Mutual Influence of The Orchestra and Concerto Principle in The 16th – First Half of The 17th Centuries

The interaction between the evolution of the orchestra and the concerto at the end of the late 16th — first half of the 17th centuries has been considered. Three levels of interaction are revealed. The first one is the basso continuo. There is little attention paid to the importance of this technique for the formation of the orchestra: the impact on the formation of instrumentalists’ collectives through the appearance of a homophonic way of presentation; combining different forces of sound of instruments; strengthening the bass line as a solid foundation for the entire vertical structure. The second level is the concerto principle. It is emphasized that during the 16th century the concerto meant ―ensemble‖ of any configuration. The strengthening of the instrumental component in the works of M. Uccellini, I. Baccusi, A. and J. Gabrieli, A. Banchieri had an impact on the transformation of the concerto principle. Initially, the principle appeared through the opposition of pitches and density of texture, eventually extends to the comparison of instrumental, mixed vocal-instrumental and vocal groups, thus stimulating contrast in the middle of an instrumental groups such as ensemble and orchestra. The third level of the interaction is embodied in the genre of madrigal (C. Monteverdi). It seems that the release of instruments, the diversification of their functions, the rejection of the permanent exact duplications and the increased role of the timbre obviously require an instrumental body as a stable structure for the implementation of all above mentioned. The development of musical instruments, the diversification of their functions, the use of sinfonia and ritornellos in the choral composition became a driven force for the modification of the concerto principle resulted in the intensification of the competitive origin in the orchestra with each decade. All the above encourages to revise the depth of interaction between the orchestra and concerto. The orchestra as an organized and multi-instrumental collective, designed to exhibit music beyond the church or theatrical genres, becomes the institutional basis for the embodiment of the concerto principle in a particular genre of the instrumental concerto.

The Cantatas by Pierre Boulez in the Context of the Main Trends in the Development of Choral Composition of the 20th Century

The article focuses on Pierre Boulez’s choral style in the cantatas “Le visage nuptial” and “Le soleil des eaux”. The versions of these works, created over the course of almost 40 years (from 1951 to 1989), represent a complex of techniques in regard to texture and timbre, which, on the one hand, are a continuation of experiments by composers of the New Vienna School (A. Schönberg, A. Webern), and on the other hand, they preface a number of innovations in the choral style of Boulez’s contemporaries (L. Nono, L. Berio, K. Stockhausen, I. Xenakis). Evidence is provided in favor of the idea that Boulez’s choral works were the logical link between the vocal and choral opuses of the composers of the first and second Western European avant-garde. The article examines the peculiarities of the interaction between the verbal and musical series, the specifics of the textural organization of Boulez’s works, and systematizes the information about the timbre techniques used. Links are identified between the heterophonic presentation typical of Boulez’s choral works and the use of quarter tone notation, glissando reception, and various variants of speech singing (Sprechgesang). The connections between stereophonic effects in the music of Boulez and Nono are traced. An important place is occupied by the study of vocal sound recovery or “vocal emission” technologies (as defined by Boulez). The significance of Schönberg and Webern’s experience in the formulation of the technical foundations of Boulez’s choral timbres is stressed. Special attention is paid to the problem of “work in progress” as one of the defining features of the composer’s choral heritage. Comparing the works by Nono, Maderna, and Bulez, the author concludes the different reasons for which composers came to the concept of “opera aperta” (U. Eco).

Considering Matthew Shepard: normative and anti-normative queer spatial narratives and the politics of performance in choral music

I present a cultural geographical analysis of the recent choral composition Considering Matthew Shepard. I explore the cultural, musical, and emotional geographies of this piece of music, in terms of its content and my experience of rehearsing and then performing the piece as a member of the choir. Drawing on cultural geography, musical geography, and queer theory, I argue that the memorializing of Matthew Shepard’s killing through this musical setting both repeats and challenges the normative popular and academic framings of Shepard’s murder and, more generally, queer critiques of the memorialization and historicization of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer pasts. I explore this by examining three spatial themes in Considering Matthew Shepard: its representations of (1) Wyoming, (2) the fence (where Shepard was left by his assailants), and (3) universality. I also point to what musical geographies might gain in looking more closely at choral music performance.

Ancient song re-employed: The use of Regilaul in the music of Veljo Tormis

The music of Veljo Tormis (b. 1930) became well-established in Estonia during the 1960s yet remained little known in the West until the fall of Communism. By incorporating traditional Estonian folk song, regilaul, into his works, Tormis’s name became closely associated for Estonians with upholding a sense of national identity against the Soviet regime. It is his vast output of some 500 choral songs for which he is most immediately recognised; indeed, once regilaul had come to dominate the ‘Tormis style’, he dedicated himself almost exclusively to choral composition. This paper examines regilaul, its impact on Tormis during his formative years, and its integration into his mature compositional style, leading him to claim that he had ‘found his voice’ as a composer.

Learning to Perform Benjamin Britten's Rejoice in the Lamb

The purpose of this research was to examine the way three high school students perceived and experienced a choral composition they were learning to perform. This case study, conducted over a period of five months, chronicled the experiences and perceptions of three students from a large midwestern high school mixed choir as they learned to perform the extended choral composition Rejoice in the Lamb by Benjamin Britten. Three categories of experience (found to correlate with three philosophical forms of knowledge) emerged through data analysis: (1) impression (prepositional knowledge), (2) construction (procedural knowledge), and (3) understanding (acquaintance knowledge). Participants generally experienced these knowledge forms progressively, but also shifted between them idiosyncratically. Singers tended to focus on the technical skills needed to perform the music with accuracy. Deeper levels of understanding were contingent on each participant's personal history, openness, and effort in relation to the composition. July 8, 2004 May 4, 2005.