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Treble Choirs

One from the Folder: Repertoire Thoughts for Women’s/Treble Choir

November 17, 2021 by Shelbie L. Wahl-Fouts Leave a Comment

#74: Wednesday, November 17, 2021

“Controlled Burn” by Dessa and Jocelyn Hagen
SSA, string quartet, piano

This work is part of the Graphite Publishing Collaboration project – involving cooperative artistic endeavors from Dessa and Jocelyn Hagen. Dessa is a singer, rapper, and hip-hop artist; Jocelyn is a composer, theorist, and performer. Together, they created this piece titled “Controlled Burn.” I am mesmerized by it!

Jocelyn Hagen
Dessa

The original work was commissioned for SATB choir and orchestra, for a massed music festival in Minneapolis Public Schools, 2014. For that voicing, accompaniment parts are available for full orchestra or mixed chamber ensemble. In 2021, the SSA arrangement was commissioned by The Women’s Chorus of Dallas (Melisa Imthurn, conductor) and Flower Mound High School Treble Choir (Mark Rohwer, conductor). The SSA version is accompanied by string quartet and piano. I’m not always a fan of SATB music re-scored for treble voices, but this arrangement was clearly done with care and attention to the usual challenges in texture, timbre, and tessitura.

Clocking in at 6 minutes, this is not a short piece, not something to add to your concert rep for a ‘last minute learn.’ But, its important to note that the choir does not sing the full 6 minutes; there is significant introduction and interlude material for the instrumental ensemble. So, it won’t take as long to learn as it first appears.

The text by Dessa is invigorating and engaging. I really *really* want to dig into the text with my singers. For copyright reasons, I won’t include the whole text in this blog, but I encourage you to read it here: https://graphitepublishing.com/product/controlled-burn-ssa-choral-score/ (scroll down to “Text”)

I often see a flagship collaboration or commission like this and realize immediately that its too difficult for my once- or twice-a-week ensembles. So often the really cool stuff is too complex and takes more rehearsal time than I have, while the accessible stuff is too young/cheesy or easy/boring (or slow…). But I am happy to report the vocal lines are singable, accessible, and within reach for a range of ensembles.

Much of the vocal writing is homophonic, with three-part harmony. Some unison phrases as well, that then break out into SSA harmony at the end. There is one 12-bar section near the end that is not homphonic. However, in that section each voice part shares one line of text, then holds an extended note while another voice part jumps in, etc. So, not complicated multi-part polyphony, so much as a gentle layering of musical/textual ideas, introduced one at a time.

There is plenty of syncopation and rhythmic interest in the voice lines, and many added accents, which supports the inherent rhythmicity in Dessa’s text. Given the frequent homophony, most of the rhythms happen across the choir, together. Personally, I’m looking forward to learning/reading the rhythms as a group, and then speaking the text in rhythm. Its an exercise we as directors do so often with our choirs, but not always with full intention. With a text that is so rhythmically-structured to start with, I really want to draw my singers’ attention to it, before we add pitches.

Tonal structure is not necessarily one for easy solfege. There are a number of accidentals, as well as triadic tonal centers in the voice parts that don’t always line up with the diatonic key signatures. I love the end result of the sound, and the 3-part triadic vocal parts make it reasonable to grab on to by ear, after some rehearsal. But, know that you can’t likely jump in on solfege easily with an ensemble.

The string and piano accompaniment adds harmonic structure in places where the voice are more rhythmic, and adds rhythmic intensity where the voices are more melodic. And the accompaniment adds tonal intricacy throughout. The instrumental-only intro and interludes run the gamut from driving and accented to smooth and lyrical. While the SATB piece is set for full orchestra or mixed chamber ensemble, the SSA version is for string quartet and piano – which makes it more accessible from a financial/space/logistics point of view, and also from a numbers/balance point as well.

We won’t start spring 2022 music until second semester begins, but I plan on having this in their folders from Day 1 of spring term. Happy Programming!

