Die intuitive Sehnsucht nach Musik – positiv gestimmt durch die Krise

Johannes Prinz, geboren 1958, kam schon früh mit der Musik in Berührung. Mit neun Jahren wurde er Mitglied der Wiener Sängerknaben. Er studierte an der Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien und leitete mehrere Chöre. 1991 wurde er als Chordirektor des Wiener Singvereins verpflichtet. Prinz übernahm Choreinstudierungen bzw. Konzerte bei Chören im In- und Ausland, u. a. beim Bayerischen Rundfunkchor, beim Berliner Rundfunkchor, beim RIAS-Kammerchor, bei der Konzertvereinigung Wiener Staatsopernchor sowie beim Spanischen Rundfunkchor. 2003 leitete er den World Youth Choir. In den vergangenen Jahren arbeitete er mit den Wiener Symphonikern, dem RSO Wien und dem Tschaikowsky-Symphonieorchester Moskau. Seit 2000 ist er Universitätsprofessor für Chorleitung an der Kunstuniversität Graz.

‘Sometimes I Feel Like I’m His Dog’

In a close analysis of rehearsal processes in the youth choir and two youth orchestras in this study, this chapter describes in detail the gendered interaction between conductor and musicians. The charismatic authoritative leadership of their male conductors was appreciated and enjoyed by the young musicians. The chapter focuses particularly on the interactions that facilitated this charismatic authority. To this end, the construction of conductors’ charisma is analysed in its workings through consensual as well as more coercive practices such as humiliation and fear, and the ways in which these reinforced gendered norms are drawn out. The deference and conformity that are normal within classical music practice can be read politically as trust in the authority and expertise of adult leaders that is continuous with a wider middle-class trust in institutional authority. These social relations are, in part, inscribed in the musical text.

“He Could Just Put a Song on His Fingers”

This chapter focuses on the rise of second-generation gospel choirs in Chicago. On July 6, 1959, Robert Anderson and Eddie Robinson sponsored the “Mountain of Gospel Music,” starring James Cleveland and the Voices of Tabernacle Choir from Detroit's Prayer Tabernacle Church, at the First Church of Deliverance. Cleveland's triumph with the Voices of Tabernacle turned him from “years of struggling” into a major gospel attraction. This chapter begins with a discussion of Chicago-based community choirs devoted to second-generation gospel music, including the Thompson Community Singers, the Wooten Choral Ensemble, the Youth Federation of South Chicago, South Side Community Singers, Helen Robinson Youth Choir, and Treadwell Community Singers. It also takes a look at other second-generation church choirs such as the ensemble at Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church, Hyde Park Bible Church, Redeeming Church of Christ, and Cosmopolitan Church of Prayer. The chapter concludes with an overview of the phenomenon called “broadcast hopping,” a journey that gospel music enthusiasts made on Sundays to be present for as many live radio broadcast services as possible.

The Youth Choir

Youth choirs provide a unique opportunity for young people to develop as musicians. Inorder to highlight perspectives regarding possible elements that are significant increating excellent youth choirs, the author, a choral conductor, teacher, and researcher,undertook a study involving interviews with singing teachers, composers and choralconductors who work in the specialised field of youth choirs. She sought to explore theirthinking and ideas relating to youth choirs, to the repertoire that they perform, and to theways that the voices are conducted. Interviewees chosen for the study came from the UK,Estonia, Sweden, Australia, Switzerland, South Africa, the USA, Israel, and Latvia, andthe choirs referred to tend to be formed of selected singers who are mostly fromspecialised musical backgrounds.

The Music of Richard Allain

RICHARD ALLAIN : ‘When I'm Gone’ – choral works performed by Laudibus (Chamber Choir) and National Youth Choir of Great Britain, c. Mike Brewer. Delphian DCD34026.

'Building A New Eden': Lutheran Church Youth Choir Performances in Tanzania

A study of three songs by a Tanzanian youth choir reveals a synthesis of historical and intellectual sources ranging from pre-colonial social philosophy to Lutheran theology to Nyerere's Ujamaa socialism. The songs show how the choir performances break down the barrier between Bourdieu's realms of the disputed and undisputed. In appropriating an active role in shaping Christian ideology, the choir members reinterpret its theology into something wholly new and uniquely Tanzanian. Thus they appropriate an authoritative voice that shapes the basic societal concepts about the nature of life and society. They envision themselves as essential workers in an ongoing sacred task of building a modern Tanzanian nation in the image of a new Eden.