wis observed master teachers utilizing movement-based instruction in their 1 Michael Mark and Charles Gary, A History of American Music Education (Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield Education, 2007), 436. 2 Howard Gardner. Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences (New York: Basic Books, Inc., 1983). 3 Texts surveyed include: The Complete Conductor’s Guide to Laban Movement Theory; Rhythm and Life: The Work of Emile Jaques-Dalcroze; The Kodály Context; Dalcroze Today: An Education through and into Music; “Enhancing Musical Performance through Somatic Pedagogy” from Teaching Music through Performance in Choir, Volume 2; “When Words Fail” from Teaching Music through Performance in Choir, Volume 3; and Some Great Music Educators. 4 Ramona M. Wis, “Gesture and Body Movement as Physical Metaphor to Facilitate Learning and to Enhance Musical Experience in the Choral Rehearsal” (Ph.D. diss., Northwestern University, 1993), 247-8. 1 choral rehearsals to determine a philosophical foundation for the use of movement in the rehearsal process. Wis recorded and described the movements of two choral pedagogues. From her observations, she concluded that there is a need for a set of more clearly-defined gestures to teach musical concepts or to improve sound in rehearsal: “a vocabulary of gesture.”5 Therees Hibbard further explored the use of movement in the choral rehearsal and found movement to be an effective teaching tool when the functionality of each of the movements matched the conductors’ intention for them. When movement was being used to provide a method of communication that could not be verbalized, the rehearsal was more effective. From her observations, she concluded that the use of movement properly performed by the majority of the singers enhanced rehearsal efficiency.6 After observing movement-based instruction in the choral rehearsal of a master teacher, Hibbard recorded all observable movements and began to analyze them based on Laban Movement Analysis (LMA).

Load more