Letteratura scientifica selezionata sul tema "Chorale based music"

In closely connected studies Tassilo Erhardt and Michael Marissen have suggested that Handel's Messiah is fundamentally anti-Jewish. Erhardt, who based his conclusions on books thought to have been in the library of Charles Jennens, compiler of the Messiah libretto, argues that the text was intended as a defense of orthodox Christianity against Judaism as well as Deism; Marissen contends it “was designed to teach contempt for Jews and Judaism.” Closer examination of the theological literature of Jennens's day shows that the theories of both scholars are founded on selective and tendentious reading of the sources. Marissen's further claim that Handel consciously reinforced the libretto's supposed anti-Jewish connotations by means of motivic symbolism, orchestration, and chorale quotations rests on misconceptions about the composer's style. Jennens probably conceived Messiah not to counter either Deism or Judaism but to inspire his Christian audience to greater devotion. The preference he gave to Old Testament prophecy over New Testament narrative reflects a tacit contemporary prohibition against direct representation of Christ in the English theater.

Claus Røllum-Larsen: J.S. Bach and Denmark The dissemination and pursuit of Bach’s music in the first decades of the 1800s was characterized by the circle surrounding Peter Grønland, not least C.E.F. Weyse. The dissemination of Bach’s printed works seems to increase around the year 1800, but does not reach a high level until 1850. During the 19th century, there were strongly committed performers, who scheduled Bach’s music: the earliest was Hans Matthison-Hansen (organ works), later — from 1875 — Niels W. Gade (including The St. Matthew Passion), Gottfred Matthison-Hansen (organ works) and Frederik Rung (The St. John Passion and Mass in B minor). Then the Cæcilia Society safeguarded Bach’s greater chorale works all the way up to its discontinuation in 1934, whereupon the Symphony Orchestra of the Danish State Broadcasting Service and the Copenhagen Royal Chapel Choir took over. With the Bach Society, Niels Otto Raasted displayed great activity with regards to exposing Bach’s music in many genres, and in this context presented a number of prominent musicians with backgrounds in the milieu of practicing historical performances in Berlin. From the beginning of the 1930s, Finn Viderø was also heavily engaged in Bach’s music, particularly from the perspective of performance practice. By end of the Second World War, the Bach Society came to an end, while Wöldike together with the Copenhagen Royal Chapel Choir and various orchestras maintained extensive concert activity with Bach’s works. The commemoration in 1950, over which Mogens Wöldike presided, cemented the central position of the Copenhagen Royal Chapel Choir and Wöldike in the dissemination of Bach. The historically- and scientifically-founded approach to the music and the performance of it by these musicians and the music teacher Gunnar Heerup had thereby replaced a more subjective cultivation of Bach, and based on this had established an objective, critical approach to the handling of Bach’s music. This development has not changed the assessment of Bach as a composer; his extraordinary endeavour and “by virtue of Bach’s genius, Bach’s [cantatas and passions] … has become something that is unparalleled anywhere else in the world.” (J.P. Larsen).

Among the Russian composers of the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries a special position is held by the sacred choral works of Vassily Titov (ca. 1650 — ca. 1715), one of the bright representatives of the polyphonic part singing, in which the originality of the Russian Baroque musical culture. The music of Vassily Titov, an outstanding master of choral writing, is diverse in terms of its genres, it comprises nearly two hundred compositions, many of which predominated in the church music repertoire of Russian churches during the course of the 18th century. A study of Vassily Titov’s choral works has made it possible to disclose the characteristic features of the composer’s polyphonic style. The latter include the multi-choral presentation with its bright spatial effects, the antiphonic juxtapositions of large choral masses, the principles of concertizing based on the succession of solo voices and tutti, on the juxtaposition of the chordal-harmonic and the polyphonic exposition, as well as the skillful mastery of imitational counterpoint, up to polyphonic variation. Features of national originality reveal themselves most vividly in the musical thematicism of the compositions, where along with the ornamental design of the intertwining melodic lines and turns of an instrumental type, use is made of intonations of folk songs, cants and church chants. In his musical oeuvres Vassily Titov revised and reevaluated the basic characteristic traits and forms of Western European Baroque music in correspondence with the particularities of Russian musical culture, thereby preserving and enriching the traditions of the Russian national style.

Multicultural choral music has distinct characteristics in that indigenous folk elements are frequently incorporated into a Western European tonal system. Because of this, multicultural choral music is often taught using Western styles (e.g., bel canto) rather than through traditional singing techniques from their cultures of origin. One of the most important purposes of teaching multicultural music is to increase understanding of and acceptance toward different cultures and enrich musical experiences. This article details eight instructional strategies to help students learn multicultural choral music from alternative perspectives that enrich their musical skills, cultural understandings, and performances of multicultural music.

