On Mon, 18 Sep 2000 11:16:19 EDT RALUCOB@a... writes:
> pat,
>
> it sounds as if you are singing in your regular singing voice
> and then
> weakening it to bring it down to a 'blendable' level. that would
> wear you
> out.
Mike & List:
Yes, I am purposely holding back in a lot of choral situations in order
to "blend". Especially in the community group that I sing with. We
archive our concerts & up until a couple of years ago, my voice could be
heard on the recordings over the rest of my section (soprano). I find it
easier to "blend" without holding back
>
> the other possibility, is that, unless you've already tested
> this, your
> fear of blowing out the rest of the chorus is unfounded in two
> possible ways.
> in trying to be a cooperative
> chorister,
> you may indeed be reducing your voice more than necessary for fear
> of
> sticking out. unless the conductor has told you already to tone it
> down,
> you need to sing out and let him/her balance you down as that is
> his/her job
> not yours.
This same chorus had auditions for everyone this year. First time in
about 6 years. We are doing quite a bit of music on our 1st concert in
which the soprano part splits quite frequently. During the audition I was
told that I was going to be asked to switch between the 1st & 2nd soprano
parts for this concert, sometime in the same piece (he has yet to
designate which part where) because if I sang 1st all of the time I would
"outsing the rest of the section". This is an interesting comment partly
because I am usually asked to sing the 2nd part.
Last spring I sang in the Rachmaninoff "Vespers" with another chorus that
I am singing with. I sang 2nd Soprano/2nd Soprano (for those of you not
familiar with the piece, it splits into 12 parts at times). I had no
problem feeling like I could sing out in that music. Some of it was
necessary just to hold on to your own part & some of it was because it
felt natural to do it. This me leads to Marie-Claire's comments about
repetoire, etc.:
19/09/2000
From: Marie-Claire Silon – mc_silon@h...
> I always say to my students that singing in a
>choir is – in a certain way – must more difficult than singing as a
soloist.
>As a soloist, you – or your teacher – choose an appropriated repertoire
for
>your voice. In a choir, you have to adapt yourself (your voice) to the
>repertoire chosen by the conductor. The conductor’s considerations about
>choosing repertoire are not precisely according to your individually
voice
>ability or capacity.
I am fully aware of the flexibility that a choral singer must have. The
same group that did the "Vespers" did the Bach "Easter Cantata". And this
isn't the first time that I've been told that singing in a choir is more
difficult that singing as a soloist.
>1 – The experience of singing in a choir is indispensable to a good
>musician: it develops the hearing, and completes our musical education
and
>instruction. You see, the choir repertoire is too fabulously big, rich
and
>important to be ignored.
I love singing in choirs.
>2 – A good voice teacher will be very useful to a choir conductor, if he
>really knows the difference between the two techniques. The conductor
must
>understand that the more the voices are developed even as soloists ones,
he
>will get better musical results.
The conductor of this choir also teaches voice. His students have shown
tremendous improvement.
>My small and modest suggestion for you is to be, first of all, aware of
your
>voice capacity. It means, not to sing higher, lower, stronger or quieter
>than you can.
The conductor & my voice teacher (who sings in several choruses herself)
have both told me on a number of occasions that I have a "large" voice.
The watch word for this year in this chorus, however, is blend. I will
try singing in more of a natural dynamic range but if I am led to believe
that I am "sticking out", I'm not sure how to rectify this.
>About your singing in the choir, I think it will better for you to speak
>with your teacher and to ask him for help.
Guess it is time to take it up with the voice teacher.
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