An Interview with Robert Shaw: Reflections at Eighty by Jeffrey Baxter RobertShaw .Robert Shaw's distinguished career began in New York City In 1979, Shaw was appointed by President Jimmy Carter to in 1938, where he prepared choruses for such renowned con­ the National Council on the Arts and he was a 1991 recipient of ductors as Fred Waring, Arturo Toscanini, and Bruno Walter. the Kennedy Center Honors, the nation's highest award given to In 1949 he formed the Robert Shaw Chorale, which for two artists. Musical America, the international directory of the per­ decades reigned as America's premier touring choir. Under the forming arts, named him Musician of the Year for 1992, and auspices ofthe U.S. State Department, the Chorale performed during the same year he was awarded the National Medal ofthe in thirty countries throughout Europe, the Soviet Union, the Arts in a White House ceremony. He was the 1993 recipient of Middle East, and Latin America. During this period Shaw also the Conductors' Guild TheodoreThomas Award, in recognition served as Music Director ofthe San Diego Symphony and then ofhis outstanding achievement in conducting and his contribu­ as Associate Conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra, working tions to the education and training ofyoung conductors. closely with George Szell for eleven years. He served as Music A regular guest conductor ofmajor orchestras in this country Director of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra from 1967 to and abroad, Shaw also is in demand as a teacher and lecturer at 1988, during which time the orchestra garnered widespread leading U.S. universities. He founded the Robert Shaw Institute acclaim through national and international tours and award­ to foster excellence in music-making, especially in the choral art. winning recordings. The Institute's summer festivals have attracted admiring atten­ Throughout his career Shaw has received abundant recog­ tion from the international press and produced a number of nition for his work. His honors include degrees and citations recordings from the Robert Shaw Festival Singers. Currently he from forty U.S. colleges and universities, thirteen Grammy serves as Music Director Emeritus and Conductor Laureate of Awards, England's Gramophone Award, a Gold Record for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and performs and records the first RCA classical recording to sell more than a million with the Atlanta-based Robert Shaw Chamber Singers. The copies, four ASCAP Awards for service to contemporary mu­ following interview took place December 21, 1995, in Atlanta. sic, the first Guggenheim Fellowship ever awarded to a con­ Jeffrey Baxter: Mr. Shaw, you are widely regarded as one of ductor, the Alice M. Ditson Award for service to contemporary the first conductors to elevate American choral singing to the music, the George Peabody Medal for outstanding contribu­ level one finds in great American orchestral playing. When you tions to music in America, and the Gold Baton Award ofthe first arrived in New York in the 1930s, what kind of choral American Symphony Orchestra League for distinguished ser­ singing did you find? vice to music and the arts. Robert Shaw: As regards the niceties and disciplines ofinto­ nation, enunciation, and balance, it seemed to me that the Jeffrey Baxter is Choral Assistant at the Atlanta Symphony colleges and universities ofCalifornia were equal, ifnot superior, Orchestra and Adjunct Professor of Music History at Georgia to the institutions ofthe East. Howard Swan for some years had State University, Atlanta. been active in southern California and, with others, had raised choral singing to a remarkable degree. I also found two vastly APRIL 1996 PAGE 9 different vocal traditions present (in the Harvard tradition and, from Marshall rhythmic precision and metric exactitude. East and throughout the country): that of Bartholomew at Yale, the American folk­ Exacdy how did you develop the meth­ F. Melius Christiansen, which was sub­ song tradition-principally spirituals ar­ ods that you use to instruct a chorus in stantially without vibrato and concerned ranged by Bartholomew and others. In these techniques? primarily with music for religious services; New York City, choruses performed the R.S.: The first basic assumption was the other was the tradition ofJohn Finley great classical European repertoire ofcho­ that if one wanted to "communicate," Williamson and the Westminster Choir, ral/orchestral works, but as far as the disci­ one had to establish a "community" in which was based on an operatic vocal style. plines ofa cappella singing were concerned, the performing group. Others came from There also were two principal literatures: the West Coast was as strong as the East. the understanding that music