The article discovers the issues which are a part of a complex set of training future music teachers to manage artistic and creative ensembles, in particular, vocal and choral ones. It is emphasized that the dominant place in the process of training future music teachers to guidance these groups is occupied by aspects of conducting and choral training, the study of which is impossible without understanding the unique phenomena of native choral performance and features of working with vocal and choral collectives. To solve these problems there are the disciplines of conducting and choral cycle, the main task of which is to educate students in professional skills and skills of singing in the choir, as well as managing the choir based on mastering the methods of working with the choir, didactic principles and knowledge of psychophysiological process which a person has during singing. It is noted that the reserve for improving the quality of professional training of future music teachers to manage vocal and choral ensembles is the intersubject relationship of special disciplines with socio-pedagogical and music-theoretical ones. Modern performance and analytical requirements for professional training of future music teachers to guidance vocal and choral groups are analyzed, in particular, the ability to achieve the required level of knowledge and skills on condition that students master each subject of conducting and choral cycle with awareness of their interaction, high level of singing and conducting competence of students and their deep knowledge of vocal and choral repertoire, the art of mastering of not only performing vocal and choral skills, but also organizational skills by the future manager of the ensemble, the unity of erudition in the field of vocal and choral art, methodical training, pedagogical activities based on interrelation of knowledge and practice of working with an artistic and creative collective. The specifics of the professional training of future music teachers to lead vocal and choral groups is his singing and conducting competence, deep knowledge of vocal and choral repertoire, the art of mastering the leader of the vocal and choral group not only organizational skills but also performing vocal skills. For effective professional training, students need to constantly and purposefully develop their musicological and performing qualities in conjunction with conducting and choral and methodological training.

The article analyses the essence, content and specificity of future music teachers’ interpretive skills. The purpose of the article is to substantiate pedagogical conditions favourable for effective development of future music teachers’ interpretive skills in the process of their choral and conductorial training. These methods of theoretical research are used: analysis, generalisation, synthesis, extrapolation, deduction, systematisation. Interpretation is seen as the basis and the necessary condition for understanding a piece of music, the subjective (personal) attitude and creative imagination of a teacher of music being of great importance. The essence of interpretation in the context of the activity of the Musical Arts teacher lies in the interpretation of an artistic text which reflects the content of the author's message in key note symbols. In the activity of the Musical Arts teacher, there are two forms of interpretation: performing and verbal-pedagogical. The interpretation of the choral work is considered in the article as an artistic-performing conception of the conductor which is based on his/her artistic and imaginative ideas, knowledge; it is realised in his/her creative interaction with the choral team. The list of specific interpretive skills to be demonstrated by the future Music teachers in the context of choral and conductorial training has been clarified. A system of interrelated pedagogical conditions has been offered, it includes these constituents: increase of future specialists’ motivation for the choral and conductorial activities through realisation of the axiological potential of choral music; the implementation of the coaching pedagogical technologies into the choral and conductorial training intended for the future Music teachers; a systematic widening of future specialists’ thesaurus of artistic and imaginative ideas. Further research involves the development of a step-by-step methodology for the development of future Music teachers’ interpretative skills in the process of their choral training.

Innovation of modern education is competence-based approach, which requires the students to receive sturdy theoretical knowledge and practical skills on the basis of interdisciplinary connections between choral conducting with other psycho-pedagogical and related musical academic disciplines. To achieve this goal it is necessary to create the appropriate pedagogical conditions. Creation of conditions depends on the organization of training, competence and experience of the teacher. Favorable pedagogical conditions always have a positive effect on the quality of students’ training in choral conducting, efficiency and intensification of their training. We offer to develop methodological competence of future music teachers in choral conducting classes following these pedagogical conditions: continual self-improvement of teachers; enhancing the motivation of learning through the use of exercises in choral conducting on visual means, multimedia and other modern computer technologies; complete methodological support for choral conducting and related musical disciplines by educational programs; independent work of students on improving their methodological competence; teaching students to be confident in their ability and own conductor’s skills; creative contact at classes on choral conducting between the future music teacher, teacher and accompanist, as well as between the future music teacher and the choir group. This article focuses on the requirement to create favorable conditions for teachers in the classses in choral conducting. It is considered, analysed and proposed pedagogical conditions which reveal psychological and pedagogical problems and highlight the ways to overcome them. Favorable conditions of teaching in choral conducting have a positive impact not only on the development of methodical competence, but also on quality of future music teachers’ training.