 

Title:Controlled Burn
Composer:Dessa; Jocelyn Hagen
https://graphitepublishing.com/composer/dessa/
https://graphitepublishing.com/composer/jocelyn-hagen/
Date of Composition:2021
Author:Dessa
Language:English
Listed Voicing:SSA
Ranges:S1: B3-G/A5
S2: B3-D5
A: G3-B4
Accompaniment:String quartet and piano
Duration:6:00
Publisher:Graphite Publishing

https://graphitepublishing.com/

https://graphitepublishing.com/product/controlled-burn-ssa-choral-score/

 

Until next month!
-Shelbie Wahl-Fouts


Dr. Shelbie Wahl-Fouts is Director of Choral Activities and associate professor of music at Hollins University, a women’s college in Roanoke, Virginia.
Email:   
Bio:        https://www.hollins.edu/directory/shelbie-wahl-fouts/

For a listing of all current and past blog entries by this author, click here.
For a spreadsheet of all blog posts and their repertoire, click here.

Filed Under: One From the Folder, Treble Choirs, Women's Choirs Tagged With: dessa, Jocelyn Hagen, SSA, treble choir, Women's Chorus

One from the Folder: Repertoire Thoughts for Women’s/Treble Choirs

September 15, 2021 by Shelbie L. Wahl-Fouts Leave a Comment

#73: Wednesday, September 15, 2021
“Ave Maria” by B. E. Boykin
SSAA, a cappella

 

I wrote about a different work by composer Brittney Boykin in December 2020, and have been interested in her work ever since. (You can read that blog here.) I have recently been perusing her catalog for multi-part a cappella rep, and her Ave Maria caught my attention. Thank you again to Dr. Marques L.A. Garrett for introducing me to Boykin’s work.

Boykin self-publishes through Klavia Press, so while some of her music may be findable at larger retailers, that is not her entire catalog. Be sure to visit her publishing site to look at all her rep options, and her website to learn more about her as a composer, conductor, and pianist.

In my current fall concert, I have uptempo, I have rhythmically challenging, I have polyphonic, I have non-English/Latin language rep. But my students also desperately crave crunchy harmonies. Bonus if the crunchy harmonies are readable in diatonic solfege, and not chromatic, since that’s where they are right now. Plus I wanted something with sweeping lines where we could work on tone and phrasing, after all this time singing separately. Boykin’s Ave Maria is perfect.

The piece is in simple meter 3/4 with no rhythms more complex than beat division. No subdivisions/16ths, no syncopation, no borrowed. And all the parts move together. So, no conflicting rhythmic patterns or entrances to chase. The work is marked “reflectively” and the rhythmic structure supports that fully. The text is very much tied to the rhythms, which leaves great opportunity for discussion of text stress. In this era of masked and distanced singing, text can sometimes get lost, even with the best diction. I especially appreciate how the text setting kept the text legible to the audience.

From a tonal perspective, the piece begins with a listed key of D Major, but doesn’t come to a full D major chord until the final measure. The opening frequently skirts the relative minor, b, but it never quite settles there either. There are lots of diatonic triads  with one added pitch, usually a second apart from another pitch. This fulfills my students’ desire for something “crunchy”, but as it is all diatonic, they can still learn their lines by section on solfege. There are two non-diatonic notes in the whole selection – a te and a si.

Flowing 4 bar phrases keep the piece heading forward (and keep it singable in masks, if we’re being honest!). But the building of each phrase also gently pushes the ensemble to breathe together, shape together, move together. Especially for choirs that have not been able to sing together in person for while, this is a key component of what I know I need to work on this fall. And having those  crunchy harmonies paired with lush phrases? Exquisite.

There are so many struggles this fall season with trying to find some way back towards “normal” in terms of singing and ensembles. But repertoire like this, which easily engages students harmonically, vocally, and tonally – without also simultaneously pushing them rhythmically or polyphonically – is just the niche I needed to round out my fall concert. I hope you enjoy the piece as much as I have been!

Title:Ave Maria
Composer:B.E. Boykin
http://www.beboykin.com
Text Source:Marian antiphon, Roman Catholic liturgical tradition
Language:Latin
Listed Voicing:SSAA
Ranges:S1: E4-G5
S2: C#4-E5
A1: A3-A4
A2: F#3-F#4
Accompaniment:A cappella
Publisher:https://www.klaviapress.com/

Until next month!

-Shelbie Wahl-Fouts



Dr. Shelbie Wahl-Fouts is Director of Choral Activities and associate professor of music at Hollins University, a women’s college in Roanoke, Virginia.
Email:
Bio:     https://www.hollins.edu/directory/shelbie-wahl-fouts/

For a listing of all current and past blog entries by this author, click here.
For a spreadsheet of all blog posts and their repertoire, click here.

