It is hard to believe that our concert is less than two months away! Below you will find resources for the "Gloria" by John Rutter for Choir, Brass and Organ. I hope you will find these useful in the learning process.
Cyber Bass - an website that has midi (computer) recordings of each part as well as all of the parts. This is very useful in learning notes but it does not include the words so you will have to follow along with the music carefully. http://www.cyberbass.com/Major_Works/Rutter_J/rutter_gloria.htm
The archival recording of our Christmas Concert from 2007 should be rather handy as we prepare this piece.
YouTube - What would the internet be today without videos?
These recordings of the Gloria by the University of Utah are quite good but they do use the orchestral version rather than the one we will be using for brass, organ and percussion. The big difference is that the strings and woodwinds take the parts covered by the organ in our version.
I was able to catch this insightful interview with contemporary ("classical" not Christian) composer John Zorn. Though he claims he is not religious, he is a profoundly spiritual person with some great insights into making music including this quote that I thought was particularly relevant to the letter I sent out.
"I feel like there are messages, I feel like there are angels, I feel that there is a legacy and an energy. I feel that it's possible to tap into that. I just don't believe in ego that much. I don't think it's just me. I think you can even just talk about community. I could not do this music without these musicians. It's about people. Music is about people for me. It's not about sounds. It's about people; it's about putting people into challenging situations. And for me, challenges are opportunities." - John Zorn
In response to the discipline of learning an instrument through formal instruction "...discipline is important as long as you're having a good time. What I
always did is I did what I enjoyed and I think that's why I don't have
any grey hairs. I'm 60 but I look like I'm 40. And I have a very
beautiful life with great friends and I look forward to waking up
everyday."
Talking about getting rid of things that get in the way of creativity. "My home is a device, a device for enabling creativity. A device for cutting out everything
that - the chaos outside that people think is reality, that's chaos. My
home is a way of insulating myself and stripping all that away so I can
get into what reality is for me, which is creativity."
On battles with critics... "Because I'm very susceptible to criticism, I'm very sensitive and, you
know, my parents used to say, John, you're oversensitive. And, you know,
you know what I can say to them now or what I said back then, I am just
the right amount sensitivity I need to be me. And if you don't like it,
take a walk."
I. Learn these tunes before you learn any others; afterwards learn as many as you please.
II. Sing them exactly as they are printed here, without altering or
mending them at all; and if you have learned to sing them otherwise,
unlearn it as soon as you can.
III. Sing all. See that you join with the congregation as frequently as
you can. Let not a single degree of weakness or weariness hinder you. If
it is a cross to you, take it up, and you will find it a blessing.
IV. Sing lustily and with good courage. Beware of singing as if you were
half dead, or half asleep; but lift up your voice with strength. Be no
more afraid of your voice now, nor more ashamed of its being heard, then
when you sung the songs of Satan.
V. Sing modestly. Do not bawl, so as to be heard above or distinct from
the rest of the congregation, that you may not destroy the harmony; but
strive to unite your voices together, so as to make one clear melodious
sound.
VI. Sing in time. Whatever time is sung be sure to keep with it. Do not
run before nor stay behind it; but attend close to the leading voices,
and move therewith as exactly as you can; and take care not to sing to
slow. This drawling way naturally steals on all who are lazy; and it is
high time to drive it out from us, and sing all our tunes just as quick
as we did at first.
VII. Above all sing spiritually. Have an eye to God in every word you
sing. Aim at pleasing him more than yourself, or any other creature. In
order to do this attend strictly to the sense of what you sing, and see
that your heart is not carried away with the sound, but offered to God
continually; so shall your singing be such as the Lord will approve
here, and reward you when he cometh in the clouds of heaven.
We open our hymnals to Hymn 379, and we begin to sing. "God is Love, let heav'n adore him / God is Love, let earth rejoice ..."