Background. Choral work of American composers of the second half of the XX century is characterized by new qualities that have appeared because of not only musical but also non-musical factors generated by the system of cultural, historical and social conditions. Despite of a serious amount of scientific literature on the history of American music, the choral layer of American music remains partially unexplored, especially, in Ukrainian musical science, that bespeaks the science and practical novelty of the research results. The purpose of this study is to discover and to analyze the peculiarities of the historical formation and identity of American choral art of the second half of the twentieth century using the the works of famous American artists as examples. The research methodology is based on theoretical, historical and analytical methods, generalization and specification. Results. The general picture of the development of American composers’ practice in the genre of choral music is characterized by genre and style diversity. In our research we present portraits of iconic figures of American choral music in the period under consideration. So, the choral works of William Dawson (1899–1990), one of the most famous African-American composers, are characterized by the richness of the choral texture, intense sonority and demonstration of his great understanding of the vocal potential of the choir. Dawson was remembered, especially, for the numerous arrangements of spirituals, which do not lose their popularity. Aaron Copland (1899–1990), which was called “the Dean of American Composers”, was one of the founder of American music “classical” style, whose name associated with the America image in music. Despite the fact that the composer tends to atonalism, impressionism, jazz, constantly uses in his choral opuses sharp dissonant sounds and timbre contrasts, his choral works associated with folk traditions, written in a style that the composer himself called “vernacular”, which is characterized by a clearer and more melodic language. Among Copland’s famous choral works are “At The River”, “Four Motets”, “In the Beginning”, “Lark”, “The Promise of Living”; “Stomp Your Foot” (from “The Tender Land”), “Simple Gifts”, “Zion’s Walls” and others. Dominick Argento’s (1927–2019) style is close to the style of an Italian composer G. C. Menotti. Argento’s musical style, first of all, distinguishes the dominance of melody, so he is a leading composer in the genre of lyrical opera. Argento’s choral works are distinguished by a variety of performers’ stuff: from a cappella choral pieces – “A Nation of Cowslips”, “Easter Day” for mixed choir – to large-scale works accompanied by various instruments: “Apollo in Cambridge”, “Odi et Amo”, “Jonah and the Whale”, “Peter Quince at the Clavier”, “Te Deum”, “Tria Carmina Paschalia”, “Walden Pond”. For the choir and percussion, Argento created “Odi et Amo” (“I Hate and I Love”), 1981, based on the texts of the ancient Roman poet Catullus, which testifies to the sophistication of the composer’s literary taste and his skill in reproducing complex psychological states. The most famous from Argento’s spiritual compositions is “Te Deum” (1988), where the Latin text is combined with medieval English folk poetry, was recorded and nominated for a Grammy Award. Among the works of Samuel Barber’s (1910–1981) vocal and choral music were dominating. His cantata “Prayers of Kierkegaard”, based on the lyrics of four prayers by this Danish philosopher and theologian, for solo soprano, mixed choir and symphony orchestra is an example of an eclectic trend. Chapter I “Thou Who art unchangeable” traces the imitation of a traditional Gregorian male choral singing a cappella. Chapter II “Lord Jesus Christ, Who suffered all lifelong” for solo soprano accompanied by oboe solo is an example of minimalism. Chapter III “Father in Heaven, well we know that it is Thou” reflects the traditions of Russian choral writing. William Schumann (1910–1992) stands among the most honorable and prominent American composers. In 1943, he received the first Pulitzer Prize for Music for Cantata No 2 “A Free Song”, based on lyrics from the poems by Walt Whitman. In his choral works, Schumann emphasized the lyrics of American poetry. Norman Luboff (1917–1987), the founder and conductor of one of the leading American choirs in the 1950–1970s, is one of the great American musicians who dared to dedicate most of their lives to the popular media cultures of the time. Holiday albums of Christmas Songs with the Norman Luboff Choir have been bestselling for many years. In 1961, Norman Luboff Choir received the Grammy Award for Best Performance by a Chorus. Luboff’s productive work on folk song arrangements, which helped to preserve these popular melodies from generation to generation, is considered to be his main heritage. The choral work by Leonard Bernstein (1918–1990) – a great musician – composer, pianist, brilliant conductor – is represented by such works as “Chichester Psalms”, “Hashkiveinu”, “Kaddish” Symphony No 3)”,”The Lark (French & Latin Choruses)”, “Make Our Garden Grow (from Candide)”, “Mass”. “Chichester Psalms”, where the choir sings lyrics in Hebrew, became Bernstein’s most famous choral work and one of the most successfully performed choral masterpieces in America. An equally popular composition by Bernstein is “Mass: A Theater Piece for Singers, Players, and Dancers”, which was dedicated to the memory of John F. Kennedy, the stage drama written in the style of a musical about American youth in searching of the Lord. More than 200 singers, actors, dancers, musicians of two orchestras, three choirs are involved in the performance of “Mass”: a four-part mixed “street” choir, a four-part mixed academic choir and a two-part boys’ choir. The eclecticism of the music in the “Mass” shows the versatility of the composer’s work. The composer skillfully mixes Latin texts with English poetry, Broadway musical with rock, jazz and avant-garde music. Choral cycles by Conrad Susa (1935–2013), whose entire creative life was focused on vocal and dramatic music, are written along a story line or related thematically. Bright examples of his work are “Landscapes and Silly Songs” and “Hymns for the Amusement of Children”; the last cycle is an fascinating staging of Christopher Smart’s poetry (the18 century). The composer’s music is based on a synthesis of tonal basis, baroque counterpoint, polyphony and many modern techniques and idioms drawn from popular music. The cycle “Songs of Innocence and of Experience”, created by a composer and a pianist William Bolcom (b. 1938) on the similar-titled poems by W. Blake, represents musical styles from romantic to modern, from country to rock. More than 200 vocalists take part in the performance of this work, in academic choruses (mixed, children’s choirs) and as soloists; as well as country, rock and folk singers, and the orchestral musicians. This composition successfully synthesizes an impressive range of musical styles: reggae, classical music, western, rock, opera and other styles. Morten Lauridsen (b. 1943) was named “American Choral Master” by the National Endowment for the Arts (2006). The musical language of Lauridsen’s compositions is very diverse: in his Latin sacred works, such as “Lux Aeterna” and “Motets”, he often refers to Gregorian chant, polyphonic techniques of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, and mixes them with modern sound. Lauridsen’s “Lux Aeterna” is a striking example of the organic synthesis of the old and the new traditions, or more precisely, the presentation of the old in a new way. At the same time, his other compositions, such as “Madrigali” and “Cuatro Canciones”, are chromatic or atonal, addressing us to the technique of the Renaissance and the style of postmodernism. Conclusions. Analysis of the choral work of American composers proves the idea of moving the meaningful centers of professional choral music, the gradual disappearance of the contrast, which had previously existed between consumer audiences, the convergence of positions of “third direction” music and professional choral music. In the context of globalization of society and media culture, genre and stylistic content, spiritual meanings of choral works gradually tend to acquire new features such as interaction of ancient and modern musical systems, traditional and new, modified folklore and pop. There is a tendency to use pop instruments or some stylistic components of jazz, such as rhythm and intonation formula, in choral compositions. Innovative processes, metamorphosis and transformations in modern American choral music reveal its integration specificity, which is defined by meta-language, which is formed basing on interaction and dialogue of different types of thinking and musical systems, expansion of the musical sound environment, enrichment of acoustic possibilities of choral music, globalization intentions. Thus, the actualization of new cultural dominants and the synthesis of various stylistic origins determine the specificity of American choral music.

