March 13, 196 2 :r{}r concern for next Monday1 s rehearsal has occasioned my referring back to a letter written to you when we were preparing the St. Matthew Passion. -But, before going farther,we must certainly say thank youto Frank Barr for acceptYr. Shaw1 s return,on such ing the responsibility for this last rehearsal,before short notice. There were enough favorable comments left with me so that I feel happily confident that it was time well spent and that our text and notes are a lot more firmly in hand.
Now back to a consideration of next Monday night's rehearsal, and what I can do to help you prepare for it. There are now seven days in which you can study, a little each day perhaps, your score noting the phrasings, dynamics, seques, rests and releases. --Not just the ones you conductor orders. He can't possibily catch all your individual mistakes; when you slip up, mark it immediately so that it doesn't happen "next Monday.11 It's your music. Build it l In addition a. b. c. d. e.
to marking your music: Concentrate on your intonation. Exercise control in dynamics. Memorize t Try singing with a minimum of two glances per page. Look at the conductor. The only way to have real togetherness is by having somebody acting as a clearing house. Feel what you are singing.
Here 1 s a pretty important thing. It ought to be one of the rock-bottoms of our singing. Primarily it 1 s concerned with the technique of phrasing, but it has terrific implications for intonation and vitality. 11
This: the lem It's gets
The clue to phrasing
is the treatment
of the "weak" beat.
"Now, the problem of any phrasing is a problem in dynamics and rhythm. It I s problem of deciding the proper amount and duration of stress. It ' s the probof seeing that melody moves, that it just doesn't jump up and down in place. the problem of deciding in advance where music should go, and seeing that it there.
The answer mechanically is so simple as to be in the category of a trick. More than any other Actually it I s a lot deeper and more'. inclusive than that. aspect of music, phrasing is the thing which takes all of you: mind, body, spirit. simple stress of the weak beato Think crescendo ••• But here I s the "trick": intensity ••• pull ••• stretch ••• breadth ••• deepness-:::s"urge.::uirust ••• going ••• over ••• all these things on that so-called "weak11 beat ·. It I s like that last up-ness of a heavy Pacific comber just before it curls over and breaks. 11 There remains just one thing worth mentioning. "Remember The Cleveland Orchestra Chorus is not a Monday Evening Club. We don 1 t forget it in between times. It 1 s up there with our jobs and our families. Of course some people have other interests. It just happens that the Chorus is formed of people who are kinda whacky on choral singing i
R. s./eb
ANNOUNCEMENTS : Your two complimentary tickets for the Sunday, April 15, performance of the St. John Passion are now in the box office~ You may stop in any time during regular box office hours to pick them up plu~ the additional ones that you may wish to purchase. ¡ Don1 t forget that you may get your '.t'ickets by mail if you enclose a stamped self-addressed envelope with your request. The address is: Mr. Lauren Pitcock . Severance Hall Box dffice 11001 Euclid Avenue Cleveland 6, Ohio
NOTE: A check must be enclosed with your mail requests if you are getting additional tickets, and don't forget your chorus number. Checks are ARTSASSOCIATION. to be made payable to: THE MUSICAL
Please don I t forget those pictures i I'm delighted that so many of you have already turned them in, and look forward to having the rest very shortly. The questionnaires are the one other thing that really should be in by this comIt would be a real shame to miss someone just being Monday, March 19, for sure. cause that little piece of paper was forgotteno Cynthia Bernard has said that the offer on our record will be good through March 31. She will be able to get the same sort of reduction, and I will have the lists posted next week, on other Pecordings of works we have performed this year.
If you are going to WARREN, OHIO: The bus will leave Severance Hall at 6:15 p.m. and leave the Van Aken Shopping Center at 6:45 p.me If you are driving to Warren, I have maps of how to reach Packard Music Hall once you have reached the city limits. If you didn't pick one up last night do stop by Severance Hall and I will be happy to give you one. Concert timeB:15 p~m. Driving time 1 bout 11/2 hours.
Remember, there is NO rehearsal on Sunday, March 18. Monday, March 19, Mr. Shaw will be back for his first St. John rehearsal with you. Let's be ready to sing promptly at 8 :00 p.m. with pencils sharpened and music all marked l See you then l l E. B.
