1 9 63

January 9, 1963 0 PAULHINDEMITH:A REQUIEM11FORTHOSEWELOVE

"When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'dn 11 When Lilacs La.st in the Dooryard BloomI d 11 -- a "Requiem I f or those we love 1 11 is a setting of the complete text of Walt Whitman's poem in memory of Abraham Lincoln.

It was commissioned by The Collegiate Chorale in the winter of 1945 and completed April 20, 1946. It is Hindemith's first major choral work since 111Jas Unaufhorliche 0 (1931).

The twenty sections of Whitman's text pressed by the composer into eleven musical portioned among four major movements. The mentary -- ·the poet upon the musician, and

(Edition McKay: 1900) numbers, which again setting thus provides the musician upon the

have been comha~.re been apa reciprocal compoet.

I

Whitman's first stanza is a prologue introducing the trinity of the symbols which are the motivating images of his elegy -- lilac, star and bird.

In the three subsequent stanzas he qualifies them, assigning to each its own particular atmosphere: "Star" ••• fallen star ••• tearful night ••• harsh surrounding cloud; "Lilac" - with the perfume strong I love ••• in the dooryard. old farmhouse ••• and 11Bird 11 - thought of him I love .•• song of the bleeding throat ••• Death's outlet song of life.

Before he approaches the text, the composer has provided a musical prologue in the form of a short orchestral prelude.

It is based on a continuous pedal Csharp upon whose minor tonality the entire work is founded. Its initial theme (A-C-F-E) already suggests associated tonalities, and out of this theme grow lines of increasing and decreasing harmonic tension, embracing in their arch the temper and spiritual qualities of all that is to follow.

The composer then binds the poet's first three stanzas into one musical structure beginning with a baritone narration-song ( C# minor), "When lilacs last . in the oocvyard bloom' d"; moving through a choral section, contrasting in mood (F minor) but preserving the thematic material, 110 powerful, western fallen star !11; and concluding with a return to the opening song, 11In the dooryard ••• stands the lilac bush". ( It is significant for Hindemith I s larger forms that each section is complete in itself, but at the same time integrated into an organism of the whole, which respect they have in comrr:onwith Bach I s choral works and Mozart's operas. ) Thus, the composer moves to the poet 1 s fourth stanza (his own No. 2) he builds an alto ar!l.oeo-, rounded in itself, but preserving the tonality and musical materials of the beginning ••• "A shy and hidden bird ••• warbling a song. 11 The poet up to this point has set a stage - has painted an atmospheric landscape. He now (in Stanzas 5 through 7) moves to a second general section and pictures a coffin passing through an earthly landscape. first

In a larger line, the composer makes these stanzas the concluding part of his great moverrent, awakening in us the thought of the identity of the two land-

-2scapes.

This No. 3 is a slow and solemn choral March, 110ver the breast of the 11 in the original tonality of the baritone narSpring ; whose theme is a variation ration-song.

Stanza 6 becomes simply a middle--part, a sort of Fugato-Trio, "Coffin that passes through lanes and streets", culminating in a three-part canon in Stretto-form inspired by the 11Tolling bells I perpetual clang".

The last two lines of Stanza 6 serve as a modulation back to C# minor, and the theme of the March returns, this time sung by the baritone and concluding with the Strett-Canon between solo and orchestra.

The first movement begins and ends in C# minor.

II With Whitman's Stanzas 8 through 11, the poet becomes an actor in his own drama. The involvement is at the stage of receiving knowledge, the first understanding: "O western orb ••• Now I know What you must have meant." (Stanza 8); 11 0 singer bashful and tender l I hear ••• I understand you."

(Stanza 9).

There 11 -- questioning: 0 how shall I warble myfollows immediately the poet I s reaction self? ••• 0 what shall I hang on the chamber walls?"

And self-answering: "Pictures of growing spring, and farms, and homes", and climaxing in a triumphant carol "Lo ! body and soul l this land !11 of life, This unity is reaffirmed by the composer in his second large movement (Nos. 4 through 7). Just as the first movement had a unifying tonality (C# minor), so the second movement is based mainly on the tonality of A minor, ending with a fugue in the key of the dominant (E minor-major).

No. 4 110 Western Orb" is given to the baritone at the beginning and the end.

solo with an echoing

chorus

Restless and almost - fevered melodic Phrases appear over a wind-like orchestral accompaniment, driven up in a step-wise progression by blocked interjections, and finally disappearing, falling back into an open tonal space.

The ending tone BA tonality. flat is best understood as a leading tone back to the prevailing The second bird-arioso (No. 5, alto solo) bring~ the word-image of the bird to the near-concreteness of a sound-image, drawn by instrumental color, persistent rhythm and the motive of falling thirds.

The question and answer involvement is brought first into a song form, a dialogue between baritone and chorus, so rounded that it allows a literal repetition (Straophenlied).

As the flood of answers continues, the composer leads the melodic line through a mounting choral recitative, culminating a double fugue (E minor), 1110 L body and 11 soul l this land ~ The first subject is worked out in the form of a simple fugue 11 Lo ! the most excellent sun" ending in A minor, in which key the second subject, is introduced, and similarly treated.

The double fugue, combining subjects one and two ( again E minor) begins significantly on the words " ••• enveloping man and land".

A broad coda, "Lo! this land t11 begins on a C minor chord and ends in a brilliant E major climax.

III The poet now deepens the color.

He moves from the state of receiving knowledge, with its shock and its ecstasy of tribute, to the state of possessing knowledge.

11 With the knowledge of death ••• and the thought of death ••• and I in the middle • • • as holding the hands of companions. ri, And he rises from the occasion of Lincoln I s

-3death to the consideration come. solo,

of death itself.

The Death Carol is his song of wel-

The composer begins his third moveITent with a three-part baritone recitative, and duet; No. 8).

form in C minor (alto

In the alto solo, once more associated with the symbol of the bird, the ear will be struck by a short but intensive series of pure triads, infrequent in this 11 musical language.

"O liquid and free • • • O wondrous singer l you only I hear We note that these pure harmonies occur at points of particular poignancy and expressiveness in the text (for example: 'isong of the bleeding throat", No. 2). ( May this not be compared with the pure colors of Mathias Grunewald's "Isenheimer Altar" which inspired "Mathias der Maler 11?)

The middle section, a baritone recitative, centers in the hymn nFor those we love".

The form of the chorale is chosen at the moment when the poet speaks of the "knowledge and thought of death. 11 On the fermatas of the orchestral chorale the baritone interjects his melodic phrases. point

The duet is a return of the alto continuing the text.

arioso

to which is added a baritone

counter-

Surely it is true that over the music of the Death Carol (No. 9) hovers a sense of anxiety.