The article was written based on the results of a theoretical study by Boris Dmitrievich Kritskiy, my father, who proposed to introduce scientific terms “musical phonics” into the spheres of musicology, pedagogy of music education and performing arts. In his view, “musical phonics” should be considered as a field of scientific and methodical research of audio (instrumental, vocal-choral) design of the process of music performed. And the audio embodiment of the musical text as a relatively independent phenomenon in a broad interpretation is a phonic form. Vocal design of choral sound is a necessary structural component of the performance. From the point of view of intonation theory of music, choral sonority – singing, vocal-choral materialization of the score – is a specially interpreted text. The audio quality is seen as a problem of vocal choral performance in the preparation of a future teacher-musician/choirmaster. There is a belief about the need for future teachers-musicians to understand the methods of constructing the audio matter of music. The methods transform the musical text in accordance with the form, logic of the development of the figurative and artistic meaning of the work and are aimed at the education of the audio culture among the choral collective. Work on the creation of a phonic form involves establishing intonation links between the performed work and the methods of its mastery. The leading role in its crystallization is played by a meaningful plan of music, which allows us to speak about it as a historical category, defined by genre-stylistic features of performed works. Built according to the laws of beauty and at the same time reflecting the spirit of its time, the era in which the performer creates, it reveals the changes that characterize the culture of vocal and choral performance. The performed composition, included in the context of broad cultural and life relations, is saturated with a new meaning. As an example, the phonic form in orthodox liturgical singing is considered.