March 29, 1962 From all sides this week P ve been reawakened to tl1e necessity of a common, functioning body of "fur.1.d .1.ment,als" in choral singing. Monday night at our COCrehearsal; Tuesday at Oberlin Chapel, hearing the fine singing of the Chapel Choir conducted by one of Robert Fountain's eminently gifted students; the last five or six days at the Institute of Music, preparing for a performance last night of Bach's Magnificat: all have reaffirmed that in choral singing -- as probably in most other fields of man's endeavors -- nothing succeeds like rudimentary technique and attention to detail. The COCis not the worst chorus in the world (it is not even the worst chorus in the United States), but think for a moment how far we are from having a commonbody of rhythmic awareness and technique -- how variously we interpret dotted rhythms and the eighths and sixteenths which follow; how anarchistic is our sensitivity to pitch and tonality -- how we flounder when faced with a cappella measures; how lame are our enunciative procedures -- stopping three or four times each phrase for repetitive errors; and how limited is our tonal palette -- geared primarily to outshout (or, on rare occasion, outshine) a symphony orchestra in full flight, but how seriously incapable of lightness and deftness, of madrigalesque clarity and flow. --Not that this state is any more your fault than that of your conductor (There are no bad choirs -- only bad conductors) .-- but it is the state of our union and more 1 s the pity. Part of the fault is indigenous to our situation: we are primarily a symphony orchestra chorus -- we are not exposed to the literature which might demand true and 1msupported (or unchallenged) intonation, or transparency of texture and tone; and we do oblige ourselves to enough performances per season to successfully guard against over-rehearsal. (Belshazzar's Feast did not turn stale from being prepared too long in advance of consumption. St. John's Passion will not cool from over-familiarity.) The fact remains that we have to build for ourselves a body ( a 11corpus, 11 they say in academic circles) of basic disciplines and techniques -- which can be counted upon in all circumstances, under all conductors and with all literatures. We might well consider fewer performances and more time each rehearsal in isolating problems and practices of rhythm, pitch and tone. Perhaps then we might merit the windfalls
we inherit
-- like Puerto Rico. R. S.
April 5, 1962 There is a real musicological and scale-of-forces problem, as most of you lmow, with our performance next week of Bach's St. John Passion. On page ix of Arthur Mendel's superb preface to his exceptiona!"edition he writes: "Whena symphony orchestra with sixty or more strings takes part in the performance of such a work, all the proportions are My own opinion is changed, and everything must be reconsidered. that such changes are not for the better, and I am convinced that while Bach might have delighted in the resources of the modern symphony orchestra, the music he would have written for it would have been designed to make the best use of those resources: he would not have welcomed the mere multiplication of having h\D'ldreds of performers do what could be done by several dozen. The fresco that covers the wall is not just an enlargement of the tempera painting on the altar panel. Bach's music is as full of eloquent detail as a panel painting., and it is no more improved, to my way of thinking, by performance with multiplied forces than a string quartet played by string orchestra, or a violin and piano sonata It is a delusion of our played by a dozen fiddlers and pianists. time that infinite refinement of detail is not compatible with breadth of conception., and that to be great a thing must be "great big". Even in our large concert halls we do not resort to such distortions; and I think even in such surroundings it should be perfectly possible to readjust one 1 s scale of dynamic values so as to be able to listen to Bach's music performed by such forces as he had in mind." As with our performance two years ago of the St. Matthew Passion, we have only two quasi-justifications. The first is that with the amateur choral society the performance exists in some large measure for the enjoyment, instruction and edification of those who perform it. So long as we already- exist as a ''symphonic" chorus of two h\D'ldred-twenty voices, it would be difficult and not a little unfair to deny 80% of us the opportlD'lity of performing this work. Still, even this has to be an admitted inconsistency between purpose and organization. Certainly we would all agree in principal that musical societies exist for the optimum performance of music, not that music exists for the optimumself-expression of societies. It follows, does it not, that once one has decided to perform a work of the proportions and textures of the St. John Passion one ought to construct and shape his forces to serve the music, notthe opposite. Actually, the only parts of the work which might be 11musicolegally 11 served by our chorus would be the chorales. The opening and closing choruses are grand in design and manner and are not irremedially damaged by a large chorus -- though ev.eu that shoula be not so luge as ours. •But from there on the musical texture and drama.tic situation demand real chamber music forces. Smallest of these forces could be the four soldiers who cast lots for Jesus clothin g in #54; next in order., the Chief Priests of #46 and #50; following these -- but
-r2-
still small -- the soldiers of #34 or the accusers of Peter in #17; and finally the "crowd" which shouts "Crucify ~11, ''We have a law ~11, etc. Even these latter choruses -- as also the opening and closing choruses -- were sung in Bach's time by less than 15 or 16 singers, and balanced by an equal number of instruments t Mendel continues
somewhat resignedly:
"Nevertheless, the resources needed for performance of the Bach choral works, with the :exacting demands they make on both singers and instrumentalists, are usually hard to find outside our symphony orchestras, an4 large-scale performances will probably continue to be in the ~jority for a long time to come. Many musicians and writers g.ave jumped to the conclusion that ¡ since the symphony orchestr ~ has five or six times as ma.py strings as Bach had, the woqd-winds must be multiplied in proportion (though as far as I ( kriow no one has suggested 15 trumpets and 5 pairs of kettledrums for the B Minor Mass) • The fact is that music and arithmetic are not so simply connected. Sixty strings can play as softly as ten, and five flutes in unison do not sound five tjjnes as loud as one. 11 Here we find a crumb or two of hope. If sixty strings can play as softly as ten, then two hundred voices may be capable of singing as lightly as thirtythree. If, in the few days remaining to us, we really settle only for lightness of tone and clarity of texture, if we occasionally divide our forces to represent the smaller groups of participants, if we save our congregational tone and weight for the chorales, we may get by without burying the work under an eruptive flood of aural lava and ash. Try, 'come Sunday.
