In Quest of Answers (Part 3)

The Choral Journal archives dates back to May 1959 and contains many wonderful articles, some of which, yes, are out of date; but there are others that still hold importance for choral conductors in the twenty-first century.

In 1974-1976, Carole Glenn published a fascinating series of interviews with seventeen choral conductors on various questions of concern to choral musicians. Over the next couple of weeks, this weekly ChoralNet blog will highlight several of these installments and share some of the answers given. Following is a list of the conductors who were interviewed:

Elaine Brown, Harold Decker, Robert Fountain, Jane Hardester, Iva Dee Hiatt, Robert Holliday, Joseph Huszti, Kenneth Jennings, Allen Lannom, Daniel Moe, Weston Noble, Paul Salamunovich, Leland Sateren, Howard Swan, Roger Wagner, Dale Warland, and Lois Wells.

Installment 3 deals with objectives for choral groups and was published in Choral Journal in January 1975.

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What does a conductor wish to accomplish between the first rehearsal and the final concert of the year? Is he primarily interested in the aesthetics of musical creation? Is she primarily interested in the spiritual, emotional, and intellectual growth of his singers? Is she primarily interested in the communication of the composer’s creation? Within these basic areas lie many deeply-rooted and often complex reasons for a conductor’s choice of her art. That is why the following question was asked: What are the overall objectives for your choral groups?

Robert Holliday – Hamline University, St. Paul, Minnesota

The big satisfaction comes from performing good music well. This is a basic objective, but there are subsidiary benefits. In 1967 we toured Latin America for the State Department and had many non-musical experiences. The tour lasted eleven weeks. We started out in Mexico City and covered nearly all of Central America, most of South America, and some of the Caribbean Islands. The singers learned a lot that had nothing to do with music per se. I suppose the group developed such things as dedication, responsibility, organization. There are lots of side em

phases which I do not talk about but which are certainly there. Today people talk about lack of communication. I sometimes think that there is too much verbal communication with people talking things to death – symposia, colloquia, dialogues, or whatever. But the concerted effort in music is a different kind of communication, and, I think, a superior one.

Elaine Brown – Singing City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The Singing City program grew out of the needs of the community. The very first choir was a witness to an interracial group of people working together. This was years ago when it was just not done. Part of our evening was rehearsing, and the other part was going out for coffee afterwards. More than once we were turned out of a restaurant. But times have progressed, and in many respects things have changed. One of our original purposes was to open the door of the choral experience to people across racial lines; then it moved from one combination of people to another. We still have a very healthy cross-section of Philadelphians. It’s a big job, because it’s where people are. It’s not a physical building or a set program. The program changes from year to· year depending on the direction we ought to go or the emphasis that’s needed. This year we received a grant to expand our youth work. At the high school level there will be more and more work which is very much needed. There are suburban high school students who have no idea what it is to live and to go to school in the inner city. The grant makes it possible to bring suburban public and private school students together in the choral experience. Our overall objective is to foster good human relations through excellence in the choral art.

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