The purpose of this study was to create a conductor's gestural vocabulary that can be used to demonstrate stylistic elements in choral music. Specifically, the study assigned Laban Movement Theory elements of Effort and Body to specific choral music examples that demonstrate differences in articulation, rhythm and phrase shape. This study explored Laban Movement Theory and Bartenieff Fundamentals as they relate to body movement and application to the conducting gesture. Gestures were designed following musical analysis and subsequent study with Janice Meaden, an internationally recognized movement instructor and certified LMA/Bartenieff Movement Analyst. These gestures were based on Rudolf Laban's Eight Effort Elements in Combination (float, wring, glide, press, flick, dab, slash and punch). Modifications to the gestures were based from ongoing feedback from a college level choir. At the conclusion of the study, all gestures were evaluated in terms of their ability to communicate the desired response. Six of the eight designed gestures were deemed to be successful, with two needing further modification. Implications for teaching choral conducting as well as conducting choirs are drawn. Conclusions drawn from the study support the application of Laban Movement Theory to the conducting gesture as an useful tool for creating expressive conducting gestures.

This dissertation provides a guide with prompts to help people access the benefits of creativity research in the collaborative process of programming choral concerts. To highlight the distinctive characteristics of choral music in ways that engage the audience, programmers can utilize the Eight Stages of the Creative Process as found in R. Keith Sawyer’s book Explaining Creativity: The Science of Human Innovation. These stages, as applied to choral programming, are 1) finding a problem statement for the concert, 2) acquiring the knowledge of the choral domain, 3) gathering information related to the specific concert, 4) taking time off from programming tasks for incubation, 5) generating ideas related to the problem statement of that particular concert, 6) combining those ideas in unexpected ways, 7) selecting the best ideas according to the criteria for that particular choir concert design, and 8) externalizing those ideas. The dissertation details current practices of choral programmers who already use the principles behind Sawyer’s Eight Stages. The guide includes specific prompts that are tied to each of Sawyer’s Eight Stages of the Creative Process for use by individuals or team leaders in a collaborative planning process. Annotations (Chapter 4) provide context for understanding and using the prompts to aid creative choral programming.

Doutoramento em Música
The primary objective of this research was to develop a musical literacy programme – with correlated repertoire written specifically for the programme –that was implemented during choral rehearsals, creating a bridge between pedagogy and performance. Data from the Música no Meio project’s survey of choral conductors in Portugal shows that although 80% of the surveyed choirs use scores, only 15% of the singers have developed the musical literacy skills required to autonomously read the score. Previous research (Hiney, 2012) has also shown that in the absence of musical literacy, rote-learning (imitating the conductor until the music is memorised) is the most common technique used to transmit repertoire. This thesis addressed two main problems associated with a lack of musical literacy skills; firstly the impact of rote-learning on repertoire selection, rehearsal efficiency and hence standards of performance and secondly the implications for artistic creativity, as the singers confined to the oral as opposed to the literate area (Williams, 1981) may be considered artisans, making art without any involvement in creative or artistic processes (Reimer, 1970). The musical literacy programme, based on Kodály’s Concept of Music Education, was developed with the members of the communitarian choir, Voz Nua in Aveiro, Portugal. Six composers participated in this project, writing pieces with progressive levels of difficulty that corresponded to each of the three phases of the literacy programme. Qualitative data produced through interviews and focus groups with the singers of Voz Nua and the composers was analysed in order to gain an understanding of their experience of participating in the musical literacy programme. This data showed that the development of musical literacy skills increased the efficiency with which the choir learns new repertoire, allowing more time for interpretation and impacting positively on the choir’s quality of performance.
O objectivo principal deste trabalho foi o desenvolvimento de um programa de literacia musical, recorrendo a repertório expressamente escrito para este programa, que foi implementado no contexto de ensaios corais, construindo uma ligação entre a pedagogia e a performance. Em anteriores pesquisas, nomeadamente no projecto ‘Música no Meio’, foi realizado um inquérito nacional com maestros de coros em Portugal que demonstrou que, apesar de cerca de 80% dos coros usarem partituras, apenas 15% dos cantores conseguem ler essas mesmas partituras de um modo autónomo. Num dos estudos presentes neste projeto (Hiney, 2015) foi possível ainda perceber que, na ausência de literacia musical, a aprendizagem por memorização (rote-learning) é a técnica mais frequentemente utilizada na transmissão do repertório. Esta tese concentra-se em dois dos problemas ligados à escassez de literacia musical, sendo o primeiro o impacto da aprendizagem por memorização na seleção de repertório, na eficiência do ensaio, e portanto, no nível de performance de um coro, e o segundo nas implicações para a criatividade artística, uma vez que os cantores que pertencem à zona da oralidade ao invés da zona da literacia (Williams, 1981) poderiam ser considerados artesãos, ao ‘fazer’ arte sem participar nos processos criativos ou artísticos (Reimer, 1970). Foi assim concebido um programa de literacia musical, baseado em Kodály, que foi realizado com os cantores do coro comunitário Voz Nua em Aveiro, Portugal. Participaram ainda neste projecto seis compositores que escreveram obras com graus de dificuldade e objectivos específicos para cada uma das três fases do programa. Os dados qualitativos produzidos através de entrevistas e focus groups com os cantores de Voz Nua e com os compositores, foram analisados tendo em vista uma melhor compreensão das experiências vividas pelos participantes no decorrer programa. Estes dados permitiram perceber que, após a desenvolvimento do programa de literacia musical, se verificou um aumento da eficiência nos ensaios e na aprendizagem de novo repertório, libertando mais tempo de ensaios para a componente interpretativa, com impacto positivo na qualidade da performance do coro.

