Planning a concert or recital, or even just a coffeehouse gig, requires thinking about the flow and continuity of the material. Or if an in-the-round with songwriters is your scene, then you know how important it is to have your best polished material ready, along with maybe something to workshop with the folks while you have the attention of a room full of aficionados. If you’ve performed in bars and restaurants, then you understand the value of having a few choice standards at your fingertips. Whether you’re a solo singer-songwriter or instrumentalist, or you play with a group, as you develop plans to play shows, you’ll need to carefully consider your repertoire. Later this spring,we will email you and invite you to vote for the pieces that you believe are the most essential “old” repertoire.This article is free to read, but it isn't free to produce! Make a pledge to support the site (and get special perks in return.)įrom the March/April 2021 issue of Acoustic Guitar | By Jane Miller We look forward to reading your suggestions. Limit your suggestions to music composed before 1975. You can also add your own suggestions of pieces that you believe are part of the essential repertoire for choral singers. Take a look at the list of essential repertoire that Robert Eaton and I have started (). What are the old gems that should remain part of the essential repertoire that singers must experience in high school and college choir? A few will continue to sing in a choir in their community, church, or synagogue. Assume that some of our students will sing in high school choir for four years and then in a college choir for four years. It is up to choral music educators of all grade and age levels to teach these choral gems in order to keep them on our list of essential repertoire or they will be forgotten. There are online lists of “essential repertoire” and books with “essential repertoire” in their titles, but most of these lists are heavily skewed toward music composed within the last 40 years. These are topics for a future article and are not presently under consideration for determining which old gems should be considered essential repertoire. Selected repertoire should fit our specific ensemble in terms of age, ability, and balance between parts. Of course,the overall concert program for our school choirs should include a variety of styles, historical periods, languages, and nationalities. This does not mean that newly-composed music should be exempt from a list of “essential” choral repertoire, but for the moment, the focus is on old gems that should remain part of the standard choral repertoire. Many will say that these essential gems of choral repertoire withstand the test of time because they have some historical, literary, or compositional significance. The melody, harmony, and lyrics complement each other in order to enhance the expression of the lyrics and the voice or intent of the composer. Lyrics are expressive, inspiring, inspired, or historically significant. Well-crafted pieces generally have sensible voice leading, reasonable tonal progressions, and appropriate vocal ranges. The minimum criteria for these old gems to be considered “essential repertoire” should be that they are well-crafted, have educational value for our singers and/or audience, and have some historical significance. Why did our revered teachers (choral directors from high school and college) select these pieces to be part of our choral music education? Are these pieces truly “essential” and are they still relevant to our choral music curricula today? There are certain pieces in the choral repertoire which are considered by many experienced conductors to be gems, treasures, or chestnuts.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |