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Books > Music > Other types of music > Vocal music > Choral music
A first-of-its-kind history, The Mormon Tabernacle Choir tells the
epic story of how an all-volunteer group founded by persecuted
religious outcasts grew into a multimedia powerhouse synonymous
with the mainstream and with Mormonism itself. Drawing on decades
of work observing and researching the Mormon Tabernacle Choir,
Michael Hicks examines the personalities, decisions, and
controversies that shaped "America's choir." Here is the miraculous
story behind the Tabernacle's world-famous acoustics, the
anti-Mormonism that greeted early tours, the clashes with Church
leaders over repertoire and presentation, the radio-driven boom in
popularity, the competing visions of rival conductors, and the
Choir's aspiration to be accepted within classical music even as
Mormons sought acceptance within American culture at large.
Everything from Billboard hits to TV appearances to White House
performances paved the way for Mormonism's crossover triumph. Yet,
as Hicks shows, such success raised fundamental concerns regarding
the Choir's mission, functions, and image.
The text is an entertaining exploration of Latin verse including
Latin lyrics for 17 songs, English translations, vocabulary,
composer biographies, background on social/historical significance
of each song, and illustrations.
The cassette features Dr. Clayton Lein of Purdue University
directing the Lafayette Chamber Singers.
The practices of singing and teaching singing are inextricable,
joined to each other through the necessity of understanding the
vocal art and craft. Just as singers must understand the physical
functions of voice in order to become musically proficient and
artistically mature, teachers too need to have a similar mastery of
these ideas - and the ability to explain them to their students -
in order to effectively guide their musical and artistic growth.
With this singer-instructor relationship in mind, Richard and Ann
Alderson's A New Handbook for Singers and Teachers presents a
fresh, detailed guide about how to sing and how to teach singing.
It systematically explores all aspects of the vocal technique -
respiration, phonation, resonance, and articulation - with each
chapter containing exercises aimed at applying and teaching these
principles. Beyond basic vocal anatomy and singing fundamentals,
the handbook also covers such understudied topics as the young
voice, the changing voice, and the aging voice, along with helpful
chapters for teachers about how to organize vocal lessons and
training plans. Thoughtfully and comprehensively crafted by two
authors with decades of singing and teaching experience between
them, A New Handbook for Singers and Teachers will prove an
invaluable resource for singers and teachers at all stages of their
vocal and pedagogical careers.
It was in 1970 that Philippe Herreweghe founded Collegium Vocale
Gent, dedicated among other things to works by Johann Sebastian
Bach and German Baroque music. The ensemble brought new insights on
the performance of Baroque music to bear on vocal music, and
attained world fame within just a few short years. In 2022,
Philippe Herreweghe marks his 75th birthday with a splendid book in
which he looks back at his life and his successful career as a
conductor. Photographer Stephan Vanfleteren accompanied the
ensemble to the Collegium Vocale Crete Senesi summer festival in
Tuscany, and has produced a set of masterful images of the ensemble
and its conductor. Religiosity plays a central role in his visual
interpretation. With text contributions from Joep Stapel and Luc De
Voogdt on the life and work of Philippe Herreweghe and the
composers who have been his greatest inspiration, plus a personal
contribution by Philippe Herreweghe on Bach and death. Text in
English and Dutch.
What should we consider when thinking about the relationship
between an onstage performance and the story the performance tells?
A Poetics of Handel's Operas explores this question by analyzing
the narratives of Handel's operas in relation to the rich
representational fabric of performance used to convey them. Nathan
Link notes that in most storytelling genres, the audience can
naturally discern between a story and the way that story is
represented: with film, for example, the viewer would recognize
that a character hears neither her own voiceover nor the ambient
music that accompanies it, whereas in discussions of opera, some
audiences may be distracted by the seemingly artificial nature of
such conventions as characters singing their dialogue. Link
proposes that when engaging with opera, distinguishing between the
performance we see and hear on the stage and the story represented
offers a meaningful approach to engaging with and interpreting the
work. Handel's operas are today the most-performed works in the
Baroque opera seria tradition. This genre, with its intricate
dramaturgy and esoteric conventions, stands to gain much from an
investigation into the relationships between the onstage
performance and the story to which that performance directs us. In
his analysis, Link offers theoretical studies on opera and
narratological theories of literature, drama, and film, providing
rich engagement with Handel's work and what it conveys about the
relationship between text, story, and performance.
Face to Face with Orchestra and Chorus is a crucial guide for
choral conductors who are presented with the daunting task of
conducting a full-size orchestra. This book provides a survival kit
for both novice and experienced choral conductors, with an overview
of the orchestral instruments and their particular needs, tips for
rehearsing an orchestra effectively, and guidelines for proper
baton technique. Conductors are walked through six case studies
from the Baroque and Classical periods, including Handel s Messiah,
Bach s Magnificat in D Major, Vivaldi s Gloria, and Beethoven s
"Choral" Fantasia."
