Choir rehearsal
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A choir rehearsal , also a singing lesson (e.g. at choral societies ) or singing lesson , is understood to be the meeting of a choir with the aim of preparing the content of a musical performance .
The term choir rehearsal is not listed in the MGG of 1952 either as a lemma or as a term in the register volume from 1986. The Riemann Musiklexikon from 1967 does not recognize this lemma either.
Sample contents
In terms of content, a distinction is made between three aspects that must be performed in a choir rehearsal:
- Voice technique and voice training
- Mediation of musical text
- Working out the musical interpretation
However, these areas cannot be strictly separated. You can certainly prepare for the later interpretation during a technical exercise or practice voice training when conveying the musical text. A good choir “doesn't learn notes - it learns how to sing notes”!
Sample models
Professional choirs
Professional choirs usually have very little preparation time to prepare for performances and concerts. Analogous to the situation in the orchestra, two to three two-hour rehearsals are often sufficient. On the one hand, this has to do with cost accounting: Many rehearsals cost money, so a performance can quickly become very expensive, especially with larger casts. On the other hand, professional choirs have to do a few “block” rehearsals (that is, immediately before the performance), as these choirs (especially radio choirs ) carry out many more projects with changing programs than amateur choirs.
The short rehearsal time is compensated for by the professionalism of the choir members, who are mostly trained through vocal studies and who work independently on the musical text, so that the rehearsal time is used exclusively for the interpretation of the works.
Project choirs
Project choirs can be found predominantly in the semi-professional area; sometimes they are only put together especially for certain concerts. Rehearsals usually take place on weekends, often all day. The purpose of this rehearsal mode is to win over ambitious singers who do not want to be permanently tied to a choir or who are only interested in certain choral music at a certain level.
Lay choirs
Amateur choirs usually meet regularly one evening / afternoon a week, more rarely every 14 days. Due to the clientele, the rehearsal not only includes the musical design, but primarily the teaching of the musical text and content as well as technical aspects such as voice training or technology. Overall, the focus here is on the educational aspect. In contrast to the professional field, in which a very specific performance is worked out, with amateur choirs, repertoire maintenance often plays a key role.
Sample setup
The structure of a choir rehearsal, at least in the lay area, usually follows the general didactic and methodological principles of general teaching . A choir rehearsal can therefore z. B. have the following structure:
- Collection and introductory phase
The first phase of each rehearsal serves as an introduction and transition to everyday life. Three goals are pursued: The singers should be sensitized for the following rehearsal and prepare for concentrated work. Therefore, body warmups and breathing exercises are often used. In addition, the introduction serves to warm up the voice, which, like in competitive sports, should not be fully stressed without warming up. The final goal is to teach voice training during singing in order to form an overall sound and develop the skills of the individual singers.
- Work phase
In the working phase, new pieces are developed and familiar ones are deepened. Often you start with conveying the musical text and then work out the associated text and the external appearance (dynamics, tempo, accents). The working phase takes up most of the choir rehearsal.
- Repetition phase
Similar to school didactics, it makes sense to have a sense of achievement at the end of a choir rehearsal. This usually happens in the form of a good sounding piece. Therefore, the last phase always serves to repeat well-known pieces, which are not only deepened, but also serve as the end of a successful choir rehearsal.
methodology
Choir rehearsal with instrument
The monochord has been known as a tool for representing the intervals since ancient times . In the 11th century the instrument was established as an aid in singing lessons with Guido von Arezzo . From the Renaissance to the Baroque, the instrument was used to train singers. In 1517, Andreas Ornitoparchus wrote about the use of the monochord, stating that it would show the boys striving for music an easy path to music and thus turn the ignorant into knowing. Konrad von Zabern (15th century) describes in his work Novellus musicae artis tractatus the key monochord, a further development, as a tool for learning vocal music.
Friedrich Erhard Niedt recommends the use of various instruments in 1708:
“The informator is also very good / when he exercises his scholars / that he always has a foundation voice / as a clavicimbel, bass violin / violdigamb, bassoon, or whatever he can do with the bass / needs / because that doesn't work only the hearing is sharpened / the tones are firmly attached / but the Judicium is made so subtle over time / that such a boy knows how to distinguish / whether it is right or wrong. "
Even Johann Friedrich Agricola and Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg recommend to the accompaniment of learning through a keyboard instrument:
“It will be a great advantage, both for him and for his subordinates, if he can accompany the claviere: in that the scholars once again so easily master the pure intonation when they, along with the bass, also use the corresponding one at the same time hear pure harmony strike. "
"Not only in order to keep the pupils in the chosen tone, but also at the same time to make their ears and their voices all the faster, it is good if the teacher accompagnies them to their lessons on a grand piano."
In 1739 Johann Mattheson combined a vocal and instrumental direction.