First
come, first
serve. R. S.
Rehearsal
- Performance Schedule for the St. John Passion
Smday
April 8
On stage
3:00 p.m.
Monday
April 9
On stage with orchestra
7:00 p.m.
Wednesday
April 11
On stage orchestra-soloists
7:00 p.m.
Thursday
April 12
Warm-up
7:15 p.m.
Saturday
April
14
TV Blocking : Taped Performance 6:40 p .m.
Sunday
April
15
Warm-up
Performance
Performance
2:00 p.m.
April 19, 1962 Thank you -- all -- for your performances of the St. John Passion this past week. You may have your 11favorites 11 among them; to myminci that of Sunday afternoon was the more nearly perfect -- and one of the finest of our chorus through the past six years.
Those of you who have ma.de application and auditioned for the Festival Casals trip are entitled to know -- as we announce that chorus -the factors upon which these decisions have been made. One hundred and eighty-four people were auditioned in two days; and more man-hours have been spent in trying to arrive at a just evaluation of these applications than in the assembly of the information. You will understand, I'm sure, that there are exceptionally talented people in each section. These decisions are easy. --But most of us share similar and more modest talents, and in these instances literal hol.ll's have been spent over one or two vacancies in a given section. First qualifications, of col.ll'se, were vocal and musical. These often 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, 1956 to present. Thus sight-reading ability was accounted against how well one knew this year's musice Following these came two organizational considerations: the case of near equals (and this means a large percentage of bership) which of the applicants held 11seniority 11? and second, of the present season, which has been more constant in on-tirre ance?
first, in our memin terms attend-
Our hunch is that this sort of a project is sure to re-occur, and we should like to see it available not only to the spectacularly gifted but to those who have given through the years the "larger fuller measure of devotion." We are listing "alternates" in most sections. Undoubtedly between now and June 13 places will become -- for whatever reason -¡- available. Alternates are privileged to attend rehearsals -- and hope. Many thanks, R. S.
ANNOUNCEMENTS: The first rehearsal for the Festival Casals trip will be this com.5ng Monday e-.;ening:, April 23, at 8 :00 p.mo Music will be distributed s o please come early so that rehearsal may start on time. ?lease ¡~ri:ng that mlIBic with you whi ch you indicated you had inyou:..7 .personal lib~ary. Please telephone on or before Monday to le:. us know of yo1J".'a.cceptance of membership in the Festi --:vo l Casals chorus, E. B.
May 10, 1962 Fellow-travelers:
-A hasty word of encouragement for home-study of the Festival Casals materials: Our 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 unfamiliar conductors and orchestras in totally different environments and unpredictable schedules are hazard enough -- for even expert professional musicians and groups. Each of us expects this to be a unique and treasurable experience. It will only happen if each of us is personally and infallibly secure in all musical departimnts -- intonation, rhythm, text and tone. There can be no substitute for your individual home practice and study. Twenty to thirty minutes per day will guarantee your own musical security -- and a lot more vacation-type 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 achievetr..ent and Pau Casals' happiness. R. S.
Rehearsals
for this coming week:
Men on Sunday, May 13, at 3:00 p.m. at Severance Hall. Full chorus on Monday, May 14, at 7:30 p.m. at Severance Hall.
