CJ Replay: Trends in Choral Music

      Specialized performing groups have been the subject of negative criticism on the part of many music educators today. The writer does not condone that criticism.  It seems to him that it has been the specialized performing groups that have given the vitality to the amazing development in public school music in our country, not to be matched anywhere in the world. Perhaps they have been overemphasized of late at the expense of general music. At least, it is general music that is getting the attention today by educators and scholars. The theme of theMENC, "Music as an Academic Discipline" is one indication of this trend.

      To meet this criticism choral directors are discovering that a choral rehearsal is an ideal vehicle for teaching general music. This does not mean that the introduction of a new number provides an excuse for a musicological lecture or a theory lesson in form and analysis. It does mean a study of all aspects of the music that contribute to performance. Furthermore, it means a study of the words. After all, a choral number is the artistic wedding of words and music. The writer has discovered many times that the illumination of the spiritual and aestheticquality of the poetry to singers and listeners is the surest way to the illumination of the music. A choral director's books of poetry should be as well-worn as his books of music. A verbal reading

of the poetry is often the ideal way to set the mood for the performance of the music. Let us teach the singers to sing with intelligence as well as feeling. Both are the sine qua non of artistic choral singing.