“With the understanding of execution, a capellmeister should be able to play the piano cheaply, next to singing, and indeed very thoroughly, because with it he can best accompany everything else during the performance, and also govern at the same time. I always drove better when I played along as well as sang, than when I just stood there for the sake of the beat. The choir is very much encouraged by playing along and singing along, and you can freshen up the people better. "
Mattheson presents the rehearsal practice of Johann Sigismund Kusser as exemplary , who sang and played everything to his musicians in individual rehearsals .
Thomaskantor Johann Adam Hiller complements the daily vocal practice time of the singer with silent memos on a keyboard instrument.
“But then there is also a way of studying the piano in thought or simply with the hand; this is just as useful to the singer as if he practiced for hours with a loud voice. Learning to play the piano is therefore a necessary aid for the singer "
An image source from the 19th century shows a rehearsal at Anton Friedrich Justus Thibaut with the assistance of a keyboard instrument.
Up until the 20th century, the violin was also a frequently used rehearsal instrument, some of which was taught at teacher seminars. In 1873, Friedrich Adolph Wilhelm Diesterweg described the violin as the "recognized best instrument for singing lessons in elementary schools". For practicing polyphonic ecclesiastical figural chants, he names both the pianoforte and the harmonium.
Kurt Thomas sees a rehearsal without an instrument with a cappella music as the "ideal case". In choral works with instrumental accompaniment, he uses the piano to get the choir used to the tempered mood of the orchestra. Wilhelm Ehmann favors vocal guidance for rehearsals in his book Die Chorführung in 1949 : "Singers and choir conductors should above all use their own voices, because the singers instinctively take important information for breathing, phrasing, Pronunciation, intonation, etc. All of this is omitted with the instrumental demonstration. However, it does not exclude the use of instruments. At first he preferred the brass and woodwind instruments, because they “come closest to singing according to breathing and tone formation”. This is followed by the string instruments and at the end the keyboard instruments. According to Martin Behrmann , the piano “used to be the only rehearsal tool; For a while it was basically damned, today again common practice in choral practice with specific tasks ”. Reiner Schuhenn advocates a differentiated use of the piano in choir practice. He demands vocal piano playing with a soft touch and rather broken chords. When accompanying the choir, the choir director should not reproduce the choral movement exactly, "but carry the choir acoustically from below". In the individual part rehearsal, the “use of the piano would be important, yes, indispensable”. However, the piano should not play individual parts, but the harmony. If the choirmaster does play individual parts, he should choose a different position on the piano.
The choir rehearsal in film and literature
Cinematically, the subject was taken up by the Swedish director Kay Pollak . His film Wie im Himmel (2004) with Michael Nyqvist in the leading role was a surprise success worldwide, as was the soundtrack. In 2005 Wie im Himmel was nominated for an Oscar for best foreign contribution. Making music together in the choir is impressively presented as an instrument of human solidarity and healing. The Austrian writer Sabine M. Gruber , on the other hand, deals with the subject ambivalently in her novel Chorprobe (2014). The focus is on the fictional semi-professional “chorus” with the egocentric choir director Wolfgang G. Hochreiter and the inexperienced choir singer Cindy Franck. The chorus enables great musical experiences, but gradually turns out to be a sophisticated system of power and dependence.
See also
literature
- Hans Günther Bastian, Wilfried Fischer: Handbook of the choir direction. Schott, Mainz 2006, ISBN 3-7957-5785-1 .
- Martin Behrmann : Choir director. Volume 1. ISBN 978-3-7751-0876-8 .
- Wilhelm Ehmann : The choir leadership . 2 volumes. Bärenreiter-Verlag 1949.
- Bettina Gratzki: The pure intonation in choral singing. Publishing house for systematic musicology GmbH, Bonn 1993 ( excerpt )
- Kai Koch (Ed.): Handbook for senior choir leaders .
- Waldemar Klink : The choir master.
- Benedikt Lorse: Einingen - The manual. 150 warmups for choir and soloists. Fidelio, Gerolstein 2015, ISBN 978-3-00-049638-7 .
- Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg: Instructions for music.
- Reiner Schuhenn : Choir direction specifically . Schott Music.
- Reiner Schuhenn : The alternative choral conducting book . Schott Music.
- Kurt Thomas : Textbook of the choir direction.
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/Singstunde
- ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from May 29, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Bettina Gratzki: The pure intonation in choral singing . P. 110
- ↑ "Postremum, ut pueris ad musicam aspirantibus iter facile prebeat, Incipentes alliciat, conducting progredientes, atque ita ex indoctis doctos faciat". Andreas Ornitoparchus: Musicae activae micrologus 1517
- ↑ Barbara Gratzki: The pure intonation in choral singing. P. 117
- ^ Friedrich Adolph Wilhelm Diesterweg: Diesterweg's guide to education for German teachers , 1873 p. 429
- ^ Kurt Thomas: Textbook of the choir direction. Volume 1, p. 113
- ^ Wilhelm Ehmann: The choir leadership . Volume I, p. 60
- ↑ Martin Behrmann: Choir direction. P. 62
- ↑ Reiner Schuhenn: Specific choir direction . Pp. 69, 70