Octo:)er 9, 1962 Dear Chorus: 'Looks Mr'. Hunter was terribly happy with our rehearsal last evening. like the sectionals plus some work at home are beginning to pay off in a big way. 1Don1 t know whether you could get the effect of the Tallis as I did, but you can be sure it is going to be something special. and Some years back Mr. Shaw sent you a letter dealing with intonation, it seemed to me that a repeat appearance of Aspects of Intonation wouldn't be such a bad idea. Here it is: "O.f all the possible disfigurements of beauty in music the most disturbing may be faulty intonation. We say of a person who manages to sing in tune that he has a "true" voice, and quite unthinkingly reflect the strangely moral judgement which most of us excercise with regard to intonation. Somehow, it seems, singing out of tune is a violation of truth, and cotmter to an inherent, intuitive conscience of hearing. This reaction should not surprise us, for it would seem to be the psychological counterpart to natural law in the physics of sotmd itself. We note that the exhaust of the passing truck causes the window to vibrat e. We reflect that one vibrating object sets other independent objects to vibrating "sympathetically." During vocal warm-up sessions of our Monday rehearsals we hear certain well-tuned unison sounds produce "over-tones'• of the octave and a fifth above, vibrations so firm that it sounds as though a full section of our Chorus must be singing these 11sympathetic" sounds. It is no secret to anyone who has passed through high school physics that sympathetic vibrations exist not only in a ratio of 1 to 1, but (with mathematical exactitude and order) in ratios of 2 to 1, 3 to 2, 4 to 3, 5 to h, etc. (For instance, the octave above any specific pitch has always exact l y twice the vibrations per second of that pitch. It's ratio is thus 2:1.) The vibrating object -- be it surface, string, or column of air: be it tympani, violin or voice -- vibrates not only its fundamental frequency, but to lesser and varying degrees, a series of fractional vibrations, identified as partial s , harmonics or over-tones. It is these harmonics which, in variety and distribution, determine what we call tone quality. A violin may play the same fundamental pitch as an oboe, but it will generate in itself and the air around it its own characteri stic set of over-tones, which distinguish it from other instruments capable of sounding the same basic pitch. From any given tone, then, it is theoretically possible to derive a complete scale simply through these fr act io nal relati onship s. For i nst a0c e , th e intervals of the major scale stand in the following propor t ions:
-2-
The The The The The The The The The The The
act.ave is 2:1 perfect fifth is 3:2 perfect fourth is 4:3 major third is 5 :4 minor third is 6:5 major second is 9:8 minor second is 16:15 major sixth is 5:3 minor sixth is 8:5 major seventh is 15:8 minor seventh is 7:4
The rub, so far as musical variety and richness is concerned, is that any pitches thus derived are substantially limited in their use to the specific scale of the generating tone. If -we want ·to move from one key to another -- a technique which presumably is accomplished by pivoting on a tone commonto both keys -- we would face an almost completely new set of relationships. That is, we could arbitrarily state that 11x 11 is commonto both keys, but the entire remainder of the two musical alphabets would be strangers to each other • . For · instance:
If A equals 440 vibrations then C-sharp and F-natural and G-natural
per second
(5:4) equals 550
(8:5) equals 704 (7:4) equals 770
But:
If C-sharp equals 550 then E-sharp/F-natural (5:4) equals 687.5 And if E-sharp equals 687.5 then G-double sharp/A-natural (5:4) equals 859.375 or 429.6875 (octave lower) And if G-natural equals 770 then F-natural (7:4) equals 1347.5 or 673.75 (octave lower) Thus, without ever going very far afield, F1 equals 704 2
F equals 687.5 F3 equals
and
673. 75
A1 equals 440
A2 equal s 429G6875, as viewed from different reference
points.
we have:
-3The the field nece~sary of other
basic accounstical (physical) problem in into~ation, then, is in of function. Solution lies in selection of the truest a".ld:rr.ost relationship, that which is most productive and least disruptiv 0 relationships.