Heejo Kim (1920-2001) is one of the most prominent Korean composers of the twentieth century. He is primarily known for his works that incorporate aspects of traditional Korean music. However, at the same time, his efforts in choral arrangements, especially of Korean folk tunes are highly acclaimed by professional choirs and conductors. The purpose of this study is to provide performance guidance on Heejo Kim's choral work, Bat-no-rae, by presenting his biographical background, discussing the use of traditional Korean rhythmic patterns (Jangdan) and modes, and the appropriate application of traditional ornamentations.

Much has changed in the choral rehearsal room over the past two generations, particularly in regard to the role the choral conductor assumes—or commands—in the rehearsal process. This chapter discusses the ever-evolving stereotypical roles of the conductor, while examining alternatives to traditional leadership models with particular emphasis on the encouragement of student engagement and peer-based learning. In addition to the facilitation of collaborative learning exercises, the chapter outlines a specific process of written interaction with the choral ensemble. This section is inspired by the renowned “Dear People” letters of Robert Shaw. Finally, in response to the recently revised National Standards for Music Education in the United States, the author discusses possible implementation of the Standards in a performance-based classroom. In the shadow of the relatively recent phenomena of collegiate a cappella groups, these student ensembles have created a new paradigm for peer-led instruction.

In this chapter, the authors focus on pedagogies, such as the theories of Lev Vygotsky and the active learning concepts of John Dewey, that contribute to the making of meaning, and the acquisition of meaningfulness by proposing a sociotransformative approach to choral pedagogy in the teaching of the expert chorister. Based on constructivist learning theories, and applying reciprocal teaching, this perspective centers on the conductor’s influence as they design opportunities for dialogic conversation, authentic activity, metacognition, and reflexivity. When skillfully integrated into the fabric of the choral rehearsal/performance continuum, the pedagogy brokers singers into a community of practice. The rehearsal scaffolds and schema foster competency, personal and musical agency, identity, and critical consciousness among the singers. This ensures that the performance is more than the singing of pitches with accurate rhythms, dynamics, and intonation, and embodies both cognitive and affective responses to the music and the music making.

Thinking Outside the Voice Box: Adolescent Voice Change in Music Education is different from other books on voice change in that it encourages new and holistic ways of thinking about the female and male adolescent changing voice. It gives choral music educators (or anyone interested in the changing voice) the opportunity to step away from typical considerations of voice change and explore the experience within the bigger picture of adolescence. Female and male adolescent voice change are addressed at length, but special efforts have been made to bring new attention to female voice change to boost considerations of females in choral music education. Holistic considerations encompass the importance of understanding physical development during adolescence, including the body, brain, and auditory system; vocal anatomy and physiology in general, as well as during male and female voice change; the impact of hormones on the adolescent voice, especially for female singers; ideas of resolve and perseverance that are essential to adolescent navigation of voice change; and exploration of portrayals of voice change that have contributed to a situated reality not based in fact, but accepted in pop culture. Choral educators are also given a larger scope of voice classification systems and other foundational ideas in choral music education through examination of some of the most eminent works in the profession. Emerging considerations of adolescent voice change beyond classification systems provide new food for thought about working with the adolescent changing voice.