"This book comes from a very fine music educator with
exceptional experience, who has common sense and a real
understanding of what a beginning teacher should know. The book
puts into print issues that are widely discussed at conventions and
at conferences, and that are common knowledge for the experienced
teacher, but that are not covered in a music education class. It is
a plain and simple book, written in a language that is easy for
anyone going into the profession to understand. It makes valuable
suggestions in just about every aspect of the role of a choral
music teacher." Michael Schwartzkopf, Professor of Music Education,
Indiana University School of Music"
This book presents a comprehensive view of children's musical
artistry and how to develop it in both the music classroom and
children's chorus. Presenting the musical mind as the gateway to
children's artistry, and addressing the power of movement in its
embodiment and advancement, author Mary Ellen Pinzino shows how
song-rhythm, melody, and text, independently and together-influence
children's developing artistry musically, expressively, and vocally
at every level. Accordingly, she also offers a multitude of
specific songs that inspire children's artistry, all in various
tonalities and meters and on a continuum of increasing difficulty.
Keeping the need for practical application in mind, Pinzino offers
materials for implementation with children from kindergarten
through seventh grade, as well as guidance for professional
development. Content can be applied alongside any pedagogical
methodology, as well as with older singers in the process of
developing their own artistry. In short, this book makes the
intangibles of children's artistry more tangible. It enables music
teachers and choral conductors to draw artistry out of every child
and draw every child into the choral art. It summons music teachers
and choral conductors to bring artistry to the forefront of every
music class and choral rehearsal-and to the forefront of the field
of music education as a whole.
This major new collection is the perfect resource for small choirs,
young choirs, and all choirs whose numbers fluctuate week by week.
Each piece is scored flexibly with optional parts or parts for
equal voices, so that it can be performed by more than one
combination of performers; many pieces can also be sung in unison.
The music is accessible - ideal for choirs with limited rehearsal
time - and keyboard parts are playable on organ (with or without
pedals) or piano. The repertoire spans the sixteenth century to the
present day and includes new, flexibly scored arrangements of
traditional pieces, as well as newly commissioned anthems. There
are also pieces in lighter styles, to cater for a broad range of
tastes. With complete coverage of the church year, this is an
essential resource for those looking for fresh and accessible
options for church services.
The Oxford Book of Flexible Choral Songs is the perfect resource
for secular choirs and singing groups who like the flexibility to
perform songs in a range of combinations from unison to SATB. Each
piece may be performed by a mixed choir, but is also presented with
flexible scoring options, clearly explained throughout, enabling
performance by various combinations of singers, including upper
voices or men's voices alone. As well as new arrangements of
existing repertoire, the collection also features newly
commissioned original works, specially written for flexible forces.
Singing has been a characteristic behaviour of humanity across
several millennia. Chorus America (2009) estimated that 42.6
million adults and children regularly sing in one of 270,000
choruses in the US, representing more than 1:5 households.
Similarly, recent European-based data suggest that more than 37
million adults take part in group singing. The Oxford Handbook of
Singing is a landmark text on this topic. It is a comprehensive
resource for anyone who wishes to know more about the pluralistic
nature of singing. In part, the narrative adopts a lifespan
approach, pre-cradle to senescence, to illustrate that singing is a
commonplace behaviour which is an essential characteristic of our
humanity. In the overall design of the Handbook, the chapter
contents have been clustered into eight main sections, embracing
fifty-three chapters by seventy-two authors, drawn from across the
world, with each chapter illustrating and illuminating a particular
aspect of singing. Offering a multi-disciplinary perspective
embracing the arts and humanities, physical, social and clinical
sciences, the book will be valuable for a broad audience within
those fields.
Shows how Charles V used music and ritual to reinforce his image
and status as the most important and powerful sovereign in Europe.
The presentation of Charles V as universal monarch, defender of the
faith, magnanimous peacemaker, and reborn Roman Emperor became the
mission of artists, poets, and chroniclers, who shaped contemporary
perceptions of him and engaged in his political promotion. Music
was equally essential to the making of his image, as this book
shows. It reconstructs musical life at his court, by examining the
compositions which emanated from it, the ordinances prescribing its
rituals and ceremonies, and his prestigious chapel, which reflected
his power and influence. A major contribution, offering new
documentary material and bringing together the widely dispersed
information on the music composed to mark the major events of
Charles's life. It offers.a very useful insight into music as one
of many elements that served to convey the notion of the
emperor-monarch in the Renaissance. TESS KNIGHTON Mary Ferer is
Associate Professor at the College of Creative Arts, West Virginia
University.
