March 10, 1964 Too few of us realize the short - maybe too short -- s9ace of time between us and our first meeting with Mr. Shaw after tour. One I:Ionday and two Sundays s13parate us f:-om 1,rednesdaY, '· t1ar.0h 25, at"' 8 ~00 p,.ni. ·· The Collegiate Chorale received a letter date lined "late Monday ni ght" ~lmost a score of years ago, but it's pertinent -- so terribly pertinent 11a reacquaintance with the fundament als of choral to Casey's rehearsals: musicians hip 11. Snafued enunciation and careless dispirited rhythm. Things we shoul d be able to take for granted. Pitches sometimes are hard to find: disson -· ances and the speed with which notes succeed each other offer difficulties onl y solved by a slow and extremely precise process. We enlarge; we put the music _under the microscope; we cut to half-time and quarter-time; we analize, look for pitch cues and thematic materials. That is a legitimate method of learning. Even orchestras sometimes are forced to it. -But enunciation and the elements of rhythmic form and stress are basic. (To these eventually should be added an understanding of choral tone, though it must remain considerably more flexible and variable.) We have a right to assume that these disciplines are second-nature. -Like a pro-football team. They assume the familiarity of the fundamentals. The boys know how to tackle. They know how to block. They know how to handle the ball, and how to fall without breaking their necks. What they study is formations and the execution of plays. Well -- we assume the techniques of enunciation and rhythm. We study the intricacies of harmonic and melodic patterns. We spend time on phrasing, balance and an occasional problem of vocal agility. We shouldn't have to take time for much else. Let's take enunciation first. What we have is an artificial, arbitrary, but immensely prac'ti o al system. Nobody claims anything more for it than that it works. It is built particularly for American speech, though~ of its principles may carry over into foreign tongues. The Rules Are: I II III IV
Pure, vigorous vowels. Carefully broken-up dipht hongs. Long and intense hummed consonants .• Explosive consonants always exploded as though they began a syllable. V Rhythmic, proportionate allocations of hummedconsonants and secondary vowels.
I - We will purify our vowels to the extent understood -- even without context~
that
th ey never be mis-
Note that this is one of the most delicate adjustments of the singer's art. Note that it is not necessary to emasculate in order to purify. We do not have to sing hooty "oos" and rasping 11ees 11 to make ourselves under -
-2-
stood. It is perfectly possible to have vowel defin ~ition without grotesque facial contortion and the fracture of vocal line. The vowels are formed at the "voice box" (or whatever you want to call it), not by the teeth, nose or position of the tongue in the mou.th. Their chief resonator is the throat column directly adjacent to their point of origin; and though in particular instances the mouth and jaw may aid clarity and faci .li ty ( as in the difference bet ween OH and 00; or prestissimo, pianissimo passages of caluclated dexterity) the fundamental voweling area is before the mouth. Try it. Put your hands up alongside and forward of the hinges of your jaw. Drop your javr slightly and naturally. Now say all the vowel sounds you can think of. Not.e how firm, full and virile they sound. For contrast sake try t o form them by facial gesticulation; try to cut off all resonance before the mouth. Note how whiney, thin, r eedy and emasculate they become. Actually II
-- all
it takes is a little
mind.
- We will exaggerate the intensity and the duration of the di stinct We 1 11 sing them loudvowel sounds in diphthongs and triphthongs. er and longer and more clearly. We will never -- never sing one vowe l sound where two belong. Always for "ay" (as in say) we will
sing
a
we will
sing
11
Always for "oy" (as in boy~ we will
sing
11
Always for
ow11 (as in~)
11
I" (as in sky) we will
Always for
II
Always for
11
"eh ") and "ee".
ah 11 and
"oo".
aw11 and
11
ee 11•
sing "ah" and "ee".
yoo 11 (as in yoo-hoo) we will
Always for "ear" (as in ear) we will
(almost
sing
ee 11 and 'loo".
11
sing "e e " and
"u~ ".
Note that this holds no matter how fast the tempo, or whatever the duration of the diphthong. Break it up; sing both parts separately and distinctly. II I· ·- We will exaggerate the intensity and the duration of the consonants that have pitch. We will sing M1 s, N's and NG1 s longer ·· and louder. A - If the hummed consonant is an initial consonant and preceded by a vowel (as in new !:. :asses) (what a lyric i) we will sing the 11m11 as though it belong ed to both words, thus 11newM-Masses 11., B - If the hummed consonant is a final ed by a vowel (as in "I'm asleep")
consonant and followwe will sing the "m"
-3as though it belonged to both words, thus
I'm-Masleep
11
11•
C - We will ·oe conscious of the fact ( chiefly for the sake cf intonatior..) that the 11sub-vocal 11 consonants have an initial pitch, and that they are to be sung on the pitch they are supposed to be sung on. Thus B, D, J, G. L, V, Zall have a fragmentary initial pitch. Sing it.
JV - All explosive and sibilant consonants will be pronounced as though they _began syllables, not as though they ended them. Thus_, "what is this all about anyway 11 becomes 11hoouh-ti-zth-saw-luhbahootehn-nee-ooayee. 11 V - We will
give always proportionate (that is, rhythmic) time value to the various portions of speech sound that make up a word. That is to say, hummed consonants and the final vowel sounds in diphthongs will always have an actual rhythmic allotment, varying up to½ of the full time value, and depending upon tempo and style.
