Notes and Phrases

In 1873, Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943) was born into a family clinging to the last vestiges of artistocracy in Russia—the cultured traditions remained, but the money was mostly gone. After some false starts arising from academic laziness, deaths of two sisters from infectious illnesses, and a critical savaging of his First Symphony, Rachmaninoff’s immense musical talents—he was a spectacular pianist and possessed an uncanny ear and musical memory—brought success and wide-s

From very early on, the Christian Church created a rich liturgy of preparation for Christmas. This season of Advent was a time for reflection, self-examination, intentionality--something that usually gets trampled somewhere between Black Friday, holiday menu planning, and the mad dash to send out the Christmas cards. One of the most ancient and lovely rituals of Advent is the singing of the great O Antiphons each night during Vespers in the week before Christmas. Boethius m

Consider the basses. They neither toil nor spin... As they rumble out their low frequencies, sad to say, these poor guys must also countenance numerous indignities visited upon them by their conductors and, shockingly, their fellow singers. In choral circles, they are victims of ‘vocal profiling.’ It pains me to report that the grossly unfair stereotypes of basses include (but are certainly not limited to): pitch inaccuracies random rhythms unfortunate tonal choices dynamic

Besides being excellent vocalists and musicians, choral singers have to be great team players. Everyone has to know his or her strengths and weaknesses (and self-knowledge can be so elusive!), and contribute accordingly. In performance, some lead in providing impeccable pitch or rhythm, others by offering an unfailingly lovely timber, still others by reliably delivering the highest or lowest notes as needed. But a great choir needs to rehearse well together, too. So in addi

Our American culture is famously and proudly individualistic, partly a reaction to and flight from the oppressive class systems of the Old World. We should surely be grateful for the great leap of faith, strongly influenced by John Locke's utilitarian individualism, that made our democracy possible. But as the Greeks say, "moderation in all things." Any individualism must be tempered with an understanding of, and even a celebration of, our interconnectedness. We find mean

In The Merchant of Venice, Portia exclaims, seeing a light burning in her hall, “How far that little candle throws his beams! So shines a good deed in a naughty world.” The light known as Fanny Lou Hamer was born 100 years ago today in Montgomery County, Mississippi, the youngest of twenty children. She started picking cotton at age 6, and could pick 300 pounds in a day by the time she was 13. In 1962, Fanny was inspired by a sermon from James Bevel, an organizer representin

As you may know, the composer for the 2017 Ketterling Carol is Daniel Kallman. As you may not know, the delivery date for his Christmas "present" is this weekend. So even as we type and read, Dan is putting the finishing touches on his version of the Wexford Carol ("Good people all, this Christmas time, consider well and bear in mind..."). Composers have a weird out-of-sync experience as an occupational hazard: they are usually looking for just the right Christmas sonority

When I opened my mailbox yesterday, I found Weston Noble staring benignly up at me from the cover of Choral Journal magazine. Weston died last December at the ripe old age of 94, and has been celebrated in numerous and far-flung concerts and services in the past year, and now that the American Choral Directors Association has weighed in, I'll add my two cents. As many of you know, Weston--a lightly-experienced 25-yr-old recent grad--was asked to conduct the Luther College Co

We were contacted this past summer by Matt Camrud, a former CAE Board member and highly accomplished pianist. His beloved mother, Cynthia Larson, passed away last February, and he wanted to explore ways of celebrating her life. Since she, too, loved choral music, Matt wondered if a new commission might be undertaken in her honor. As the possibilities and timings were sifted, we decided to ask Jeffrey Van if he might have time, in spite of rather short notice, to create a wo

As we prepare this first concert, we will happily spend more than a little time polishing Benjamin Britten's CANTATA MISERICORDIUM, a small masterwork written in 1963. Britten's librettist, Patrick Wilkinson, expanded and dramatized the great parable, from Luke 10, of the Good Samaritan. Britten, great opera composer that he was, seized the opportunities presented from this text, and created a gorgeous, vivid, ultimately uplifting work. Like many sophisticated compositions,