''What is the function of this note I have next to sing? Do I define it in terms of the note which precedes it, or with reference to something occurring in another voice or instrument? 11 You will understand, I am sure, that if one determines intonation solely by reference to notes immediately preceding, the least little error in the beginning will be magnified beyond all recognition some hundreds of intervals later. One can end up miles from his home-key by an astounding series of melodic half-truths and harmonic improprieties. Since the voice is capable of any gradation of pitch, the problem of unaccompanied group singing is that of providing at any given instant an accurate and true 11picture'' of harmonic relationships (ftmction); and, in the face of modulation (which is change in function) seeking pivot points closest to the original tonality, which promise easiest and safest return. The greatest historical tradition of unaccompanied singing does not indulge, and with great wisdom, in modulatory orgies. Accompanied singing does not absolve us from these responsibilities. It simply means that since modulations are likely to be more plentiful, diverse and distant, our watchfulness must be increased. While recognizing the practicality and flexibility instruments, it still will be possible for us to ''bend" little closer to true and natural function. Most of the It is tne natural thing the orchestra 11bendn similarly.
of equa.l tempered a such rigidity instruments in to do.
This is the hopeful side of problems of intonation. Just as physica .l law is established on the harmonic series of fractional proportion, so there is a correlary in the "laws 11 of human hearing. By nature, free and unearned) our inner ear is to be trusted. We should whet and intensify our attention, we should remove obstacles of voice production, bad enumciation, bad posture, etc., etc., -- but all this is only in the line of doin I what comes natural. 11 R. S.
ANNOUNCEMENTS: We have new parking stickers this year, therefore, if you have not made application for this new sticker please do so this coming Sunday or Mondayv Please do try to avoid absences. By and large attendance has been good, BUT - - - - l 1Nuff said for now.
at rehea r~aJ.s
Sunday, November 14, all women at 3:00 p.m. Monday, November 15, everyone at 8:00 p.m. E. B,.
October 16, 1962 CONSONANTS: Basically a consonant is a sound produced by creating a simple barrier with some part of the tongue or lips so that the breath is dammed up until it explodes, or impeded and allowed to escape slowly. In singing,
2.
3. The practical
rules
Initial a.
b.
2.
fall
into three
groups:
Those capable of sustained pitch: M, N, NG, (to a much lesser extent Those which have a fractional initial B, D, G, V, J, L, R, and Z Those which have no pitch: P, T, K, F, CH, SH, S, and H.
1.
1.
consonants
Final
L, R, and Z) pitch:
are these:
consonants Since the vowel sound is the chief carrier of pitch and sonority, the initial consonants of each syllable must be produced ever so slightly ahead of the pulse so that the vowel can mark and propel rhythmic movement. It is necessary to be conscious always of the pitch values of initial consonants, even those of fractional pitch, or the vowel which follows will be out of tune. consonants
a.
Since vowel sonority is greater than that of the hummedconsonants, final consonants which have pitch are to be given extra duration and emphasis. The amount of this duration must always be related directly to pulse values. It must always be a rhythmic proportion, natural to pulse and tempo. Now, there is one very important qualification here: it is that whatever proportional duration one has decided to allot to the hummed consonant, its beginning must always have an instant of the principal and preceding vowel sound. For example, if we sing the word "soon" for four beats, we may occupy the last quarterdecide that the "n 11 should substantially note; but that last quarter-note must have a very short pulseconscious "00 11 followed as quickly as possible by the 11n 11 sound. It is in this manner that one preserves natural word and syllable emphasis. Anything else usually will sound arbitrary and ugly.
b.
Final consonants
which do not have pitch.
These consonants are secondary sounds. To put them on the beat or pulse is to give them an undue and awkward emphasis. Therefore, they sound more natural placed either slightly ahead or immediately after a pluse. They would normally be placed just
-2ahead of a pulse when they are in the middle of a phrase, just after a pulse when they conclude a phrase.
and
This is not as imprecise as it may sound, for if a group even as large as ours were to say the word 11it' 1 as quickly as possible, providing we began together at a rhythmic moment, our nt's 11 would be pronounced simultaneously and naturally. Simand concentrate ila.r .ly, if we sing ''it ought'' on half-notes, 1 11 on its proper pulse, the on singing the ~aw vowel precisely into final 0 t 11 of ''it" will fall unanimously and naturally 1 place just ahead of the t1aw• . -Nor will it sound like "it taught". R. S.
ANNOUNCEMENTS: There remain just three Monday night and two Sunday afternoon rehearsals This is ample provided we may count before our performance with Mr. Hunter. on your being on hand when you're needed. This will be the golden-est of opon your behalf are , reaching portunities to show Mr. Shaw that his efforts fruition, and his confidence in you merited.
Sunday's
is CANCELLEDl Live-it-up, rehearsal rain ..
Monday, October
22, everybody
here and ready
laugh-it-up, to go promptly
E. B.
hope it
doesn't
at 8:00 p.m.