There appears to be little in the actual lines to support this feeling unless it be the over-vehemence and ecstacy of the welcome, proposing even "glad serenades • • • dances ••• adornments ••• feastings ••• to thee, 0 Death". The composer finds considerable uncertainty and disquiet in the pr.rases "Dark Mother, always gliding near ••• the night in silencett; and the "glad serenades' '.' become a masque.

The second part of the Death Carol, ~~Approach,.. ;,trong Deliveress", is a pas-:sacaglia over a five-measure repeated bass, a motive already suggested in the first part on the words "Praise l Praise t Praise t for the sure-enwinding arms ••• " The tonality of the Death Carol is F minor; and it may be worthwhile to note that we have had the following order of main tonalities: C#J A, C, F, which a.re also the opening tones of the Prelude.

The next important tonality has been E (if not in this order), which would then round out the opening theme.

IV

Whitman's sections 17 and 18 complete the panorama of death.

He visions "armies --- myriads of battle-corpses ••• white skeletons of young men." Then (his final two stanzas), "passing the visionsn, passing also lilac, star and bird, "unloosing the hands of his comrades", as if the intense knowledge of death and the over-reality of the symbols were given only in moments -- he keeps forever their memory.

Of Stanza 17 the material reappears in major off-stage bugle by a D tonality which

coTIIJ)oserforms a recitative in F-flat minor, whose musicRl a visionary march (Whitman's Stanza 18) ending in a B-flat call.

There is an orchestral ritournel in "f# minor colored at the end is used as a leading-tone back to C#minor.

The Finale, "Passing the Visions'', again some of the associated tonalities,

moves in a slow dotted rhythm, touching and comes to rest on a C# minor chord.

-4A Coda echoes the memory of "lilacs of my soul~ 11

and star

and bird ••• twined with the chant Julius

Herford and Robert Shaw

As mentioned in the beginning of these notes written by .Mr. Herford and :Mr. Shaw this work was commissioned by Mr. Shaw and The Collegiate Chorale when Mr. Shaw was its director (and we -all know its founder).

Mr. Shaw and the Collegiate Chorale gave the premier performance on May 5, 1946.

I 1m sure most of you have heard Mr. Shaw speak of Mr. Herford,

his very close friend, with whomhe was associated at San Diego State College for many years in their Workshop in Choral Art. This close and happy collaboration contir.ues now in Anchorage, Alaska at the Anchorage Festival of Music.

E. B.

ANNOUNCEMENTS : Unhappily there is still some music that is missing.

In particular some of the El Pessebre scores.

The rental scores of El Pessebre numbered in REDmust be returned to Boosey and Hawkes, and if you haveone of these will you please bring it to next rehearsal.

Sunday, January 13, bass rehearsal

at 3:00 p.m.

Monday, January 14, full

at 8:00 p.m.

rehearsal

See you then !

January 22, 1963 Well down in the liner copy of our "Sacred Choruses" album there are a few lines that go: ••• "In music they (the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus) would be called amateurs.

That's not altogether bad. Amo, amare: to lov e .

They sing for the 1 love 1 of it. 11 • • • R. s.

-- --Somehowa very special added meaning has been brought to these words during these weeks just past.

It isn 1 t a particttlar person or a particular thing, but all the things preceeding-and each of you giving-of yourself and your love.

Frank is terribly happy and pleased by the progress that has been made with the Hindemith and asked me to say T~:H-~A-¾N-*K Y~io~~Ult He feels that M.~.

Shaw will be able to "take it from here II and find notes where they ought to be, phrasing and intonation firmly in hand so that interpretation and direction may be easily followed.

Following is a very bare outline of choral techniques prepared for the Collegiate Chorale just before an NBCbroadcast.

Though written with a radio broadcast in mind, they are still most applicable and useful to us at this moment.

Radio Dynamics High dynamic levels betray individual vocal differences ••• the stron ger voices predominate ••• choral tone as a consequence is "thinned" ••• mass depth is lost ••• it is better to work within a dynamic range of ppp to mf, rather than that of mp to fff ••• in the final analysis the sound engineercan always make quietness audible and loud sounds faint ••• the important thing is dra,.,. matic coloring, not loudnees or softness ••• and finally, pianissimo is never beautiful of itself; it must be tremendous vigor terrifically controlled by and emotional idea.

Blend and Balance Proper choral balance is effected not by having a particular section sing louder for a given phrase ••• proper balance is the result of a careful shifting of singers to the choral lines which should predomina tB ••• the lower men's voices and the lower women's voices always should be given preferential numerical weight ••• to insure proper perspective, so that one section does not seem nearer or more distant, it is wise to mix the singers thoroughly, again favoring the lower voices with nearer positions.

Enunciation Of course, the important thing is to get the story across ••• and that is done by breaking all words into phonetic syllables, and singing the syllables ••• by exaggerating intensity and time value of consonants sounds which have pitch, and because it is a point of perfect definition by pronouncing final consonants of one word as though they were the i ni tial s ound of the word which follows.

Intonation In most instances intonation is a mental factor ••• let us grant the influence of: 1. atmospheric conditions.

2. physical fatigue.

3. ir.:.-

-2proper vocal production.

4. improper enunciation (lack of attention to the pitch values of m, n, ng, 1, v, z, and other consonants) ••• bad pitch is still most often due to mental laziness at will ••• any good group can st art a number in the key of C and finish it inC sharp or B natural, without indicating to the casual listener a departure in pitch ••• the fact of the inmatter is that pitch sensitivity is physiologically and psychologically herent in men and women ••• man defines consonance and dissonance, is not defined by it ••• and though sensitivity can be sharpened, the thing to remember is that innately we are the perfect instruments, not e.g. the pian o .~. the point is to giveyour innate sense a chance, not to ignore it.

Reading Establish at once the habit of reading two and three bars of music at one tima · ••• before you reach the end of one phrase, always read across to the beginning of the next, to catch the first two or three notes of the second phrase ••• then look up ••• the director must have your unanimous undistracted attention at that instant.

Hopefully you will all be here early next Monday, in fact for all rehearsals, since we know that Mr. Shaw will begin promptly at 8:00 p.m., and late arrival is one of his fc:nrqmet "hates 11• Please bring a pencil or help yourself to one of our new and replenished supply.

There's bound to be a lot on score marking.