Filed Under: One From the Folder, Treble Choirs, Women's Choirs

One from the Folder: Repertoire Thoughts for Women’s/Treble Choir

August 18, 2021 by Shelbie L. Wahl-Fouts Leave a Comment

#72: Wednesday, August 18, 2021

“Where the Light Begins” by Susan LaBarr
Text by Jan Richardson
SSA, piano

Everyone’s choir plans are different and in flux right now (#coviddelta). No matter what your fall looks like though, I’m hopeful this selection will be universally helpful. It is a hauntingly beautiful piece, with relatable text (especially now!), fluid vocal lines, supportive piano accompaniment, (pleasantly) repetitive structure, and multiple avenues for music literacy tie-ins. I look forward to putting this on whatever concert I get to program first — whenever and wherever that happens to be.

H/T to Dr. Rachel Rensink-Hoff, associate professor and conductor of the Sora Singers at Brock University (Ontario, Canada), for introducing me to this piece. Rachel spoke about this selection during a recent “Forward Thinking” zoom meeting, a Covid-era weekly interactive series created by Elektra Women’s Choir and their artistic director Morna Edmundson. Whether your SA ensemble is college, community, or middle/high school, you absolutely must familiarize yourself with Morna’s and Elektra’s work, especially their repertoire resources. For more information, https://elektra.ca/community-engagement/forward-thinking/

The text for this piece is by poet and author Jan Richardson. She is a United Methodist minister, and the full poem was originally an Advent/Christmas blessing, from her book Circle of Grace. Composer Susan LaBarr was commissioned to write this piece of music by the Henry Middle School Varsity Treble choir, for their performance at 2019 National ACDA (Amanda Rasom, conductor).

LaBarr adapted the text, making it less specific to Christmas and more relatable to peace and inner light. In the octavo’s “About The Work” notes, LaBarr writes:

“This text, while originally written about Advent and the anticipation of Christmas, uses wonderfully universal words that relate to ideas of peace and hope. Jan’s blessing makes me think that within each of us is the ability to work towards peace. It doesn’t take a monumental action, just many little kindnesses that we can show to others every day which radiate out to bring light to the whole of humanity. When we love, accept, and care for all of our neighbors—despite our differences—we find that the light that the dark world so desperately needs begins in us.”

I really appreciate LaBarr’s adaptations; they keep many of the original intentions of the text, but allow the song to be accessible for many different settings and ensembles (including public schools, and concerts where Christian-themed texts may not be comfortable for all singers or audience members). The ideas of light, peace, inner strength, belonging, and community are at the forefront, which are all arguably universal themes. Especially in this current Covid climate, when some groups haven’t been able to make music together for going on 18 months and may still not be able to any time soon due to Delta variants, those themes are doubly heart-warming and heart-wrenching. I encourage you to read the texts at the links below.

TONALITY

This piece is in C major, with few if any accidentals. Everything is tonal and diatonic, which can be a boon when jumping back into music making after a long hiatus. I know my ensembles will need time to refresh their music literacy skills – and C major is a great place to do that. There are certainly skips and leaps – the work is not stepwise. But, the harmonic structure goes where you expect it to go, and the piano accompaniment is supportive. Melodic motives also return throughout the work, so once a phrase is learned, singers will see that material again.

VOCAL LINES & PHRASING

LaBarr’s vocal lines are flowing and moving. Great for tone-building as an ensemble. That’s another thing I know my ensembles will need to work on when we return to full group singing – being a team, singing a phrase together, making music as a collective cohesive unit. The lines move from unison to 2-part to 3-part, and there is very little 3-part polyphonic work; most of the design is homophonic or melody + echo/descant/countermelody. Perfect for supporting beautiful ensemble tone, balance, and blend after a long hiatus.

Additionally, the upper harmony or countermelody is often in the Sop1 part, while Sop2/Alto sing melody or homophonic harmony. So, the Soprano 1s get a chance to practice not being on the melody and/or not having the primary rhythm.

RHYTHM

The setting is a lilting 12/8 compound structure. A great opportunity to teach (or review) compound rhythmic literacy. Alternatively, the rhythmic patterns recur throughout the piece, so these could be taught by rote, depending on what teaching and learning aspects you are focusing on with this particular piece.