October 23, 1962 This week it's
VOWEISthat
Mr. Shaw will
discuss
for ycu:
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 postitions of the mouth - tongue, lips and lower jaw. According to my information they are initiated at the larynx itself, and their chief resonator is not the mouth but the throat column directly above the larynx. You can check the theory by letting your jaw drop slack and, keeping it in this position, saying aloud a series of simple vowels. Though some 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 purity of the vowel sound being produced.
on the
This may sound a bit like "good people are better than bad people" -everybody knows this, etc. But actually, even professional singers are more than occasionally careless about these matters. One frequently hears the oddest assortment of queer sounds gargling up what should be a simple straightforward 0 ah". It requires the strongest attention and the keenest self-cri ti cal listening to keep a vowel ''in line 11 and understandable as one moves from low to high pitches. Chorally, the rewards are great: just by working on vowel purity.
ycu can cure a lot of faulty
intonation
R. S.
ANNOUNCEMENTS : Sunday, October 28, rehearsal for ALL at 3 :00 pm, To save time we 1 d like to have you go directly to small Tallissectional rehearsals first: Tallis
a¡ and b:
Tallis Tallis Tallis
e and
c and d:
j and
f:
E:
Mr. ShawI s office on the box floor. Turn right when you get off the elevator and go to the end of the corridor. Broadcasting Room, where we regularly rehearse. Chamber Music Hall. You've all been there before ! Mr. Szell 1 s studio on the box floor. Turn left when ycu get off the elevator and go to the end of the corrid~r.
Please may I ask your help in not dis-arranging music, papers, be in these rooms. THANK YOUway ahead of time.
etc.
that may
Mo~day , October 29, see ycu ALL at 8 :00 p .m. in the Broadcast.ing Room.
E. B. On Mmidayeve~.:ing M:-. Hunt.9:r may ask ej_ther the Small Chcir or those who '3ntatlons of J.r;remiah" t..o stay for n ::;hoi.¡".:t ~_m e at the end are sing i I;g -t,he 11L8.m of rehearsal for a once over NuT so lightly. It won't take loooocng.
October 24, J962 It has consistently been our hope and endeavor to make the rehearsal experience as productive, interesting and exciting a part of belonging to the COCas the actual performance itself. Where much is demanded - with reason and necessity - then much is learned. To each of you there should now have come an alertness to rehearsal techniques and proceedures. These latter are short-cuts to learning: the ability to listen when other sections are rehearsing, to jump back and repeat appropriate numbers of measures without breaking tempo, to isolate rhythmic problems from problems of text and sonority; to make rhythm clean and steady, intonation true, tone both more uniform (better conceived and supported) and more responsive to variety in color. Increasing efficiency means at least two things for our pleasure: first, we should be able to perform more of the great works in arry given season; and second, I see no reason why we shouldn't build into our rehearsal sessions periods of reading for pleasure -- rather than for innninent performance. The assumption upon which all this increased pleasure is based you know probably as well as I. It is that a chorus is not a lump of human talent and energy chipped, sliced, rolled, moulded and stamped into a maneuverable manikin of the lowest common artistic denominator, but a group of unique and varied human beings, voluntarily congregated, who accept personal responsibility, and bring to a performance of the whole each his utmost endowment, preparedness and sensitivity. Group productivity
in art is not mass production~
Art by the many, perhaps like government by the many, is at its best when it not only allows but inspires the greatest possible individual participation, self-discipline and self-expression. R. S.
Closely allied to this business of your enjoyment of the COCexperience are the ground rules -- practical do 1 s and dontts-- to hang on to, to steer by, t he 1er players)-Without. 1 that-which-you-can t-tell-the-play-( ABSENCES: These we hopefully Will never have, but necessarily do. You are Slips are a;railable so allowed four (4) unexcused absences during the season. that unavoidable absences (excused ones) may be recorded before they cccur. If they are unexpected and very last minute just telephone. GUESTS: You are welcome to bring guests to Monday night rehearsals, but we must know in advance how ma..1yyou wish to bring and on what d3.te. Fire laws and available seating being our main concerns. We ask you not to bring, or r 8qu.est to bring, guests to Sunday -~these are the cut-'em-apart-diagnose th~ dilemma-or pr e -consessions. -Nor are guests permitted at 11wi th orchestra ff rehearsals cert warm-up sessions. On those occasions when you spy ~eople in the auditorium it will be because management has made some special arrangement for them.
