CJ Replay: Renaissance Choral Music

(An excerpt from the Choral Journal article Relations of Sound and Structure in Elizabethan Choral Music by Jean Berger.)

 

       “The writer attended a recent performance by a very fine choral organization whose program included the “Ave Verum Corpus” by William Byrd. This is a much performed composition, available in several commercial editions, and one which gives a chorus magnificent opportunities for displaying its richness of sound, dynamic shadings, careful pronunciation and the like. The concert in question brought to mind some of the problems inherent in the performance of musicfrom the Elizabethan era which require the interpreter’s concern with purely compositional aspects of the work.”

       “It is true, of course, that in recent years many of our choral organizations have shown a praiseworthy attitude with regard to historic authenticity, matters of well-proportioned pacing, stylistically appropriate voice production and the occasional addition of instruments to the “a cappella” medium. But all too often the intrinsic compositional and structural qualities of a work have not been uncovered, with a resulting performance that may be “correct” in all of its aspects, with the exception of that of the music itself.”