Re-read, and practice too, the paragraph on °Reading 11• Always there is to be heard the cry "Watch me11, 0 Eyes, eyes, eyes !11, "Howcan I help you without your attention? 11

E. B.

ANNO UNCEMENTS :

Alto rehearsal Rehearsal

on Sunday, January 27, at 3:00 p.m.

for everyone Monday, January 28, at 8:00 p.m. promptly!

DISGI PLH JE AND/ORART --

I •v e often thought that the most immediate and exciting e :::.

2ment i n cho-rnl singing is the same quality which is responsible for the e motion al i rr.. ~Jac t cf c.1. mi H tar y para de, any good athletic team, or an expert chorus line lik e th e _t-:0c ke t,tes: na mely, the fact that many persons are doing exactly th e same t hin g a.t exactly t he same time.

As a matt er of fact, you can carry the principl e t o pr e tty terrifying extremes -- moral and ethical -- and come up with Fa scism.

A~ any rate, dis c ipline (or precision) is a terrific instrument -- and no c hor a l ef fort is going to register without exploiting it.

The point is wheth er it remains an instrument, subservient, to beauty the inher en t morality of music (for none of man's arts has more rightness wrongness), or whether it deteriorates into (a) style or (b) effect.

Now I think it ought to be possible for out becoming slot machines.

It certainly is cision techniques of ennunciation to become tive, rather than a seri e s of stock cliches form musical and lyrical con t our

and or

us to phrase and ennun ci at e wi th not too soon for the simple pr e -·tools, immediate, sup ple, and sensi and grotesque caricatures which de -

It's a pretty sad and degrading thing for singer and conductor alike when, in order to gain simple precision, the conductor is forced into unr e asoned dj_s cipline and artistic fascism.

That which might be ali v e beco~es a mask.

DYN AMIC CONTOUR -I have often wondered if there weren't really two rather distinct phra s in g te chniques: one for what we term "homophonic" music where the struc t ure is pr imaril y harmonic - or vertical, and the words fall in all voices at t he s ame t ime i n the manner of hymns, chorales, and most of the stylized popular arran ge ment s j an d another for "polyphonic" music where the structure is primarily me l odi c or horizontal, and the words fall in different voices at different times by v irt ue of what we t erm canonic imitation and cOlmterpoint.

The t erm that indicates to me where the distinction lies i s "un it of dyn ami c contour."

Now, that may sound a bit fancy-pants, but it a t leas t s ays it all at once.

Another t erm might be "span of the soft-loud. " That is: with re s pect to dynamics (loud-softness), music has a sha pe - a contour.

To f a l l back on a not ineffectual metaphor, the unit of phrasing in music is lik e a wav e : i t has amplitud e ("rise" and 11fall 11) and it has mot ion or dire ct i on ( it goes s omeplace.

Now i n homophonic music the unit of "rise and falln, of n1oud-softn, is usually no mor e than the short span of a single ch ord or word or even sy llabl e of a wor d. And the shap e of the 11loud-soft 11, t he 11dyna rnic cont our' \ will te c lo s el y hin ged to the phonetic structure of the wor d, to t he proper pr oporti ons of voue l t o consonant and vowel to vowel.

Thus in songs like n1e t Down Th.::: Bars 11 an d "Here I s Thy Foots t ool" almost each syllable must be gi ve n a c~,'.1,··,n 1_c c on ·~-our , mus t hav e its own lo udne ss and s oft nes s, its own sh a r e a nd s t ress.

And whi le there is bound to be a l on ger phrase (so that neith er mel o(y or s en se su f f er) t he unit r emai ns t he word or syllable.

-2In t!'ie c,?..se of polyphonic music it seems to me that this sJ;-n.ami c cont oi..1.1' is of n.u.ci1 greater span; and while the habit of proper phonetic ennur.ciati o::i. can onl y e:-:hance legato phrasing, I'm almost ready to believe t r.at tu ::i fini¡: :~cy attention to syllable stress will destroy this larger grace.

'1:1e lou d and ::of J:. of polyphonic music, like the Brahlns Motet, relates not so closely to word us to musical phrase; and if we extend the metaphor, is comparable to the ocean swell, which may be hundreds of feet between troughs or may possess many minor waves.

What is required here is a maximumof tensil quality -- st eadiness, stre ngth , control -- and the ability to register slight and subtle gradua tions of lo ud~ess over a span of many notes and many syllables. choral

Here is another variable tone.

Do you follow?

then - dynamic contour

- to set along side of

R. S.

The above letter was garnered from the file of old Collegiate Chorale letters, but it is still full of muscle, and hopefully will provide you with insight into the Hindemith.

For one/third of a half of a second I wildly imagined that Mr. Shaw would be writing you this week, but he's just too tired.

Maybe exhausted would des cribe it more accurately and it's just going to take a largo diminuendo bef ore the fortissimo crescendo l So with penc i ls poised and eyes glued to the conductor following r ehea rsals will sail along on untroubled waters.

let' s hope t hese

E. B ..

ANNOUNCE MENTS:

Sunday, February 3, all men at 3 : 00 p .m.

WeI ll have elevat or se r vice •

Monday, February L., everybody come pr omptlyt! to begin.

8 :00 p .m. we 1 11 corrmence

February 6, 1963 I have two reactions on the Hindemith Lilacs.

after

the past two Monday rehearsals

working with you

The first is a fervid thanks to Frank Barr who obviously has done an inci• sive and intensive job of note-teaching, and to yourselves who have obviously in every rehearsal seriously attended to the job of note-learning.

The second is a compound sense of frustration and guilt that I haven't in six years been able to build a better chorus, to teach the basic fundamentals of musicianship which would allow us to master a Lilacs easily, happily and without the drudgery which must inevitably accompany the lack of adequate skills.

Ours is not a school situation, and most of us give our time to the COChorus not as an educational project but for the enjoyment it affords.

Nevertheless, if I had been more successful and/or persistent over the past six years in laying down the day-by-basics of sight-singing all of us would now be considerably fatter in the enjoyment department.

Correlative to this failure is the infrequency with which we perform contemporary works. We have done, it is true (or, those who have been with us long enough have done) some Stravinsky, Bartok, Barber and Britten; but Hindemith proposes a new language for most of us, and we 1re not grammatically prepared or assthetically hyper-sympathetic.

All this is a serious weakness. We do live in our times.

-And if there is any pole or wholeness to be found in a fractured age, it might very well be found in the serious work of a here-now serious artist.

There's a high school chorus in Princeton, New Jersey, conducted by Thomas Hilbish.

Mr-. Hilbish has been there only a fel-!:years, but in that time the members of his chorus have become home-grown devotees of and internationally acclaimed experts in the performance of works of Schoenberg, Webern, Berg et al.