BRIEF FORM/STRUCTURE

To assist in programming decisions, teaching approaches, or rehearsing this piece, here is a brief layout of the song’s structure:

Intro
M3-9                     theme part A, unison
M10-13                 theme part B, unison
M14-19                 theme part B’, two part (S2/A on melody, S1 upper harmony, all same rhythms)
M20-26                 theme part A, two part (S2/A on melody, S1 on echo/different rhythm)
M27-35                 theme part B’, three part
—S1 same upper harmony as before, A on new lower harmony, S2 still on melody
M37-46                 new material, motivic with slight variations
—2m motive, unison
—Same 2m motive, 3part homophonic
—Same 2m motive, 3 part staggered entrances
—Same 2m motive rhythmically, 3 part homophonic, new chords
—Same 2m motive rhythmically, unison then 3 part homophonic, slight text change
M47-50/end       motivic call back to the opening theme part A, ends in unison

I don’t yet know when my first rehearsal will be, or where, or if I can have my full ensembles or only small groups. Or if there are even any live performances in our near future. But I do know that this piece will be on that first concert; I look forward to singing it with open arms and open hearts, whenever we finally have the chance.

Title:Where the Light Begins
Composer:Susan LaBarr
https://www.giamusic.com/store/walton-music-editor
Date of Composition:2018
Author:Jan Richardson
https://www.janrichardson.com/
Text Source:Poetry published in Circle of Grace: A Book of Blessing for the Seasons, Wanton Gospeller Press, 2015
Subject(s), Genre:Peace, light, belonging, inner strength, community
Language:English
Listed Voicing:SSA
Voicing Details:Unison, 2-part, and SSA
Accompaniment:Piano
Duration:3:45
Publisher:Walton Music, WW1820
https://www.giamusic.com/store/resource/where-the-light-begins-print-ww1820
Publisher’s scrolling-music preview below:

Until next month!
-Shelbie Wahl-Fouts

Dr. Shelbie Wahl-Fouts is Director of Choral Activities and associate professor of music at Hollins University, a women’s college in Roanoke, Virginia.
Email:
Bio:     https://www.hollins.edu/directory/shelbie-wahl-fouts/

For a listing of all current and past blog entries by this author, click here.
For a spreadsheet of all blog posts and their repertoire, click here.

Filed Under: One From the Folder, Treble Choirs, Women's Choirs Tagged With: covid, returning, SSA, treble, women's

One from the Folder: Repertoire Thoughts for Women’s/Treble Choir

June 23, 2021 by Shelbie L. Wahl-Fouts Leave a Comment

#71: Wednesday, June 23, 2021
So…You Want To Write A ChoralNet Blog?

Do you have a choral-related topic that you are passionate about? Is there something in your rehearsal or classroom process that you are really really good at, that you want to share with other choral colleagues? Is there some part of the choral world that really speaks to you – and you want to share that excitement with others? Then perhaps consider writing a blog for ChoralNet!

I started writing blog entries for ChoralNet in 2018. At present, its been 3 years, 70 entries, and counting! Initially, Sundra Flansburg, Director of Membership & Communications at national ACDA, approached me in early 2018 about sharing my expertise on women’s/treble rep. I thought – this is great! Awesome! Yes! I wanted to be more visible outside my state/region, so I jumped in feet first. I was thrilled to share my excitement about repertoire with the ChoralNet audience.

Initially, I wrote weekly. Then I realized that was too frequent a schedule to keep up indefinitely, especially as I was in my third trimester of a pregnancy, about to have a newborn on my hands. So, after a bit, I transitioned to bi-weekly, and then monthly. Monthly has worked out very well. Frequent enough that I feel like my offerings are regular, expected, on a schedule. But not so frequent that I’m scrambling to get enough content.

I like to talk about repertoire. To present about repertoire at conferences. To write about repertoire. Repertoire is my “jam.” So, doing a repertoire blog for ChoralNet seemed an excellent avenue.

In my entries, I usually choose one piece at a time – and then dissect the piece for the ChoralNet readers. Sometimes the repertoire is by a living composer – and I can reach out to that composer for a quote, or to chat with them. Sometimes the repertoire is a commissioned piece – and I can reach out to the conductor/ensemble who commissioned the piece, for insight on the initial creation process.

