Latest Blog Posts
CJ Replay: Jazz in Zimmermann
(An excerpt from the Choral Journal article, Pluralism in the Works of Heinz Werner Zimmermann by Z. Randall Stroope.) More than any other German composer, Heinz Werner Zimmermann (b. 1930) has incorporated jazz and American spiritual elements into European traditional compositional techniques. For Zimmermann, this fusion of jazz and traditional (or “classical”) elements […]
CJ Replay: Beethoven Mass in C
(An excerpt from the Choral Journal article, Beethoven’s Mass in C: Notes on History, Structure, and Performance Practice, by Fred Stoltzfus) Although numerous German authors have discussed Beethoven’s Mass in C, opus 86, there have been only limited critical discussions of the work published in English.1 Often opus 86 has suffered from comparison […]
Saturday Respite: Toccata & Fugue in D-minor
Please excuse me for a moment while I pick my jaw up off the floor . . .
Saturday Respite: Only the Timbre is Different
Virtuosity is virtuosity.
Saturday Respite: If THIS doesn’t Elicit a Smile . . .
The pressure’s on, isn’t it? You’ll get a break next week, so just hang in there a little longer. In the meantime, LAUGH!
Accountability: Check Days
So I posted last week about my perspective on the use (or disuse) of sectionals in my auditioned ensembles. The next level of accountability for me is check days, also known as quartet (or octet) testing, where singers get up in class and have to sing the selected piece, one on a part. It can be […]
Choral Quid Pro Quo
If it hasn’t already started for you, it soon will. We’re entering that time of year when the public suddenly becomes interested in choral music. Mall managers, retirement community recreation supervisors, civic club presidents, and others of that ilk will start calling local schools asking the same question: “Do you have a group that can […]
Composition Spotlight: Let the Toast Pass
COMPOSITION SPOTLIGHT ~ by Jack Senzig (Each week we look at a piece of useful repertoire from the ChoralNet Community Composition Showcase. A variety of voicings and levels of difficulty will be presented. Enjoy!) Let the Toast Pass by John Ward for TBB a cappella (click for PDF and audio) Level: High School Freshman Men or higher Uses: Recruitment, General Concert Use […]