was the Renaissance literature arranged for ].B.: Some of the notable characteris­ uniquely a time-art distinct from the male voices in the Archibald T. Davison- tics of your performances were, and are, space-arts of sculpture and painting. Therefore, one ofthe principal disciplines had to be the organization of the ele­ ments oftime. It also became obvious to me as I began to work with professional and nonprofessional choruses that almost Al Holcomb, all the problems ofenunciation were cured Director by an attention to metric precision, and most intonation problems were vasdy im­ proved by having people arrive at the same WEEKLONG SUMMER CHORAL WORKSHOPS moment of music simultaneously. Mat­ AND SPECIAL PROGRAMS ters of articulation and accentuation de­ • Sustained Survival: • Choral Solutions pended completely on time. Therefore, Middle School Choral Excellence in a Changing July 22-26 the rehearsal techniques that were devel­ Education World Clinician: Carl"Oll Gonzo oped were simply practical devices used June 24-28 Focus on three crucial choral topics - sight-singing Clinician: Sandrn Chapman and how to teach it, preparing your choir for to establish an absolute integrity ofmet­ Explore the many facets of middle school music, including adjudication, and achiel'ing a healthy, expressil'e ric utterance. world music literature, choral masterpieces, motil'ational choral sound. J.B.: Another hallmark of your style actil'ith?s, National Standards and curriculum, and preparing for the first day of choir. • The VoiceCare Network: is textual clarity, whether in unaccompa­ Impact Course nied or choral/orchestral performances. • Folk Music in the Choral Setting: August 2-9 Finding, Evaluating, Performing, and Arranging Clinicians: Axel Theimel; Leon Thnrmml, In this regard, how much ofan influence July 1-5 EliziIbeth Grefsheim and Jolm Cooksey was your early work in radio with Fred Clinician: Nina Gilbert Waring? Come learn how to find, el'aluate, perform, and arrange folk SPECIAL PROGRAM music for your choir that reflects style and integrity. • Hartt Kodaly Certification Program R.S.: Fred Waring, of course, was re­ (Levels I-III) sponsible for the term "tone-syllables," • Caught in the Middle July 15-26 but already for some months, ifnot a few July 1-5 ClillicimlS: Jo1m Feiel'Obend, Jill Trinka, Ild/k6 Clinician: Al Holcomb Herboly, and Al Holcomb years, John Finley Williamson had been This course will address difficult issues associated with middle Come experience an innol'ative approach for teaching talking about phonetic enunciation. I school singers including inaccurate singers, changing I'oices, music literacy, explore folk music, and improl'e your I'ocal del'elopment, and motil'ationalstrategies. imagine, because of the Westminster musicianship. Choir's performances with the New York • Choral Conducting: We make summer study easy! Philharmonic and other orchestras, that a Gesture and Application • Air-conditioned housing availability July 8-12 • Shuttle service good deal of this phonetic enunciation Clinicimz: Michael Yachmlin • On-campus travel agency might have evolved to extend to English • Graduate credit This comprehensil'e seminar is designed to examine • Centralized registration, housing and parking the techniques that are absolutely neces­ conducting, literature, and performance practices for the secondary choral professionr.!. sary for singing in foreign languages. People became conscious ofhow Ameri­ • Choral Music Experience: Conducting Workshop for Teachers can speech was constructed, rather than (Certification Levels I- III) assuming itwould take care ofitsel£ There July 15-19 is no doubt thatWaring's great popularity Clinicimls: Janet Galvan, Frmlcisco Nl;,iez, David in the popular song literature was an im­ Elliott, Kathy Armstrong Utilizing dil'erse and artistic literature, participants will explore petus ro many choral organizations choral artistry through the study of I'ocal technique, score around the country to strive for better analysis, conducting, rehearsal methods, and philosophy. enunciation. There also is very litrle doubt in my mind that techniques like his exag­ gerated use ofhummed consonants were The University of Hartford admits students of any race, age, color, UNIVERSITY creed, gender, physical ability, sexual orientation, national and extraordinarily and handsomely suited to ethnic origin to all rights, privileges, programs, and activities ©FHARTFORD generally accorded or made available to students of the University. the popular song and established a group- PAGE 10 CHORAL JOURNAL art intimacy in repertoire that was really should entail. The choral art's unique more suitable for the solo singer. That is, advantage, however, is that it allows par­ the popular love-ballad is fundamentally Julius Herford, ticipants