Often, the piece is one I’ve done with my ensembles at Hollins University, and/or a festival choir I’ve conducted. Then, I pepper in my own experiences – why did I pick it, how did I teach it, what pedagogy strategies or resources did I use, what did my singers think of it, what might I do differently next time, how did I program it along with other items on the same concert, and more. These are the ones that are easiest for me to write – stream of consciousness and such – and end up being the most helpful to other conductors, based on responses I’ve received.

Sometimes, it isn’t a piece I’ve done, but a piece in my “to program” pile. (We all have one [or more] of those piles, yes?!) Thinking through a piece for a blog helps me work through any questions I may have about the piece, and work out where best to use it in a future semester or year. And hopefully it helps other conductors do the same.

Overall, my blog is almost entirely practical. I try to focus on information that fellow conductors could use in the trenches. Real-life, active, day-to-day strategies about repertoire and programming.

I love that ChoralNet is an official venue, since it’s hosted by ACDA, but doesn’t necessarily require formal cited writing like a scholarly journal article. Scholarly articles are wonderful (always read your Choral Journal!) – but they aren’t something I would be able to put out weekly or bi-weekly or monthly. For these blog entries, I can use my own experiences, and write in a comfortable dialogue, while still maintaining quality information. It can be informative, yet conversational – like excitedly sharing a piece with a colleague over coffee, or presenting an interest session at a conference.

At present, all the “regular” blog slots are set for the summer (weekly/monthly rotations, etc), but Sundra is looking for new one-off blogs, for when a regular writer has to take a week off, or there’s a 5th Thursday in a month instead of only 4, etc. That’s a perfect way to get started! Write one, no long-term commitment. See if it suits you, see what kind of response you get, and if you enjoy it. Then, if you’re interested in a bigger opportunity, rotations and cycles will change, and there will certainly be opportunity for a larger commitment later on.

Through my blogs, I’ve interacted with composers, conductors, singers, authors, and publishers. My blog affords me a national avenue to reach colleagues, teachers, and conductors in all settings, and to share my excitement and expertise with them. I love the networking, and the connectivity. I love being a viable, visible resource in the choral community. If you feel like you have a voice you want to share, please consider writing a blog! I’d be happy to answer additional questions you might have – just comment below and I’ll respond. If you know you’re interested, contact Sundra Flansburg . She’d love to hear from you!

Until next month!
-Shelbie Wahl-Fouts


Dr. Shelbie Wahl-Fouts is Director of Choral Activities and associate professor of music at Hollins University, a women’s college in Roanoke, Virginia.
Email:
Bio:     https://www.hollins.edu/directory/shelbie-wahl-fouts/

For a listing of all current and past blog entries by this author, click here.
For a spreadsheet of all blog posts and their repertoire, click here.

Filed Under: One From the Folder, Others, Treble Choirs, Women's Choirs

One from the Folder: Repertoire Thoughts for Women’s/Treble Choir

May 19, 2021 by Shelbie L. Wahl-Fouts Leave a Comment

#70: Wednesday, May 19, 2021

They Can’t Put it Back: A Choral Trilogy of Appalachian Poems about Environmental Degradation
by Mary E. Simmons
SSAA, a cappella

Today, May 19, is Commencement Day at Hollins University for the Class of 2021. In honor of that, I’d like to present a new work by a graduating senior music major – a set we would have sung on our spring concert and at her senior recital, had either of those two events been able to occur as usual.

Mary Simmons has been a long-time choir leader in my advanced ensemble, and has excelled at both theory/composition and classical guitar. She will be continuing her studies at University of Kentucky in the fall, working towards a Masters of Music in Music Composition.

This work is a choral trilogy for treble voices, focusing on the environmental degradation and effects of mining in the Appalachian region. The poetry is from three Appalachian poets, and come from the anthology Coal: A Poetry Anthology, edited by Chris Green (2006).

Having grown up here in southwest Virginia, and continued in the area for college, Mary is passionate about this land and this space and its people. When I first read through her score in May 2020, I was immediately in love with the texts she chose, and her wonderful musical settings. I had only ever heard a midi recording, but I knew these were pieces I definitely wanted to do with the choirs. Sadly, the opportunity to program the work got lost in the ever-changing landscape of Covid-era choral and academic policies.