-Nor have they neglected traditional classics.

At the start of this a University chorus.

school year one of the graduates

"You1re a soprano?

was auditioning

11

"Yes. 11 "Will you please read this "It wouldn't be fair.

from the B Minor Mass?"

I've performed it."

"Well, then, read the tenor part."

"That wouldn 1 t be fair ''All right.

either.

-Stravinsky

''We1ve performed it.

11

Bartok Cantata Profana?"

11

We learned all the parts.

Psalms?''

11

for

-2-

''We used it for sol-fege I see.

11

Is there

classes."

anything you can'.!: read?"

! 1m sure there is -- but, you see, most of us develop absolute pitch while we're in the chorus and the sight-singing classes."

11

-Suffer in

I

little

children

! Any ol

I

dogs for mew-zicks?

R. S.

"Once¡, in the Rocky Mountains, I had a strange musical experience.

In a gorge famous for its waterfalls and filled with aerial railways, summer guests, cars, and ice-cream vendors, a well-coordinated loud-speaker system screamed Isolde's Liebestod all over the place, as part of the gorge's daily routine.

I am sure the managers of the establishment wanted to please their customers, true to the rule which seems to be one of the leading theses of the American way of life: enjoyment plus enjoyment gives you more enjoyment. ''We cannot blame them for the idea that the accurrru.lation of single enjoyin an accumulated sensation: that Liebestod plus waterfalls plus ments results or ice-cream solo. ice-cream give us more pleasure than Liebestod or waterfall After all, it was the composer of Liebestod himself who concocted the idea of the Gesamtkunstwerk, in which singing voices, orchestra, stage, light effects, horses, rivers, cardboard mountains, artificial beards, et cetera, et cetera, were part of the over-all enjoyment.

The catch in this conception is that our over-all enjoyment cannot be more than one hundred per cent.

Hence, three factors of enjoyment, which each by itself would provide one hundred per cent enj0yment, do not add up to three hundred per cent; they are, rather, compressed into the one hundred per cent, so that each of them~ if participation is equal, has but thirty-three and a third per cent of its original effect.

I personally even believe that too much of an accumulation of artistic or presumedly artistic enjoyments not only reduces the percentage of the single constituent enjoyment, but also reduces the over-¡all effect from its one hundred per cent to a much lower degree.

Thus the effect of the aforementioned Gesamtkunstwerk in the mountains will most likely be that you will take your car, cursing waterfalls, Liebestods, and ice-cream in equal percentage and drive to a place where there is nothing but a hundred per cent view. 11 (from~

Paul Hindemith Composer I s World)

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Two things, please: We still are lacking photographs of some of those who joined the Chorus this year; and there are still some pieces of music (pre-1963) that are not returned.

WeI d much appreciate your taking care of these matters right away.

Sunday, February 10, all woreen at 3:00 p.m.

Monday, February 11, everyone at 8:00 p.m.

February Of the pages I wrote to you last Monday night following ideas are salvagable ~nd seem worth sending even forty-eight

14, 1963 rehearsal some hours later.

Monday's frustration was a high for this short season, &nd I have a hunch that not all of it is accountable to what mus t seP-mto a majority of ycu -- as it does to me -- an ~nconscionable apathy or immunization to the rudiments of choral techn~que, but rather that all of this looms the more hideously against my almost hourly increase of respect and affection fer the music. Having been for so long so closely associated with "Li.lacs", I have a more than hovering sense of guilt that it may never have had, at least from r.ie, a performa.'1ce worthy of it, that until now it never seemed fir.st nature; and I am frantic at the possibility that this opportunity, which certainly surpasses any previou.s conditions -- on paper -- should slip by unfulfilledo Of the composers of the past half-century four, by the volume and individuality of their work! and the number and produc~ of their followers, can be said to have started "schools" of composition.

These four are Bartek, Stra¡dnsky, Schoenberg and Hindemith.

There are certainly other considerable composers: Sibelius, VaughanWilliams, Strauss, Prokofieff, Poulenc, Honegger, Webern, Berg, Dallapiccola, Britten -- to name some outside the United States; but the four above are uniquely composers• influences in addition to being gifted producers.

Each of the four has written a 11landmark" opus for the choral literature: Stravinsky's Psalms, Bartok 1 s Cantata Profana, Schoenberg's Friede auf Erden and Hindemith's Lilacs -- in addition to varying hosts of smaller or larger works.

Because of the special interest in the choral art on the part of a few gifted composers of the past two or three decades the distinguished choral repertoire is not limited to these four pieces.

Certainly we can recall works of Poulenc, Britten, Foss, Barber, Vaughan-Williams and perhaps others which warrant a general first ranking.

Stillj a special interest attaches itself to the four works of these most influential composers.

Of these pieces the unique thing about Lilacs is the amount of text which he undertook to set.

Without counting words or syllables, it is fair to conjecture that he set himself to utter musically in a little over an hour what it might take an accomplished actor 20 minutes to declaim fluently.

This calls for an incredible mastery of prosody and musical form. I am convinced that Lilacs affords one of -- if not the most -- sensitive text settings of our time.

In many moments it has on paper -the subtle improvisatory congruities of our finest ballad- or folk-singers.

Look at Nos. 2 and 5: Approximately SO words -- but the singer has somewords and notes per thing like 14 phrases 1 -The barest minimum of syllables, phrase.

Rapid breathing -- as though the so11g were being extemporized.

All of this is done with a remarkable level and tension of personal expressivity.

By tradition those forms which can carry the largest amount of text per musical minute are recitative and arioso.

With incredible viruosity, Hindemith has managed to set the whole of Whitman's Lilacs in only slightly over an hour

-2-- and still give us a sinfonia, marches, double-fugues, arias, dramatic choruses and a chora:t.e. -And the miracle is ( to my mind, some fifteen years after a first acquaintance) that though it is one of Whitman's "loaded" ' poems, Hindemith has enriched enormously Whitman's language -- its intellectual content, its emotional v~riety, and its introspective subtlety.

Hindemith's knowledge of the choral literature may well be unequalled in the entire world, even among musicological specialists.

(I conducted a performance of Bach's St. John Passion some years ago in Carnegie Hall with the Julliard Chorus andOrchestra in which Hindemith played the rare viola da gamba arias -- about ten minutes of music. What is astonishing is that he also sang the entire performance from his orchestra chair -- from memory -- in German -solos and choruses -- while the rest of us limped along with scores and parts -- in English.

-He could duplicate this feat with -- well -- name a composer.)

Certainly he has brought the security and ri .ch.tless of his wide knowledge to Lilacs.

