Nuance

It is always a sunken-treasure-surprise to come across a jewell of the past, known only to a few, that now is available to everyone. I have experienced several such epiphanies, as new works by Bach, Handel, and recently, Vaughan Williams, are "discovered" and brought to light by the musical world. This has been my recent joy once again while reading through Pavel Chesnokov's The Choir and How to Direct It, originally written in 1930, but only recently published in English by Musica Russica.

 

I will give a thorough review of this new publication soon in Choral Journal, but in today's ChoralBlog I want to highlight a chapter I found totally delightful because of its title: Nuance. Chapter 5 of this treatise on a cappella singing is a systematic approach to the concept of choral nuance. I don't know that I have ever read anything that attempts to give the genome of the concept of nuance.

 

I confess that I am more taken by Chesnokov the philosopher, than I am Chesnokov the pedagogue, when it comes to the exploration of this idea. After establishing that there exists a baseline we can agree upon when it comes to solid compositional structure, choral ensemble, and choral intonation, Chesnokov states,

 

 

The extreme application of this concept is the axiom, "The devil's in the detail", meaning, if small things in plans and schemes are overlooked, serious trouble will be the result. Applied to our rehearsal process, I like to tell my choir, "No detail happens in performance that did not take place in rehearsal." Whether we approach it through detailed scrutiny, or through Chesnokov's rhythmic screening, I am a total believer, to paraphrase the above–beauty is in nuance.