This is hard to illustrate, but suppose you had the word 11home11 on a half-note in fairly rapid time. We would sing the first value "ooM11, quarter-note value 11Ho11 and the next quarter-note coming immediately to the M. Thus, count "one-two, one-two," "Ho-ooM, Ho-ooM". Or take the opening line of the "Star Spangled Banner 11• Now, instead of quarter-note values on 11Oh, say can you", think eighth-note values on "Oh-oo say-ee ca-aN you-OO11• There is one put on paper sonants and in very fast sub-di vision.
further refinement of this; and it's also tough to without musical notation. It is that hummed conthe final vowels of diphthongs do not fall (except tempi or short note values) exactly on the rhyth.~ic
For example, sing to yourself in a slow tempo, 110h come all ye faithful". Now, instead of half-notes on "come" and "faith", think quarter-notes on "Kuh-uhM" and 11Fay-ayEE 11,, Iiote that if we sang 11Kuh-M11 and "Fay-EE", it would sound quite artificial, but if, on the second-quarter value, we preface th e LI and the EE wi t h just a fragment of the main vowel sound, most of the angularity and artificiality disappears. This allows then an enlarged duration for the secondary vowel or hummed consonant, but maintains the normal accent of the primary vowel. OK?
I II III JV
Pure, vigorous vowels. Carefully broken~up diphthongs. Long and intense hummed consonants. Explosive consonants always exploded as though they began a syllable. V Rhythmic, proportionate allocations of hummed consonents and secondary vowels.
,
-4Nm, what all
this
issues
in is
I
-
1.
:Musically,
2..
Dramatically, a continuous intensity of mood and sense. Ther e are no spasmodic, diverting interruptions of the songs story. We end phrases where it makes it make sense textually and beauty musically. If someone has to breathe, he does so in the middle of a vowel or hummed consonant :1 and jumps back in the middle of a vowel or a hummed consonant.
the legato
phrase,
which is the substance
of melody.
3 • Uniformity
and discipline. For instance, in the case of the exploded consonant, the technique of tacking it on the following syllable places it on the oeat or sub-division thereof. So far as I can tell, that'sthe only instant capable of absolute definition and unanimous ,mderstanding. -And, people, that's the point of a chorus; doing the same thing together at the same time•
-Which brings comes slower.
us 4:00 sin
a.m. and the Second Lesson. of singers
and choruses
From here
is their
on it
A.
The cardinal
unmusicali ty.
B.
I've heard people quote Mozart something like this: '1What is music? Music is first of all Rhythm; in the second place Rhythm; and finally - Rhythm. 11 O.E.D~: The cardinal sin of singers and choruses is their lack of rhythm.
I 1 d like to be able to tell you all I feel about Rhythm and the Time -n 0ss of music, and make it sound fresh and exciting. As a matter of fact , I've written to you so many times about it that I'm sick and tired of the whole subject. It all sounds like SLOGANS. -Or the "Infatuation with the Sound of Own Words Department''. -Yet I know it's sar y , '!Jasic, urgency
right. And I know it's the one absolut 8ly necesof the choral art - ( or any other musical art).
Up above it says "sick and tired of the whole subject". That's not quite true. I'm not tired of doing it, only tired of talking about it. I t I s al ways fresh and exciting in the music. We work always with new r.i2:r<_,r,:n s , new patterns, new accents. That I s the wonderful invigo r ati ng 1)3I't. These excerpts, analytical and critical, are awfully shy of th e inten se practical organic excitement that comes with actual performanc e; but it ought to do us good to review them. I can think of a couple of emphas es that haven I t been emphatic enough up to now. The first is that little notes are just as i~ port ant a.s bi g notes, that they have places, and that they should be put in t he ir pl ace s . Sixteenths and eighths and quarters are not just t hing s tha t 1 s ome between bigger things. They are not "introducings : or preparations or pick-upss I get a horrible picture from the way you sing of little, ti t ·0y eighth-notes running like hell all over the place, to keep from
-5being stepped on. Millions of I em! Meek, squeaky little self-respect. Standing in corners, hiding behind doors, su bway stations, peering out from mider rugs. Refugees. Dammit, you 1 re all a b1mch of Whole-Note little dots ! Oh - ( I can I t stand it t) I just Look, this in the census, long.
is a democracy. Little Eighth-notes can vote.
Nazis. thought
things. ducking
No into
And dots l Poor of a double dot !
people count. They're included They carry ID cards. They be-
Dialogue: Sixteenth
note marches up to a bar,
COG, tt'I'm sorry,
my little
''Gimme a glass
man, that's
o I beer.''
only for whole notesa
11
Moral: Give
1 im
a drink. R. S.,
ANNOUNC,'EMENTS:
Some weeks ago in a letter there were some words to the effect that w8 ar a not a Monday evening social club", and, with an eye to the no t too distant future, it seemed necessary to say it again. I know it is not easy to sit quietly while the conductor works with a single section, but please try. There has been no count made of the number of ns-S-H-H I s'' Casey uses up of an evening, but I don 1 t suppose he should have to use any . 11
LADIES NOTEt l Mono.ay
Sunday March
March
16
15
1 :4.5p .m.
8:00 p.m.
Rehears a l ALL women Rehearsal
ALL