crookc@h... wrote:
crookc@h... wrote:
> Is this a problem that 'listers see related only to the high voice
> parts? Or is there also seen to be a related problem with the way
> low voice parts are conducted in choirs also?
I'd say it's pretty much sopranos who get this type of
attention from many (but certainly not all) choral
conductors.
Personally, I love the major choral works, and I wouldn't
want to be without singing them. I believe that one can
sing with good technique and meet the needs of most
well-meaning conductors. That may require bringing the
choral part to the voice lesson. I suppose that isn't done
at the college level, though I do it when I think a choral
part is getting the better of me, and it helps a great
deal. Is this possible for the college teachers to do with
their students having trouble singing choir, or does this
run afoul of academic expectations? I would very much
encourage teachers of high-school age singers to work on
choral parts in lessons. How else will they learn how to
sing the choral parts with their best technique?
That said, I don't doubt that non-singer directors who like
the English choir-boy sound may ask for sopranos to sing a
certain way and that a college-age soprano may not have
technique solidified enough to tolerate it.
Is it not possible for the college voice faculty (under the
leadership of the voice department chair or senior voice
faculty member) and the choral director to talk with each
other and find a way to resolve the problem? Perhaps
certain sopranos, particularly those with large voices, can
be permitted to sing in the alto section (and their voice
teachers can help soften the blow to the soprano's ego)?
Perhaps singers with voices unsuitable for choir singing
according to the director's aesthetics can be excused from
their choir obligation and obtain their ensemble credits
some other way?
Peggy
--
Margaret Harrison, Alexandria, Virginia, USA
"Music for a While Shall All Your Cares Beguile"
mailto:peggyh@i...
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