-2-
ARRIVAL AT REHEARSAL:Please use either the lighted back stairw.?.y or the elevator. Under no clrc-:.:mstances is the elevator to be operated by anyone other If for any reason the elevator is not operating then than the elevator girl. please use the stairway. REHEARSAIS: Mr. Shaw believes in beginning rehearsals promptly and concluding equally promptly. He feels that there is no excuse for a little tardiness, but every reason for being ready to go five minutes before the hour. Of sectional rehearsals he has written, ''These are the most productive hours we spend. This is where the music is mastered and where the choir is built." TICKETS: You will receive at least one and in many cases two complimentary tickets to the ¡ concerts in which you perform. On the regular subscription series (Thursday - Saturday pair) it is the Saturday concert that your tickets will be for. -Or¡at those times when a third, or Sunday, performance is scheduled (not to be confused with the Sunday Twilight concerts) your tickets will be for the Sunday performance. MUSIC: The music which you periodically receive as the season p:cogresses is yours to use until the conclusion of its performance(s). At that time it is to be turned in for return to our library or to company from which it was rented. On those occasions when scores are available for sale it will be announced. It has also become one of our 11rock--bottoms 11 that music is for marking! So keep a pencil handy. No in~ though, puleeze. E. B.
please
If there is something left untouched upon or with which I may be of help don 1 t hesitate to ask, because here's the way we feel about you:
"You people bring to rehearsals and performances sound and discipline and personal involvement. -Beautiful sound, and disciplines of ennunciation, intonation, rhythm etc. that for the most part carry over from one situation and one piece to the next, and the personal involvement of people who seem to realize what a joyful and rare occasion it is on this terra infirma to create something good and beautiful together. "Each of us knows that each of us is fissured and fractioned in many, and frequently most, of the matters of daily living: how do I feed my family tomorrow, where did the love go yesterday, which of the governments of man shouted the loudest today, how do I stay sane -- assuming that for the moment I 1ve got my bloody fingernails over the ledge? All of us are variously split and fissured. Still, on a Monday night it happens that whatever each of us essentially is, is openly and freely given to the other outside us -- and to the commonwork and joy, discipline and freedom. For a while we do not fear !mowing or being known. We trust -- perh2.ps even love -- our neighbor, nor feel obliged to hate ourselves. 11 11
At the final point music is sound, and you people make the sound. -And the most meaningful sound in music is that which is self-disciplined, self-instructed and self-motivated. We hope you newer rr.embers of our chorus begintosee wh::i .t a maniacal musical monogamyyou 1 ve contracted, and you senior heads a~e once m0re apprised of the strength ar:d state of tbis union.
November 21, 1962 HAPPYTF..ANKSGIVINGt 'Guess by the time you receive this all the turkey, dressing, 'taters, cranberry sauce and other Thanksgiving goodies will be only a delicious memory whetting the appetite for the Christmas repeat performance. Ah, there I s that word again - PERFORMANCE - popping up to meet just three short weeks. Perhaps the following part of a much earlier ter to the chorus will help you to appreciate and 1.ID.derstand Frank's ing and polishing -- preeise attacks and releases, careful attention phrasing, nonsense syllable singing, etc. of last Monday night.
us in letdrillto Here goes:
Years ago, before touring had taught me differently, I used to wonder how one could keep a performance fresh night after night for seventy or a hundred ni ghts in a row. The answer is, of course, that great music feeds back more than it takes. First performances are the things to drea d, not the third or the ninetieth or the one hundred and fiftieth. Unless one has had this experi ence, I doubt that it can be understo od. Part of the gain; obviously, is simple security. One knows what notes ar e next; there is no stumbling or surprise. Added to that is the sense of proportion as regards both phrase and the major movements. This means that the singer has found a natural-vocal pacing for the work; he doesn't wear his voice to rags in the .fir st ten minutes. -Nor does he have to be terribly conscious of avoiding misuse of his voice. The techni que has found its own specific gravity. All the technical detail of playing and singing begins to sound; dynamics cease to be "manufactured n -- they become organic, as also do tone, color and tempi. More and more it seems to me that great performance (maybe, also, gre at cr eation in art) is very closely related to the reflective qualities. I am calm which does not emasculate spiritual urgsure that there is a spiritual ency. That is to say, one can gallop off in all directions at once, or one can rush iron-willed down a one-way street, or one can find within his dee pest and quietest thinking the image of action -- and it could be a stilllife. What all of us are after in art is the release to things of th e spi ri t . I doubt that that ever can be accomplished without first technical secur it y. -And I also doubt that technical security itself is ever achieved without a sure stillness of the mind and soul. Most choral rehearsals are, quite unnecessarily, a screaming bedlam of tortured throats. Sing, sing, sing -wrong notes, right notes, but singt Unt il the work becomes clear in the mind, how can anyone sing t~full 1' 1 voice? In recent weeks it has seemed such a waste to pour vocal energy into ~ong notes. Right notes will demand enough of it. If we consistently beg:L,. from the thinking end -- rather than the doing end -- th en we don 't trample all over our own big feet. One hums quietly, as though to himself, and the imagination is fr~e to consider matters of proportion, form and truth in intonation. Bit by bit -A..'1d.what this the dream becomes flesh, and song becomes a 11living thing". last leads us to is the possibility that the reflective qualities are not limited to the products of marat hon repet i t i on of performances -- but. are equally the product of quiet, sens i tive, unruffled preparation. R. S.