With the exception of his symphony Mathis der Maler, Hindemith has sometimes been considered -- by those who, because they could not shed much light had to develop heat -- as being a correct school-master among creative talents.

It seems to me that in Lilacs he lifts a remarkable personal pronoun.

-And none of tbis should surprise anyone who knows him or has read his words upon the business, ethics and love of making musio.

R. S. ANNOUNCEMENTS:

1. For the Lakewood performance, Sunday, February 24, space is limited on stage, and we cannot accormnodate the whole Chorus. I would appreciate it if the people listed below would sing that performance.

If for any reason you cannot participate please inform Miss Burruss so that a substitute may be selected.

Bass II

102 1C6 109 114 116 120 121 122 123 124 126 128 131 132 133

Bass I

Ten. II

153 157 158 159 160 161 162 167 168 173 174 175 179 181 183

201 206 208 209 211 212

215 217 220 222

224 226

Ten. I

252254 256 258 260 261 263 264 265 266 268 269 270 272 274

Alto II

Alto I

Sop. II

3-04 306 310 313 316 319 .

320 321 325 327 328 329 331

351 352 355 357 358 359 361 363 366 368 372 375 376 377 382

401 402 404 409 412 414 416 417 418 420 423 425 427 428 ¡ 429¡ 430 431 432

JJ~

3}4

Sop. I

451 455 456 458 460 463 464 468 470 472 473 475 476 477 478 480 481

"The more art is controlled,

limited,

worked over, the more it is

free.

"As for myself, I experience a sort of terror when, at the moment of setting to work and finding myself before the infinitude of possibilities that present themselves, I have the feeling that everything is permissible to me. If everything is permissible to me, the bes-t and the worst; if nothing offers me any resistance, then any effor~ is · inconcei vable, · and I cannot use · ·anything as a basis, and consequently every under ·i;aking becomes futile.

"What delivers me from the anguish into which an unrestricted freedom plunges me is the fact that I am always able to turn immediately to the concrete things that are here in question.

I have no use for a theoretic freedom.

Let me have something finite, definite -- matter that can l end itself to my operation only insofar as it is commensurate with my possibilities.

And such matter presents itself to me together with its limitations.

I must in turn impose mine upon it.

So here we are, whether we like it or not, in the realm of necessity.

And yet which of us has ever heard talk of art as other than a realm of freedom? This sort of heresy is uniformly widespread because it _.is imagined that art is outside the bounds of ordinary activity.

Well, in art as in everything else, one can build only upon a resisting foundation: Whatever constantly gives way to pressure, constantly renders movement impossible. that

"My freedom thus consists in my moving about within the narrow frame I have assigned myself for each one of my undertakings.

11

I shall go even further: my freedom will be so much the greater and more meaningful the more narrowly I limit my field of ac tion and the more I surround myself with obstacles.

Whatever diminishes constraint, diminishes strength.

The more constraints one imposes, the mor e one frees one 's self of the chains that shackle the spirit.

It is · evident, 1 writes Baudelaire, 'that rhetorics and prosodies are not arbitrairly invented tyrannies, but a collection of rules demanded by the very organization of the spiritual being, and never have prosodies and rhetorics kept originality from .fully manifesting i ts elf.

The contr ar y, that is to say, that they have aided the flowering of or ig inality, would be infinitely more t rue.' 11 "

1

Igor Stravinsky (from Poetics of Music) ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Rehearsal,

Sunday, March 3, at 3:00 p.m. for everyone.

Rehearsal,

Monday, March 4, at 8:00 p.m. for everyo ne .

March 7, 1963 "We have a duty towards music, namely, to invent it.

I recall once during the wlll" ¡ when I was crossing the French border a get1darn:e as~ed me wh:it my profession was. I told him quite naturally that I was an inventor of music. The gendarme, then verifying my passport, asked me why I was listed as a composer. I told him that the expression "inventor of music" seemed to me to fit my profession more exactly than the term applied to me in the documents authorizing me to cross borders.

"Invention presupposes imagination but should not be confused with it.

For the a.ct of invention implies the necessity of a lucky find and of achieving full realization of this find.

Thus, what concerns us here is not imagination in itself, but rather creative imagination: the faculty that helps us to pass from the level of conception to the level of realization.

11

"In the course of my labors I suddenly stumble upon something unexpected.

This unexpected element strikes me. I make a note of it.

At the proper time I put it to profitable use. This gift of chance must not be confused with that capriciousness of imagination that is commonly called fancy.

Fancy implies a predetermined will to abandon one's self to caprice.

The aforementioned assistance of the unexpected is something quite different.

It is a collaboration which is immanently bound up with the inertia of the creative process and is heavy with possibilities which are unsolicited and come most appositely to temper the inevitable overrigorousness of the naked will.

"The faculty of creating is never given to us all by 1 tself.

It always goes hand in hand with the gift of observation.

And the true creator may be recognized by his ability always to find about him, in the commonest and humblest thing, items worthy of note.

He does not have to concern himself with a beautiful landscape, he does not need to surround himself with rare and precious objects.

He does not have to put forth in search of discoveries: they are always within his reach.

He will have only to cast a glance about him. Familiar things, things that are everywhere, attract his attention.

The least accident holds his interest and guides his operations.

If his finger slips, he will notice .it; on occasion, he may draw profit from something unforeseen that a momentary lapse reveals to him.

"One does not contrive an accident: one observes it to draw inspiration therefrom.

An accident is perhaps the only thing that really inspires us. A composer improvises aimlessly the way an animal grubs about.

Both of them go grubbing about because they yield to a compulsion to s eek things out. What urge of the composer is satisfied by this investig ation?

The rules With which, like a penitent, he is burdened? No: he is in quest of his pleasure.

He seeks a satisf~c+.j _on ..that he fully knows he will not find without first striving for it.

One cannot force one's self to lov e ; but love presupposes understanding, and in order to understand, one must exert one I s self. 11 Igor Stravinsky (from Poetics of Music ) Sunday, March 10, warm-up and orchestra

rehearsal

at

1:45 p.m.

promptlyl

April

4, 1963

I 1ve been wanting to write a fan letter for some time (into every life the little acids of appreciation must fall -- overdew, and seldom unrestrained) -- but it's hard to get the pencil out of my cheek.

This inestimable esthesia of esteem began to be barely bearable, I suppose, with trip Number One to the Casals Festival in Puerto Rico.