Lifting
voices together in praise can be a transcendent experience, unifying a
congregation in a way that is somehow both fervent and soothing. But is
there actually a physical basis for those feelings?
To find
this out, researchers of the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of
Gothenburg in Sweden studied the heart rates of high school choir
members as they joined their voices. Their , published this week in Frontiers in Neuroscience, confirm that choir music has calming effects on the heart — especially when sung in unison.
A Swedish researcher explains how heart rates become synchronized when people sing together.
Using pulse monitors attached to the singers' ears, the
researchers measured the changes in the choir members' heart rates as
they navigated the intricate harmonies of a Swedish hymn. When the choir
began to sing, their heart rates slowed down.
"When you sing the phrases, it is a form of guided breathing," says musicologist
of the Sahlgrenska Academy who led the project. "You exhale on the
phrases and breathe in between the phrases. When you exhale, the heart
slows down."
But what really struck him was that it took almost
no time at all for the singers' heart rates to become synchronized. The
readout from the pulse monitors starts as a jumble of jagged lines, but
quickly becomes a series of uniform peaks. The heart rates fall into a
shared rhythm guided by the song's tempo.
"The members of the
choir are synchronizing externally with the melody and the rhythm, and
now we see it has an internal counterpart," Vickhoff says.
This
is just one little study, and these findings might not apply to other
singers. But all religions and cultures have some ritual of song, and
it's tempting to ask what this could mean about shared musical
experience and communal spirituality.
"It's a beautiful way to feel. You are not alone but with others who feel the same way," Vickhoff says.
He
plans to continue exploring the physical and neurological responses of
our body to music on a long-term project he calls Body Score. As an
instructor, he wonders how this knowledge might be used to create more
cohesive group dynamic in a classroom setting or in the workplace.
"When I was young, every day started with a teacher sitting down
at an old organ to sing a hymn," Vickhoff says. "Wasn't that a good idea
— to get the class to think, 'We are one, and we are going to work
together today.' "
Perhaps hymns aren't for everyone, but we
want to know, what songs soothe your heart? For a bit of inspiration,
we've included a clip of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, whose members know
a lot about singing together.
"I sing because I'm happy, I sing because I'm free." These words from the familiar hymn His Eye is on the Sparrow turn out not just be a statement of faith but a phenomenon backed up by science. As it turns out singing with others has been shown to increase endorphins, a hormone associated with pleasure. Singing with others also helps us connect to one another, it creates surges of the hormone oxytocin, the hormone that helps bonds moms and new babies.
One of the surprising things about singing is that you don't even need to be good at it to experience these benefits. Professional singers in these studies show no noticeable difference in the pleasures singing they experience, with their untrained colleagues. Other benefits include lowered blood pressure, easier breathing, decreased stress and increased relaxation. For more information, please see the full article by Dr. Mehment Oz and Michael Rolzen.
Aside from the science, as people of faith we have the added benefit of uniting our voices in praise of God. As a church choir, lifting our voices in worship is the most important and gratifying use of our humble gifts. The founder of the Methodist tradition, John Wesley reminds us in the "Directions for Singing" printed in our hymnals: "Above all sing spiritually. Have an eye to God in every word you sing." We invite you to join us in testifying to God's beauty, majesty and power in our lives this season.
Sanctuary Choir rehearsals resume Thursday, September 5th at 7pm and the Sisters in Song resume on Monday, September 9th. For more information about the music program contact Juan Carlos Acosta, Director Music Ministries.
Getty Images
When you sing, musical vibrations move through you, altering your
physical and emotional landscape. Group singing, for those who have done
it, is the most exhilarating and transformative of all. It takes
something incredibly intimate, a sound that begins inside you, shares it
with a roomful of people and it comes back as something even more
thrilling: harmony. So it’s not surprising that group singing is on the
rise. According to Chorus America, 32.5 million adults sing in choirs,
up by almost 10 million over the past six years. Many people think of
church music when you bring up group singing, but there are over 270,000
choruses across the country and they include gospel groups to show
choirs like the ones depicted in Glee to strictly amateur groups like Choir! Choir! Choir! singing David Bowie’s The Man Who Sold the World.