Fast-foward nearly a year later, to spring 2021. For her senior recital, which was an all-online event, Mary still wasn’t able to have a choir perform her work. So she became her own choir. In the videos below, you’ll see her singing virtual-choir-style in 16 boxes, having recorded herself four times on each of the four voice parts. And you’ll see that she added photography as well, to capture the imagery of both the beauty and the destruction that exist side by side.

The reaction to these works during her youtube recital premiere was extraordinary. I can’t give her the concert that these works deserve, but I can share them with each of you, in the hopes that you will contact her and consider programming this or other of her works in the future.

As a full set, the three selections total about 12 minutes. Each movement is beautifully set for 4-part SSAA a cappella choir.

Introduction: In this initial video segment from her virtual recital, Mary speaks for a moment about the works as a set, and briefly about each movement. All “composer’s comments” below are taken from this intro segment. Perusal score pages are linked below each video. For full scores or performance inquiries, please contact Mary at .


Movement I. Go Tell The Children

Text by Muriel Miller Dressler, from Appalachia, My Land, Morris Harvey College, 1973
Adagio, dolce – 4 minutes

Composer’s comments: “The idea behind this movement is questioning how we as a society could ever be OK with the damage that we have done to the environment, knowing what we have left our children.”

Begins with primarily vertical harmonies in F major, then shifts to an equal-voice round in G. Moves back to F with solo+choir, then closes with homophonic chorus.

Perusal Pages: click here


Movement II. Things have Changed

Text by Sarah Cornett-Hagen, from Coal Camp Child
Lento – 3 minutes

Composer’s comments: “This poem follows the narrative of a person who grew up in the Appalachian region and fell in love with the beauty and the land as a child, but has now moved away, and then come back to see that things don’t really look the way they had before, due to man-made things like coal mining and mountaintop removal.”

Opens with homophonic choral writing, with some contrasting segments of S1/S2 vs A1/A2. Some internal motivic motion within the voices. Fluid yet diatonic tonal structure, moving tonicized keys along with sections of the poetry.

Perusal pages: click here


Movement III. Goliath

Text by Billy Edd Wheeler, from Song of a Woods Colt, Droke House, 1969
Adagio – 4 minutes

Composer’s Comments: “This shows a person who is really fed up and done and ready to protest for the change needed.”

The name of the poem refers to the giant-sized land-eating machinery that is used during mountaintop and forest removal, but the poem also includes a David character – a person who is finding it within themselves to stand up to the machine. The closing line of this poem is the namesake of the full trilogy set title: They Can’t Put It Back.

This movement is more of a challenge in terms of key structure, non-homophonic writing, and meter changes, but the end result is worth the work.

Perusal Pages: click here


I hope you are as moved by these compositions as I was during Mary’s recital. I know I plan to program them with my Hollins ensembles once things return to normal, and will hope to include imagery much as Mary has done here. These are lovely and impactful compositions that can be done singly or as a set, and I encourage you to consider them for your ensembles in the future.

Title:They Can’t Put It Back: A Choral Trilogy of Appalachian Poems about Environmental Degradation     
I. Go Tell The Children     
II. Things Have Changed     
III. Goliath
Composer:Mary E. Simmons (b.1998)
Date of Composition:2019
Text Source:Poems from the book Coal: A Poetry Anthology, edited by Chris Green (2006)
I. Go Tell The Children (Muriel Miller Dressler)     
II. Things Have Changed (Sarah Cornett-Hagen)     
III. Goliath (Billy Edd Wheeler)
Subject(s), Genre:Appalachian region, environmental awareness, activism, mining, coal
Language:English
Voicing Details:SSAA, with occasional harmonic divisi
Accompaniment:A cappella
Duration:11-12 minutes total
Publisher:Contact composer –

Until next month!
-Shelbie Wahl-Fouts


Dr. Shelbie Wahl-Fouts is Director of Choral Activities and associate professor of music at Hollins University, a women’s college in Roanoke, Virginia.
Email:
Bio:     https://www.hollins.edu/directory/shelbie-wahl-fouts/

For a listing of all current and past blog entries by this author, click here.
For a spreadsheet of all blog posts and their repertoire, click here.