Most choral performances, amateur or professional, could be improved by additional rehearsal, but of the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus on that occasion it could be said that it knew its music forwards; further, that it had become an instru~ent into itself, with sensitivities, capabilities and disciplines product :i:ve to whatever literature or leader might be set in front of it; and further, that its aesthetic antennae, cerebral saliva ti on and emotional empathy were out to, up to and into here.

To more than a slight extent that awareness of what it takes to be really right is working with us now. It would have to be for us to get decently through a Hindemith Lilacs, Stravinsky Psalms, Poulenc Gloria and Faure Requiem in the past few weeks.

There are two things about this chorus which delight its conductor, which seem "special'1 in his experience, which make for unusual accomplishment, and to which he most frequently refers when speaking to outsiders about the chorus.

Number One is the unusually high level of intelligence of this group but of general intelligence. of people.

I 1 m not writing of musical talent, We do have an extremely valuable small core of people who are professionally skilled in music, most of them in music education, and we would find it impossible to duplicate or replace their contribution to our chorus.

But in our general membership we have other factors going for us; for instance: our location in a medical enviornment, and the traditional correlations between medicine and music. We are also in a scientific locale, and similar correlations have for -whatever reason existed between music and engineering.

Nurses, doctors, engineers, scientists, teachers, chemists, form a considerable part of our membership. I find myself saying to people on the West or East Coasts, when trying to explain the uniqueness of this chorus, that while ours is not an extraordinary level of vocal ability, there is a very rapid intellectual response to those things which can be learned: enunciation, rhythm, sensitivity to pitch etc.

Now, in every rehearsal we are disturbed not infrequently by individual thoughtlessness -- or simple stupidity -- as regards durations of note s or silences, or phonation and timing of consonants.

-But this is not the general rule; and in the silence of his lonely room night and day the conductor does not think of viewing only with alarm.

This is an exceptional group of people who for the most part are accustomed to individual inteJ lectual responsibility -- and that is the principle reason this chorus sounds good -- when and if.

-( YouI re bright

1 See if you can get that

t-hrough your thick

skulls~ )

-2-

The second pleasure and undoubted source of accomplishment is allied to the fact that most of you are non-professional in music and, in any event, join this endeavor for honors heavily fraught with no profit.

I am not speaking of amateurism itself.

We have talked much of its values in times past. ¼1h at I have in mind at this moment is one of the extra boni (bonuses?) of a society like ours.

It is the very diversity of professional interest and accomplishment of its members.

If your experience has been anything like mine it is that in spite even of intentions to the contrary, most professional associations, confederations and conventions -- assemblies of look- act- think- work- and earn-alikes -- are a puddling of lowest common demoninators, at comic best a semi-necessary bore, but frequent manacle and mire to the minds of men.

To be sure, music is its own very complex science; but it is also wind, sand and stars in the eyes, love-nest and blast-off, itch to the initiate and poetry to the peasant.

And thus, while no amount of know-less can add to our enjoyment of music, the variety of our intellectual occupati .onal backgrounds sweeps through our musical recreation, enlivens and enhances music's allegory, secularizes, sanctifies, inspirits and (praiseFord) outbreeds.

We could append an endless cud of coda here: the greater your success in your personal occupations the greater your contribution to the chorus and the greater therefore your own satisfactiont -- for one sickening example • Such are the dry-heaves

of rnis-chieves.

Suffice it to advise that when you ar ·e bullied hence for non-sen se, before the fact -- in writing. you 1 ve had its retraction R

Rehear sal and performance

schedule:

Sunday

April 7

3:00 p.m .

All

Monday

April 8

7 :00 p .m.

All (W. Orch ) Poul enc- Faure

Tuesday

April 9

8:00 p.m.

Perf.

Wedne sday

April 10

7:00 p.m.

All

Thursday

April 11

7:15 p.m.

All Perf.

Poulen c --Faur e

Saturday

April 13

All Perf.

Poul enc ·-Faure

7 :15 p.m .

Oberlin

- Faur e

(W. Orch ) Poul enc -Faure

VOWELS:

To produce absolutely pure vowel sounds without distorting the core of pitch and timbre which we call vocal "line" ' is one of the basic problems of singing.

I have found it helpful to realize that the vowels are formed not primarily by different positions of the mouth -- tongue, lips and lower at the larynx itjaw. According to 11\Y'information they are initiated self, and their chief resonator is not the mouth but the throat column directly above the larynx.

You can check this theory by letting your jaw drop slack and, keeping it in this position, saying aloud a series of simple vowels. Though som~ of them can be clarified by slight jaw and facial movement, by and large they are thoroughly recognizable, and they certainly have a uniform quality.

Practically, this means that it is not necessary to indulge in exaggerated facial contortion and grimace to produce good vowels. Indeed, such movement is likely to disturb consistent vocal "line" and give a strangely mis-matched set of vowels.

What is necessary is to concentrate with the utmost intensity the purity of the vowel sound being produced.

on

This may sound a bit like "good people are better than bad people 11' -- everybody knows this, etc.

But actually, even professional singers are more than occasionally careless about these matters.

One subsequently hears the oddest assortment of queer sounds gargling up what should 11ah 11' .

It requires the strongest attention be a simple straight-forward and the keenest self-critical listening to keep a vowel "in line 11 and understandable as one moves from low to high pitches.

Chorally, the rewards are great: you can cure a lot of faulty tonation just by working on vowel purityo It's time to move from note-learning ful singing.

to solid,

clear

in-

and beauti-

R . S.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Will you all please carefully look through your music just once again to make certain that you have turned in all the music that has loaned to you. Our librarians are hip deep in choral music that has not been filed away because there are still sorre missing scores.

Sunday Monday

March March

1

2

3:00 p.m ~ ¡8:00 p.m.

Soprano sectio nal Everyone

April

21, 1963

I should like to include some paragraphs from Yr. Shaw's letter of last year dealing with the Festival Casals trip inasmuch as our decision s were based upon the same factors.this yea:r.

11

You will understand, I'm sure, that there are exceptionally talented people in each section.

These decisions were easy.. -- ¡But most of us share similar and more modest talents, and in these instances literal hour-shave been spent over one or two vacancies in a given section.

"First qualifications, of course, were vocal and musical.

These oft en do not coincide; and there is always a point reached where someone has to decide whether what is needed is beautiful, vigorous sound or outstanding musicianship.

In all cases, every preceding audition was examined and accounted, 195'6 to present.

Thus sight-reading abil ity was accounted against how well one lmew this year's music.

Following these came two organizational considerations: first, in t h.e case of near equals ( and this means a large percentage of nur membership) which of the applicants held "seniority"? and second, in terms of the presen t season, which has been more constant in on-tirr. e atten danc e .

11

"We are listing alternates in mcst sections.