As the popularity of group singing grows, science has been hard at
work trying to explain why it has such a calming yet energizing effect
on people. What researchers are beginning to discover is that singing is
like an infusion of the perfect tranquilizer, the kind that both
soothes your nerves and elevates your spirits.
The elation may come from endorphins, a hormone released by singing, which is associated with feelings of pleasure. Or it might be from oxytocin,
another hormone released during singing, which has been found to
alleviate anxiety and stress. Oxytocin also enhances feelings of trust
and bonding, which may explain why still more studies have found that
singing lessens feelings of depression and loneliness. A very recent study
even attempts to make the case that “music evolved as a tool of social
living,” and that the pleasure that comes from singing together is our
evolutionary reward for coming together cooperatively, instead of hiding
alone, every cave-dweller for him or herself.
The benefits of singing regularly seem to be cumulative. In one study, singers were found to have lower levels of cortisol, indicating lower stress. A very preliminary investigation suggesting that our heart rates may sync up during group singing could also explain why singing together sometimes feels like a guided group meditation. Study after study
has found that singing relieves anxiety and contributes to quality of
life. Dr. Julene K. Johnson, a researcher who has focused on older
singers, recently began a five year study to examine group singing as an affordable method to improve the health and well-being of older adults.
It turns out you don’t even have to be a good singer to reap the rewards. According to one 2005 study,
group singing “can produce satisfying and therapeutic sensations even
when the sound produced by the vocal instrument is of mediocre
quality.” Singing groups vary from casual affairs where no audition is
necessary to serious, committed professional or avocational choirs like
the Los Angeles Master Chorale or my chorus in New York City,
which I joined when I was 26 and depressed, all based on a single
memory of singing in a choir at Christmas, an experience so euphoric I
never forgot it.
If you want to find a singing group to join, ChoirPlace and ChoralNet are good places to begin, or more local sites like the New York Choral Consortium, which has links to the Vocal Area Network and other sites, or the Greater Boston Choral Consortium.
But if you can’t find one at any of these sites, you can always google
“choir” or “choral society” and your city or town to find more. Group
singing is cheaper than therapy, healthier than drinking, and certainly
more fun than working out. It is the one thing in life where feeling
better is pretty much guaranteed. Even if you walked into rehearsal
exhausted and depressed, by the end of the night you’ll walk out high as
a kite on endorphins and good will.
I started to pull some high lights but I found that I was just recreating the article so take a few minutes to listen to it yourself, I am sure you will enjoy it.
June 2 - Beatitudes by Martin Chambers There is no video for this piece yet, maybe we should record one. You may hear the computer version of the piece on his own website. I told Mr. Chambers that if we are feeling good about the piece we may try to do a recording. http://choralcompositions.com/Scores_-_Recordings_-_Video.php June 9 - Esto les Digo by Kinley Lange Recording of the Phillipine Madrigal Singers. This is a world renown pro choir that does not use a conductor. It is a bit slow for my taste but one of the best recordings available on YouTube.
YouTube is an amazing resource that has really blossomed over the last five years. I wanted to share some pretty decent videos of some of the anthems we are doing this Spring.
Sunday, April 7th
When I Survey the Wondrous Cross - Gilbert M. Martin
Sunday, April 14th
Ain't Got Time to Die - Hall Johnson
(Just a hand held recording but a wonderful interpretation of this piece)
Sunday, April 28th
A New Commandment - Thomas Tallis
Sunday, May 5th
If Ye Love Me - Thomas Tallis
Andrea and I had the opportunity to hear this group do this piece in three different keys back to back as they demonstrated the different ways it could be adapted.
AGO Festival - May 19th
O Clap Your Hands - Ralph Vaughan Williams
