2.18.18
By E. Perryman
Since I started singing at the Sacred Heart Cathedral in Newark, it had been a long time since college choir where I worked to wedge my unwieldy, veristic voice into revealing and ethereal motets and madrigals.
In short, it ain’t easy to sing choral music especially music written before the 1600s.
Big girls britches are scarce and vibrato is the devil’s work. So…..not my forte.
But, by George, it is getting easier each year to access this singing approach and dare I say, it has made me a better musician.
So, as I listened to the first sopranos waft above the staff to that magical land above Bb5, it occurred to me that the voices in my head were not what was for dinner later. Nope, Allegri performance practices, clearly and patiently articulated by our gifted director, came to me in the form of a laundry list. I like lists a lot.
1. Music should live and breathe.
No matter how cold you know the score, you never quite find music where you left it. Music takes on a life of its own and shares a new pulse each season. My ears and brain get a worthy workout at each rehearsal.
2. Not unlike dogs, notes need a good walk.
Move those notes, no time to park. Especially over a measure and on the same pitch, use space and energy to stroll through the score. And keep that rhythmic ticker ticking. Once I lag, vowels, phrasing, and clear tone follows suit. Must keep on, keeping on.
3. Vowels are drama queens.
“Mommee Dearest” Joan Crawford ain’t got nothing on vowels. They vary day to day and need a lot of TLC. Barometric pressure has been known to bully the throat. Mother Nature does not always comply with bright, clear, in tune, and immediate vowels. And we all have our own individual sounds that need to merge, so taming the vowel vixen is an ongoing work in progress.
4. EF Hutton is speaking so ya better listen.
I’m dating myself here but knowing how much you need to listen in a choir reminds me of the 70s commercial that claimed when insurance brokerage EF Hutton speaks, everybody listens. Singing in tune is one entity as a soloist. Singing in tune doesn’t always play well with others. After a few years in the choir, I now get why the veteran singers are acutely affected by car and horn sounds from outside. And early composers seem to be 2 piece bathing suit kinda folk. A singer is tres exposed in this repertoire. No hiding behind big lush chords and the mellifluous middle voice.
5. Socialist singing can be good.
Finding a homogenized sound with your choir pals is a communal one. At our best, we are indeed all one. There is no finish line for individual winners. To be the most successful, we need to coexist under the same conditions and infrastructure. Now when it comes to communicating the text from your core, GO democracy. Bring all your varied experiences to the text to minister to all types of listeners.
And that’s all the choral music pontificating for now. As you were.
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