Undoubtedly betw ee n new and June 6 places will become -- for whatever reason -- available.

Alt ernates are privileged to attend rehearsals -- and hope." -And in th3 last analysis of the 1962 trip a large percentage of th e alternates did make the trip .

E . B.

ANNOUNCEME NTS: The first rehearsal for the Festival even in g, May 6, at 8:00 p.m.

Casals trip

will

be Monday

Please telephone, upon receiving this le tte r, to let us know of your acc eptance of membership in the Festival Casals chorus.

April

23, 1963

The swelling billowing jubilation of about 9:30 last evening seemed a most fitting tribute and comment on and to the COG. It was a time not to be cluttered by other considerations.

Thus the need for this brief note.

First for those of you who were unfortunately not with us, V.ir', Shaw and Yr. Szell agreed that there was no ¡ necessity for a rehearsal this Sunday. Instead they asked only that everyone spend a little time at horr.e working on the Ninth and that you arrive a little early next Monday, A¾ril 29, for warm-up, The second important announcement concerned Pablo Casals.

He caught cold while in Philadelphia conducting a performance of El Pessebre and all concerned felt he had best return to San Juan immediately.

We have, therefore, cancelled the Wednesday and Thursday rehearsals.

Lastly, I had hoped to have a moment to tell you about the good news connected with your gift for George Silfies.

(I'm sure by now you all know that George is leaving the Cleveland Orchestra at the end of this eason to go to New York City.)

At the tirr.e of the Poulenc-Faure performances the idea of giving George a "going away" and "thank you 11 gift took shape. Since that ti me we have been collecting, we hope on the q.t., donations for this gift in the box marked 11pictures 1t . We have right now $30.25.

Susie, George's wife, did a little detective work for us. She found that George wanted for his library piano-vocal scores of the Schubert Songs. We have located the complete set for only $48.50.

They come set of seven volumes with hard covers and seem to be not only a useful but rather special present.

asa

I' 11 have the "picture"

box down stairs at next Monday's rehearsal so that anyone who has not yet contributed to this gift may still do so. Give in whatever amount you wish to, and I'm sure with sorr~thing from everyone we1 11 easily reach our goal. Should we have money in excess of what is needed for the Schubert Songs there are delectable extras which the gentleman with whom I've been talking has suggested.

So, see you Monday when I'll be armed with seating as signments, Beethoven complimentary tickets and a box marked "picturesn.

E. B.

May 17, 1963 Dear FCC (Festival

Casals Chorus):

Though we may have squeezed in almost as many rehearsals this year as last, the actual lapsed time between that Numero Uno rehearsal and departure day is somewhat less.

I find I am deali~g more directly with the San Juan office of the Festival, rather than the New York office, and it, therefore, takes a little longer to get answers for you and instructions from them. So bear with me, please, because when things begin to "pop" it will be fast and thick.

Early in the Festival rehearsals following note to the Chorus:

of a year ago Mr. Shaw sent the

"Fellow-travelers: "-A hasty word of encouragement for home-study of the Festival Casals materials: t:,0ur successful performances -- and our own happy holiday -- in Puerto Rico depend upon having our materials in absolutely fool-proof condition at least two weeks before we leave.

Singing and rehearsing in strange halls with unfamili ar conductors and orchestras in totally different environ ments and unpredictable schedules are hazard enough for even expert professional musicians and groups.

"Each of us expects this to be a unique treasurable experience.

It will only happen if each of us is personally and infallibly s ecure in al l musical departments -- intonation, rhythm, text and tone.

There can be no substitute for your individual home practice and study . Twenty to thirty munutes per day will guarantee your own musical security -- and a lot more vacation-t ype frolic and fun in Puerto Rico. Do give the work that time and attention.

"You, are a wonderful chorus quick, attentive and skilled.

Nothing must be allowed to limit our achievement and Pau Casals I happiness. '' R. S.

Nowyou have "the word", and we lmow from last year that there is nothin g but truth to be found in it.

You have received a rather remarkable vote of confidence from Mr. Shaw as regards your individual Dmusical security" by hie feel ing he ca."l be away from rehearsal and yet our pro gresG will go forward.

Fe owe a considerable debt to Frank Barr, who is not even going to be with us in Puerto Rico, for acce pting the res ponsibility for those rehearsals when Mr. Shaw must be away.

October 10, 1963 We're going to have to plot our rehearsal during the next couple of weeks:

time very precisely

So that the ladies may sustajn the illusion of having had two 11 0 more passes at 1a vierge noir , we shall begin with it on Monday night -- and conclude with it.

Schedule for Monday, October 14: 8:00 -

8:55 p.m.

9:00 - 9:55 p.m.

10:00 - 10:30 p.m.

Ladies 'phony' 1 (but vierge" are per day will warm puppy.

1

Womenonly Men and women Womenonly

-- do be good enough to practice at home the enclosed helpful) phonetic transliteration.

The notes of 111a extremely simple, but the words are not.

Ten minutes 1 1 and Sunday s performance a make Monday s rehearsal

Thinking ahead: :Mr. Szell has asked for the rehearsal ber 21 for the Haydn Mass. Think big.

of Octo-

R. S.

ANNOlJ"NCEMENTS :

Sunday, October 13, Casals Chorus rehearsal

at 3:00 p .m. sharp .

October 22, 1963 I write in haste next week's rehearsals

following last night's rehearsal and in concern over and performances of the Haydn Mass.

The concern is two-fold.

The first has to do with the state of musical security which must be accomplished before a chorus is ready to be turned over It must be so secure that it would be impossible to to a guest conductor. alarm, confuse or otherwise "throw" it.

This was precisely our attention with El Pessebre on our first trip to Puerto Rico -- and it always pays off handsomely.

Everyone of us knows that far less rehearsal time has been spent so far this season on the Poulenc Gloria and Litanies than on the Haydn Mass. In spite of. this we were able to perform quite decently last Sunday -- in a large part because we've grown accustomed to one another, we know what rehearsal and performance techniques work quickly, we know what to expect from one another in performance and we trust each other. these conditions simply do not apply with even as familiar and great a conductor as George Szell (with whom, actually, a fourth of an "early-season chorus" has never sung).

Individual musical security is not advanced in orchestral rehearsals; it almost always is diminished during the first session.

Moreover, the 11guest" conductor has problems enough of balance, rhythmic coordination and color -- without having to worry about a chorus' intonation, text, phrasing or facility.

Law Number One of working with guest conductors: the first rehearsal is the first performance.