In recent decades, cognitive neuroscience research has increased our understanding of how the brain learns, retains, and recalls information. At the same time, social psychology researchers have developed insights into group dynamics, exploring what motivates individuals in a group to give their full effort, or conversely, what might instead inspire them to become freeloaders. This book explores the idea that choral conductors who better understand how the brain learns, and how individuals within groups function, can lead more efficient, productive, and enjoyable rehearsals. Armed with this knowledge, conductors can create rehearsal techniques which take advantage of certain fundamental brain and social psychology principles. Through such approaches, singers will become increasingly engaged physically and mentally in the rehearsal process. This book draws from a range of scientific studies to suggest and encourage effective, evidence-based techniques, and can help serve to reset and inspire new approaches toward teaching. Each chapter outlines exercises and creative ideas for conductors and music teachers, including the importance of embedding problem solving into rehearsal, the use of multiple entry points for newly acquired information, techniques to encourage an emotional connection to the music, and ways to incorporate writing exercises into rehearsal. Additional topics include brain-compatible teaching strategies to complement thorough score study, the science behind motivation, the role imagination plays in teaching, the psychology of rehearsal, and conducting tips and advice. All of these brain-friendly strategies serve to encourage singers’ active participation in rehearsals, with the goal of motivating beautiful, inspired, and memorable performances.

This chapter begins with a survey of the vast amount of European choral music Stravinsky was exposed to in his youth and his fascination with the sounds of language in the Russian Orthodox Church. This is followed by a survey of the many modern-era Masses based on historic models as well as a survey of the many Stravinsky compositions so based. The music of the Mass is discussed in terms of its neo-Gothic and neo-Renaissance attributes and its mirror formal structures. Performance practice issues address the cubist-like setting of text and its close relationship to the text setting of Francis Poulenc, and Stravinsky’s unique motor-like rhythmic textures.

This chapter focuses on the rise of second-generation gospel choirs in Chicago. On July 6, 1959, Robert Anderson and Eddie Robinson sponsored the “Mountain of Gospel Music,” starring James Cleveland and the Voices of Tabernacle Choir from Detroit's Prayer Tabernacle Church, at the First Church of Deliverance. Cleveland's triumph with the Voices of Tabernacle turned him from “years of struggling” into a major gospel attraction. This chapter begins with a discussion of Chicago-based community choirs devoted to second-generation gospel music, including the Thompson Community Singers, the Wooten Choral Ensemble, the Youth Federation of South Chicago, South Side Community Singers, Helen Robinson Youth Choir, and Treadwell Community Singers. It also takes a look at other second-generation church choirs such as the ensemble at Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church, Hyde Park Bible Church, Redeeming Church of Christ, and Cosmopolitan Church of Prayer. The chapter concludes with an overview of the phenomenon called “broadcast hopping,” a journey that gospel music enthusiasts made on Sundays to be present for as many live radio broadcast services as possible.

Within higher education, programmes in choral conducting are offered of varying kinds and at different levels, from dedicated programmes to single courses that are embedded in other music programmes. The choral practice field is varied; choral leadership is partly a generic music competence and partly a profession. The variety and social reach of the choral movement suggest that the educational offering in choral conducting should be manifold in type and quantity in order to supply the practice field with qualified conductors. n this chapter we take a renewed look at material from three previous studies: (1) a mapping of Scandinavian choral leader education, based on document analysis and interviews with tutors and newly graduated conductors; (2) a quantitative survey on choral conducting competencies, where more than 600 conductors in Norway, Sweden, and Germany participated; and (3) an interview study of twenty Norwegian choral conductors on their professional careers. Although the findings from these studies were salient enough, the implications for choral conducting education were not equally clear. The point of departure for this chapter is that this is due to a series of difficult trade-offs, and we ask the question: What dilemmas do we face when educating choral conductors, and how might we understand these in light of the composite data? The material is analysed by drawing on established pedagogic categories, Wenger’s theory of communities of practice (1998), Jansson’s competence model for choral conductors (2018), and Varvarigou and Durrant’s discussion framework for choral conducting (2011).

This chapter discusses varied methods for achieving what psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi calls “flow,” the feeling that all members of a team are working smoothly and effectively together. In order to achieve flow in rehearsal, instructions must be delivered clearly and efficiently. Based on music education research and the author’s many years of experience, this chapter examines the mechanics of giving short and cogent instructions. It further explores lessons from thin-slicing research about the importance of one’s tone of voice when delivering instructions and the impact of non-verbal behaviors. Conductors can benefit from research on interleaving, which involves taking advantage of spaced practice and the mixing of learning activities when structuring rehearsals. The chapter further examines how rehearsal efficiency will increase when conductors understand the primacy/recency effect, the phenomenon that people remember best what happens first in a learning episode, and they remember second best what happens last.