Filed Under: One From the Folder, Treble Choirs, Women's Choirs Tagged With: environment, environmental, SSAA, treble, women's

One from the Folder: Repertoire Thoughts for Women’s/Treble Choir

April 28, 2021 by Shelbie L. Wahl-Fouts Leave a Comment

#69: Wednesday, April 28, 2021

What Comes Next? Repertoire considerations in the return to “normal”
Vidalita, arr. Diana V. Sáez
SA, piano or guitar

At this point in a normal school year, we’d be finalizing the performance schedule for next year. Students would be registering for ensembles for next year. We’d be solidifying collaborations, run outs, off-campus events, and invited guest artist concerts. Everyone would be looking ahead. Right now…it feels like we’re all in limbo. How can we best plan for fall, when we don’t know yet what fall will look like?

When my choirs are allowed to gather, rehearse, and perform again, as a full ensemble, for their first real indoor concert, it will be a wholly unfamiliar experience for them. Currently they’ve been doing music literacy work, plus rehearsing only in small groups, 8 ft apart and masked, in the music library, for 30 minutes at a time, for less than half our usual total weekly rehearsal time. No choir room, no chapel/performance space, no supportive acoustics, no social activities, no full choir, no performances. 

It’s not “choir as they knew it.” Sometimes it doesn’t even feel like choir, just a “class.” Especially for non-majors that take choir as a 1-credit add-on elective, finding the joy in music-making right now, when we aren’t allowed to perform, or even rehearse, as full choirs is a huge struggle. 

Ensemble- and community-building is a challenge, as is creating a beautiful, lyrical tone. Vowels are tough, and vocal placement is tougher. Long, supported phrases feel impossible. The farther apart students stand, the less they can hear of their neighbors, so the less they individually sing, and the less confidence they have – even moreso if we’re outside. 

Students with previous vocal training, or those taking voice lessons currently, have found some ways to feel comfortable singing in a mask. Conversely though, students who came in with less experience, or with less/no formal vocal training, or maybe who are trying choir for the first time, get easily frustrated in masks. And understandably so. They are trying – so hard – but it feels like everything is stacked against them. 

By next academic year, I will have two years of students who will have never sung in the ‘before-times’ while at my school, and two years of students for whom normal is a distant and very brief memory. Our last real performance will have been in December 2019.

My program, like many of yours, will have shrunk and dwindled in size and scope. It’s disheartening and demoralizing, to watch programs we’ve built start to crumble. Its soul-crushing to watch students leave your program because singing in a mask is not any fun, or because they miss performances, or because they are so tired and overwhelmed with the rest of life/school that they just don’t have anything left to give.

But, despite it all,  moving on, and moving forward, is the only option. 

So…when we finally can sing together, in our regular rehearsal/performance spaces, in our regular sized groups, for our regular length rehearsals, hopefully closer together, and hopefully leading to actual performances…what do we sing? We will still likely be masked, especially if we want to perform indoors, but if all the rest of the “normal” is back to normal, that’s not a deal breaker. 

As I think about the future – I have some key repertoire (and non-repertoire) thoughts floating around in my head, that I think will benefit my singers and my program as we move forward:

  • Songs that are one, or two, or three levels of difficulty lower than I might have programmed in the before-times. Confidence needs to be rebuilt – in all levels of ensembles. Leave the one-on-a-part music, and complicated polyphonic selections, for another time. I love complex-rhythm selections, and divisi-within-small-ensembles, but this isn’t the right time, at least not for my choirs. Especially with lower numbers overall, easier is better. I may have a major or a strong reader here or there that is capable of something more complex, but that is probably the exception rather than the rule. Next year is about the health of the whole. Build back the confidence and belief in their own abilities.
  • Less music overall. Fewer pieces. Fewer concerts/events. Humpty Dumpty the Choir Program has had a great fall during the Covid-times. And needs care and nurturing to get put back together again. I know I want to jump head first into all the performances – just like we used to do and more. But I also know that won’t be as successful as a pared down schedule could be. I hope to be allowed back to a regular series of opportunities by our administrators, but consciously choose to do less than I would have in the before-times. Take the time to build community again. Build confidence again. Really support a true joy in singing for and with others, even if we are still masked. (Re)Build a sustainable program, not just moving from concert to concert.
  • Fewer choirs? When I started in my current university, there was one main choir, and an advanced off-shoot group. Eventually, I transitioned the program into three stand-alone ensembles – a beginner, an intermediate, and an advanced. And all three groups would rehearse together once a week also, creating a tutti ensemble to start/end the concerts. So, really four groups. And it worked. I loved it. The students loved it. But, you know what? I don’t think that’s sustainable next year. Or ideal. Or necessary. Or helpful. I need to reconceptualize my program for next year, to find what I think will benefit the current singers most. Maybe that’s fewer choirs. Maybe that’s more combined rehearsal/repertoire, and less divided among individual choirs. Maybe its re-working my existing rehearsal times in a different way. I’m still working out the details, but its definitely on my mind.
  • Repertoire that is lyrical. I frequently program fast/feisty/fierce rep for my choirs. I arguably don’t program as much lyrical music as I could. But one continued struggle this year has been getting long, lyrical, well-supported, tuned, confident phrases, out of masked, distanced, tentative singers. I for one know my singers need a return to simplistic, soaring, tuneful phrases.
  • Unison! (Re-)Building beautiful confident tone and a blended sound is another of my goals for next year. One of the best ways to do that (though not always the easiest!) is with unison rep.
  • Warmups. So many more warmups. And purposefully chosen, with clear intent. Ideally we all do this all the time – good solid warmups with good solid intent as to why each one was chosen. But with the chaos and disjunct nature of the current rehearsal structure/location/layout/numbers, sometimes that’s a tall order this year. However, if one of my main goals is to (re)build a beautiful tone, purposeful intentional warmups are one of the key ways to accomplish that.
  • Repertoire from a variety of cultures and traditions – lifting up the voices of historically- and currently-underrepresented communities as composers, arrangers, lyricists, poets, and culture-bearers. We can give lip-service to ‘diverse and multicultural repertoire’ – but that isn’t enough anymore. Our singers, especially as students in an educational setting, deserve well-reasoned, well-researched repertoire choices, not just well-intentioned. I feel like dissecting my repertoire choices needs to be wholly transparent – something my students can see and process along with me. Who is the composer/arranger, are they associated with the culture of the piece itself? Where did the text come from…what did it mean when first used…has the meaning changed? Can my students see themselves in the offerings in this concert/semester/year? There are so many questions to put here – that could be an entirely different blog.

A piece that hits many of the points above is “Vidalita”, a traditional northern Argentinian folk song, arranged by Diana V. Sáez for SA ensemble plus piano or guitar. Dr. Sáez is an expert on Latin-American choral music, and is known for her careful, quality compositions and arrangements. I feel confident in her authentic choral portrayal of this tune, especially if performed with a traditional classical guitarist. The song begins in unison, with both part I and part II singing together. Then it becomes two-part, with melody+upper oohs, or melody+lower oohs, or melody+harmony. The song is short, not overly long or complex. Its tuneful and hummable. Its in minor, with the occasional si and one fi. So, I could continue to work on my singers’ progressing music literacy skills, while also emphasizing phrasing, contour, shaping, and support. And give students an opportunity to sing a piece of Latin-American origin, arranged by a Latin-American composer. (Who also happens to be a woman!)

There will be a lot to re-build next year, in many if not all of our choral programs. Purposefully-chosen, carefully-selected repertoire can be a key component of that rebuilding. The transition will likely require us to think differently about our rep, and our concerts, and our overall structure. But its possible. Rebuilding will happen. We will sing together again. The music will rise again. The journey begins now…

Until next month!
-Shelbie Wahl-Fouts 

Title:Vidalita
Music Source:Traditional northern Argentinian folk song
Arranger:Diana V. Sáez
Date of Arrangement:2016
Text Source:Traditional northern Argentinian folk song
Subject(s), Genre:Love, longing, life
Language:Spanish
Voicing Details:SA – first unison, then two-part
Ranges:S: E4-E5
A: D#4-E5
Accompaniment:Piano, or classical guitar
Duration:~2:00 total
Publisher: Boosey & Hawkes
Composer’s website, including perusal score, and audio https://dianavsaez.com/compositions/vidalita/


Dr. Shelbie Wahl-Fouts is Director of Choral Activities and associate professor of music at Hollins University, a women’s college in Roanoke, Virginia. 
Email: 
Bio:     https://www.hollins.edu/directory/shelbie-wahl-fouts/

For a listing of all current and past blog entries by this author, click here.
For a spreadsheet of all blog posts and their repertoire, click here.

Filed Under: One From the Folder, Treble Choirs, Women's Choirs Tagged With: covid, Pandemic, Repertoire, SA, treble, Women’s

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