A survey of secular, sacred, folk-influenced, and jazz-influenced
choral music from: Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria,
Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile,
China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Czech Republic,
Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, England,
Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary,
Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania,
Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Peru,
Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Romania, Russia,
Scotland, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden,
Switzerland, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United States, Uruguay,
Venezuela, Wales, Yugoslavia.
The Sacred Harp choral singing tradition originated in the
American South in the mid-nineteenth century, spread widely across
the country, and continues to thrive today. Sacred Harp isn't
performed but participated in, ideally in large gatherings where,
as the a cappella singers face each other around a hollow square,
the massed voices take on a moving and almost physical power. "I
Belong to This Band, Hallelujah " is a vivid portrait of several
Sacred Harp groups and an insightful exploration of how they manage
to maintain a sense of community despite their members' often
profound differences.
Laura Clawson's research took her to Alabama and Georgia, to
Chicago and Minneapolis, and to Hollywood for a Sacred Harp
performance at the Academy Awards, a potent symbol of the
conflicting forces at play in the twenty-first-century incarnation
of this old genre. Clawson finds that in order for Sacred Harp
singers to maintain the bond forged by their love of music, they
must grapple with a host of difficult issues, including how to
maintain the authenticity of their tradition and how to carefully
negotiate the tensions created by their disparate cultural,
religious, and political beliefs.
This book deals less with physical techniques of conducting and
more with human relationships: how the conductor functions with his
or her ensembles.
The Choral-Orchestral Works of Ralph Vaughan Williams: Autographs,
Context, Discourse combines contextual knowledge, a musical
commentary, an inventory of the holograph manuscripts, and a
critical assessment of the opus to create substantial and
meticulous examinations of Ralph Vaughan Williams's
choral-orchestral works. The contents include an equitable choice
of pieces from the various stages in the life of the composer and
an analysis of pieces from the various stages of Williams's life.
The earliest are taken from the pre-World War I years, when Vaughan
Williams was constructing his identity as an academic and
musician-Vexilla Regis (1894), Mass (1899), and A Sea Symphony
(1910). The middle group are chosen from the interwar period-Sancta
Civitas (1925), Benedicite (1929), Magnificat (1932), Five Tudor
Portraits (1935), Dona nobis pacem (1936)-written after Vaughan
Williams had found his mature voice. The last cluster-Thanksgiving
for Victory (1944), Fantasia (Quasi Variazione) on the 'Old 104'
Psalm Tune (1949), Sons of Light (1950), Hodie (1954), The Bridal
Day/Epithalamion (1938/1957)-typify the works finished or revisited
during the final years of the composer's life, near the end of the
Second World War and immediately before or after his second
marriage (1953).
Choral Treatises and Singing Societies in the Romantic Age charts
the interrelated beginning and development of choral methods and
community choruses beginning in the early nineteenth century. Using
more than one-hundred musical examples, illustrations, tables, and
photographs to document this phenomenon, author David Friddle
writes persuasively about this unusual tandem expansion. Beginning
in 1781, with the establishment of the first secular singing group
in Germany, Friddle shows how as more and more choral ensembles
were founded throughout Germany, then Europe, Scandinavia, and
North America, the need for singing treatises quickly became
apparent. Music pedagogues Hans Georg Nageli, Michael Traugott
Pfeiffer, and Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi invented the genre that
became modern choral methods; initially these books were
combinations of music fundamental primers, with frequent inclusion
of choral works intended for performance. Eventually authors
branched out into choral conducting textbooks, detailed
instructions on how to found such a community-based organization,
and eventually classroom music instruction. The author argues that
one of the greatest legacies of this movement was the introduction
of vocal music education into public schools, which led to greater
musical literacy as well as the proliferation of volunteer choirs.
All modern choral professionals can find the roots their career
during this century.
There is a paucity of material regarding how choral music
specifically was performed in the 1800s. The Historically Informed
Performance (HIP) movement has made remarkable advancements in
choral music of the Renaissance, Baroque, and Classical periods,
with modest forays into the music of Beethoven, Schubert,
Mendelssohn, and other early nineteenth-century composers; however,
there are no sources with a comprehensive examination of how choral
music was performed. Using more than one-hundred musical examples,
illustrations, tables, and photographs and relying on influential,
contemporaneous sources, David Friddle details the performance
practices of the time, including expressive devices such as
articulation, ornamentation, phrasing, tempo, and vibrato, along
with an in-depth discussion of period pronunciation, instruments,
and orchestral/choral placement. Sing Romantic Music Romantically:
Nineteenth-Century Choral Performance Practices fills a gap in
choral scholarship and moves forward our knowledge of how choral
music sounded and was performed in the nineteenth century. The
depth of research and abundance of source material makes this work
a must-have for choral professionals everywhere.
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