The period from 1877 to 1889 was dominated for Sullivan by his collaboration with W.S. Gilbert, with whom he wrote ten highly successful comic operas on an almost annual basis. He found the partnership increasingly frustrating, if highly lucrative. Away from the theatre, he wrote a dramatic cantata about an early Christian martyr, The Martyr of Antioch (1880), and a sacred cantata, The Golden Legend (1886), based on the poem by Henry Longfellow, which was performed more than any other choral work apart from The Messiah in the closing decade of the nineteenth century. In 1880, Sullivan took up the conductorship of the prestigious Leeds Festival which gave him a chance to conduct significant sacred works, including the first ever complete performance in Britain of Bach’s B Minor Mass over which he took considerable pains. An address on music which he gave in Birmingham in 1888 touches on his own faith and reveals his Biblical knowledge and deep attachment to church music. His own contributions to the Savoy operas on which he collaborated with Gilbert also reveal much about his spirituality.

The commission that was one of the greatest tributes to Barber’s career turned out to be his nemesis. Antony and Cleopatra, written for the opening of the new Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center in New York, was handicapped by the inflated Franco Zeffirelli production, with its problematic paraphernalia, including camels and goats and a malfunctioning pyramid, which eclipsed serious evaluation of the music. This chapter narrates how the opera based on Barber’s favorite Shakespeare play came to life, how he handpicked the major characters ̶—Leontyne Price for Cleopatra and Justino Díaz for Antony ̶—and how these artists devoted themselves to the literature and history of their roles. Although Barber’s work here was no less brilliant, the critics felt that the failure of the opera was due to overproduction, with an infusion of mechanical and technical failures. After the premiere, Barber boarded the SS Constitution for Europe. Over the next decade, he devoted his energies intermittently toward a revision of the opera in collaboration with Menotti. In 1975, four performances of the more intimate version with increased lyric meditation were presented at the Juilliard School. Critical reviews of a production at the Spoleto Festival in Italy after Barber died gave much attention to the musical strengths of the opera, with uniform appreciation of Barber as a master of orchestra and choral writing. Performances followed in Chicago, New York, and Philadelphia.

The article is devoted to one of the areas of military pedagogy – cadet education. It describes the features of forms and methods of educational work in the Petrovsky Poltava Cadet Corps (1840-1919) – the first military educational institution in the Ukrainian provinces of the Russian Empire. The main activities of the Petrovsky Poltava Cadet Corps were: general and special military. General education provided the study of a wide range of subjects (the law of God, Russian language and literature, foreign languages, mathematical sciences, natural history, physics, chemistry, cosmography, geography, history, legislation, drawing, calligraphy), as well as religious, moral, aesthetic, physical, labor education, contributed to the intellectual development of cadets, the formation of honor and dignity, agility and endurance, instilled noble behavior. Pupils were also taught music (music theory, playing musical instruments, choral singing, secular work and spiritual music). Special military (military sciences, military-physical, military-training) was aimed at mastering the basics of military affairs, practical skills and the formation of the strength of spirit necessary for the military to perform its duties to protect the state. In the first twenty years of the institution's activity, the military element was the main one in the training of cadets, and its basis was considered to be military training. It practiced at least 6 hours a week and spent the same amount of time on fencing and gymnastics. The foundations of military affairs were laid during the mastering of courses artillery, fortification, tactics and military topography. The factual material presented in the article proves that the forms (lessons, additional classes, subject groups, independent work, control test, exams, excursions, stay in the summer camp) and methods of educational work in the Petrovsky Poltava Cadet Corps contributed to the formation of a comprehensively developed personality of the cadet, devoted to military affairs and the state. One of the methods of education in the Petrovsky Poltava Cadet Corps was the method of training. The implementation of this method primarily contributed to the formation and rooting in the cadets of one of the most important in their future work traits such as discipline. Cadets were also taught to read (independent and group). It included: conversations, reading of works of classics, pedagogical situations, educational reading of periodicals with the subsequent discussion. The functioning of cadet corps and lyceums with enhanced physical training in modern Ukraine, based on the principles of cadet education, is the basic basis for the formation of highly qualified officers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Thus, recourse to the experience of military pedagogy is relevant.