Concern Number Two: It's a terrible mistake to underestimate the difficulty of "simple II music -- and it I s absolutely fatal if the composer is Haydn or Mozart. At the first rehearsal on the Haydn you read with exceptional facility, and by the time we'd repeated movements there was even an occasional decent phrasing; but now, four weeks later, you are still reading -- which, in --the vocal art, is a far cry from performing.

Review, for a morrent, the relative difficulties of the Poulenc Gloria and the Haydn Mass. Recall how persistent and pervasive is Poulenc I s use of sequence and repetition; compare that with Haydn's astounding variety and unpredictability -- even in repetition.

Which of the pieces demand of you the more constant and intense attention and the quicker response and coordination?

Which is the more "exposed"? In which is performa11ce error or smudge more easily apparent?

And finally, which calls for the greater subtlety, sophistication, imagination and control as regards phrasing, the inflections of color, text and dynamics? Which -- in short -- demands the greater musicianship?

Even with a fine contemporary piece like the Gloria there is no doubt as to our answers. The difficulty of performing Haydn is of the same order as that of performing Shakespeare.

Only the fool would shrug that 11it 1 s only English".

These two concerns, I think, force a reappraisal of our position and responsibility; and I am going to request something which I believe I 1 ve done only once or twice before in seven years: that is, a rehearsal for this con-

-2cert in addition to those posted at the start of the season. be a slight extension of Sunday's rehearsal as announced last

(There will night.)

also

Schedule for Week of October 21 - 27: October 26

Saturday,

Sopranos and Basses Altos and Tenors

1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.

3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Sunday, October 27 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Men

Women

I realize that this will present some difficulties to many of you. If they are insurmountable be good enough to phone Miss Burruss -- so that we may be prepared.

I assure you that the work and our own self-esteem are worth it, and that the time will be productive and pleasant.

Affectionately, R

ANNO UNCEMENTS : Our librarians number all of our choral music at the time it is received in the library.

In this way we are able to sign music out to you, return it to you if it is misplaced, and also have a means of checking music back into the library.

Please do not erase or change these numbers. chorus numberonthe music in some other location There is still considerable any of the following scores still you next come to rehearsal: Poulenc: Poulenc: Casals: Brahms:

Simply write your name and for identification.

music that has not been returned. in your possession please return

If you have them when

Litanies to the Black Virgin Gloria ( or you may purchase your score for $1. 75) El Pessebre Liebeslieder Waltzes

Whenever it is possible we will make available to you for purchase scores from our performances.

However, when the material is on rental we must have it returned immediately after use in order to return it to the publisher.

I 1 11 try always to let you lmow what scores are available for purchase.

PICTURES: There are still a great yet received a photograph.

WeI d surely next rehearsal.

many people from whomwe have not as appreciate your turning them in at the E. B.

November 8, 1963 Had intended to report to you last Mondb.ytwo comrr. euts cnnc,~r.¡ning trie performances of the Haydn Mass (but the rehearsal was going so 1~ 2s r ably I didn hav duh guts) • - ¡1

The first was from one of the chorus members who did not participate in this performance.

(Most of you were unaware of the fact that no-one sang the Haydn performances who was not present at one or the other of the Saturday-Sunday pre-orchestra rehearsals.)

"Everyone, this person said, "should ha Ye the privilege of being deprived of the opportunity to perform.

It .is an overwhelming listening experience. 11 The second was George Szell 1 s comment on his way to the dressing room following Saturday's performance.

"It is astonishing -- like some sort of magic. Simply by the quality of the beat one can make an instant change in tone, tempo, balance or color.

This chorus is sj _mply more responsive than an orchestra."

You should enjoy these introductory comments of Donald Tovey, prior to his detailed analysis of Beethoven's ~dssa Solemnis in his celebrated Essa ys in Musical ~nalysis, Vol. !_.

"Another subject on which we must clear our minds from prejudice is Beethoven's choral writing.

Its difficulties are appalling, and even Bach seems easy in comparison.

Yet it is not unlike Bach in its rewards for those choirs that grapple with it.

Everybody can see that Beethoven puts a terrible strain upon the voices.

This is evident when they are singing prolonged high notes, and still more so when they are trying to articulate many syllables on these high notes.

We do not notice the equally serious difficulties arising from Beethoven's reckless use of low notes; because the passages which lie too low simply fail to be heard. However, these defects, for such they are, must not be imputed to a lack of choral imagination.

Beethoven does many things which he and lesser musicians ought not to have done, and so his choral style is not a 'good model'.

But he leaves nothing undone which he ought to have done. There is no genuine choral possibility undeveloped by Beethoven in the :t-f.assin D. His high notes may be too high, but he has not failed toimagine their resonance.

He does not inadvertently write high; he merely over-estimates the capacity of voices t o sing so high with comfort. Again, though the low passa ges certainly are not well heard in the voices, they are very well supuorted in the orchestra.

A case can be made out for saying th at Beethov ~n gives his voices relief by these low passages.

That, I fear, waf : not his motive.

The same characteristic happens const ant l y in the choral w:.:iting of Bach, and is there mainly acc o~nte d for by much the same methods of supporting those passages by

-2tho orch 8s t.ra~ The only other respect in which Bee~~h oven ' s hat choral writing is abnormal, is th at he seems to ·i;hi r..k -~, voic e s can determin e rhythms w~th the s ame kind of percu Es i~ m as instruments.

One of the lea ding f Jatures of Bee ~;'_,_o ve n I i:: polyp hony is th e use of r hy thmic fig u:r·01st ha t could be re cognized if merely drum~e d upon a table.

Voices do not express those rhythmic figures nearly so well as instrtm1ents, especially when th ey are to be declaimed on one note to a wor d like 1 kyrie 1 , where the middle consonant is a liquid, and two of the syllables are successive vowels. The singer is at the mercy of his words in these matters, and requires to be t.aught a somewhat artifical staccato before the rhythms will come out as Beethoven intended them •••• "These reservations then cover a wide ground; but the positive fact nevertheless remains, that Beethoven's choral writing contains everything that a chorus can doo It neglects no opportunities.

Not even Bach or Handel can show a great e~ sense of space and of sonority.

There is no earlier choral writing that comes so near to recovering some of the lost secrets of the style of Palestrina.

There is no choral and no orchestral writing, earlier or later, that shows a more thrilling sense of the individual colour of every chord, every position, and every doubled third or discord."

R. S.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: · Sunday November 10 5:30 p.m.

Rehearsal for all men~ ( Please note that there may be difficulty parking, since a SunAllow time.) day Afternoon Concert will have just concluded.

Monday

November 11

8:00 o.m.

Rehears al for ever yone.