Nove~ber 27, 1962 A bit
of review,
and one or two new items on phrasing:
Phrasing is a sort of punctuation. We use commas, parentheses, dashes and assorted devices to group together these words in a sentence which make in passing a sense unto themselves, even though it be subordinate and qualifying to the sense of the whole. Similarly we use periods to terminate the independent ideas which go to make up a paragraph. These punctuations imply varying degrees of pause before proceeding to other, but related ideas. The successful reading of poetry is the ability to comprehend (and convey) a whole architecture of word groupings -- groupings not only of sense but also of rhythm and pitch, color and accent -- so that truth and beauty become one. This is more than a little analagous to the successful performance of music. How do we know what notes are to be grouped together ical
in the mus-
phrase?
We have discussed the rhymthmic qualifications: how the extended notes in melodies are frequently ports of arrival, and the smaller notes which precede them the route and labour which makes arrival possible and predictable, and which justifies a degree of repose before proceeding on the new journey. Similarly,' the so-called down-beat (which we are used to calling the 0 strong-beat") is also a 1Jort of arrival, but one which derives its meaning from the energy and thrust of the up-beat. In truer terms the up .... bect is marked by the expenditure of energy and the down-beat by repose. (We ought 1tweak- 11 and ,:,strong- 11.) simply to reverse the designations Text In some music the words of the text will impose the;ir natural grou~ing upon musical Dhrasing though, as we have seen, this is seldom true of an intricate polyphonic work which may take only two or three words and weave them into a musical essay of ten to twelve minutes. Pitch In addition, however, to diagnostics of rhythm and text, are th ere any strictly tonal guideposts which will aid us in the grouping of notes in convincing nhrases? In a previous
letter we have remarked that when a melody ris es it marks in general an intensification of energy, and when it falls it signifies a relaxation. Therefore we must look for those melodic fragments which bear an upward thrust, and balance th em sensitively and minut ely with those fragments which signify respite. Two, progression by sc ale-wise motion is a v astly different affair from progression by melodic leap. We must look for the succession of ~ot cs which are adjac ent in pitch, and cons ider interrupti on of adjacency to mark a sort of parenthesis or indicate that wet re off on a new or qualifyin g i dea .
-2-
Three, the repetition of a short melodic pattern in an ascending or descending series we call sequence and imitation. Such imitation (even of 0 fragments) is an nauthor -ized guide to what the creator felt as inner or outer boundries of his phrase. In reverse
summary:
(1) Explore the varieties
of sequence and imitation -- partial or complete, right side up or upside down, backwards or forwards -- and let them be heard.
(2)
Grant to adjacent scale-wise motion one sort of articulation and to its interruption another sort.
(3)
Convey the inner and hidden dialogue, the ying and yang, the up and down, the question and answer, male and female, boygirl, tension and relaxtion.
(4)
P.e considerate of the text. It might just coincide with rrelodic or harmonic accentuation -- and this moment is the pentecost of song.
(S)
An up-beat is a spring-board. The higher you have to bound the harder you must hit the board.
(6)
Cultivate the forward look. ~elody is a vagabond, incorrigibly searching the world for a place "really" to settle down. Even punctuation is not a period of retrospect, but of marshelling strength and scanning the horizon. The last note we sing is the one to which all others lead.
R. S.
ANNOUNCEMENTS : Rehearsal
Sunday, December 2, at 3:00 p.m. all tenors.
Rehearsal
Monday, December 3, at 8:00 p.m. everyone.
We are always happy to have guests, but fire laws and available seating make it vitally necessary that you check with me in advance. Please do l