Have you ever noticed that where film music is concerned the chorus tends to occupy the extreme fringes? Beyond almost any musical reference to Heaven in a film score, our beloved art is utilized to communicate extreme solemnity (Mansions of the Lord, at the end of We Were Soldiers), life & death situations (Battle of the Heroes from Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith), and utter confusion (Ligeti’s Lux Aeterna in 2001: A Space Odyssey).
Of course, it shouldn’t really surprise us. The human voice is both able to evoke remarkable sounds and can communicate specific ideas only possible through language. Add to that a somewhat ethereal nature of the voice in chorus, and it is small wonder that choral music is used for dramatic effect.
In this selection from the Inchon City Chorale’s performance during the 2009 ACDA National Conference, the intense dramatic capabilities possible with the human voice are well displayed.
Chris Rowbury says