Tag: Classical Music

The Difference Between Timely and Timeless Music

THE TIMELY AND THE TIMELESS

The voice of the high school junior was a bit hesitant as he offered his question during a Q&A that followed a talk I had given to a his choir at the end of a workshop: “Why is it that you [choral leaders] call some music “worthwhile” and other music “something less.” After all, isn’t Bach and Beethoven just the Bruno Mars and Taylor Swift of another time?”

This is a question that is often heard.  Indeed, the peddlers of commercial church music would be quick to say that a contemporary religious music song-spinner with big hair is the 21st century version of Martin Luther or Charles Wesley.

Of course, we know that today’s pop artists are not Beethoven and Bach, just as we know that someone selling a paint-by-numbers canvas out of the trunk of a car parked along a highway is not Monet or Rembrandt.  It may be hard to articulate how we distinguish greatness from the ordinary but, if we are honest with ourselves, we have a sense of it when we hear it.

There is music that is timely and there is music that is timeless.  Both have a legitimate place in our expressive lives.

I would bet many lovers of great choral music would be surprised to look at the playlists on the cell phones of America’s most well-known and respected choral leaders.  Most certainly there would be thousands of recordings by the great choral ensembles of the past half-century, from the Robert Shaw Chorale to Trinity College Cambridge to Chanticleer and many others.  There would also be music of a more timely fashion, perhaps Johnny Cash, perhaps Queen, perhaps Gladys Knight, and possibly even Bruno Mars or Taylor Swift.  Music that is timely has its place.  Timely music can comfortably sit in the background.  It can offer atmosphere for warm or nostalgic feelings, even inspiring a spirit of romance at the right occasions.

Great music, or what we might call “classical” music cannot sit in the background.  Its richness and urgency calls for our full attention.  Whether it be the creations of the great European masters, or authentic renderings of folks music from across the globe, or the spirituals of those who fought oppression of the body and the spirit, great music distinguishes itself in unmistakable ways.  We have a sense of it when we hear it.

The first distinguishing characteristic that comes to mind is craftsmanship.  Great music is distinguished by the quality of its construction.  It has been said that Handel was such a genius at musical craftsmanship that he could receive an order for a work on a certain theme for a certain array of instruments to last a specific amount of time, and that he could fill the order perfectly with a work glorious and inspiring.

Great music is also marked by its integrity.  There is an honesty and a reality to it, an avoidance of contriving, in words and sounds, something unique or something said uniquely.

Great music conveys a spirit of inspiration.  Inspiration may certainly evoke a religious response, but it may also inspire any area of contemplation, be that human relationships or self-reflection.

Great music is beautiful.  What would be considered beautiful in sound will certainly vary from culture to culture, but within each is a standard of melodic and harmonic interest that delights the aesthetic of the ear.

Lastly, and most importantly, great music is timeless.  It has passed, or has the power to pass, the test of time.  The symphonies of Beethoven have been enjoyed for 200 years or more, the Masses of Palestrina for twice that long.  This music will still be enjoyed many hundreds of years from now.  Indeed, one could study the scores and listen to recordings of the Brahms Ein deutsches Requiem or the Beethoven Missa Solemnis every single day for the rest of one’s life and discover new treasures with every encounter.

Timely music certainly has its place.  It can bring a welcome distraction to a busy or stressful day.  It can help anchor a joyful memory, or assuage a time of sadness.  Timeless music, on the other hand, has the power to change lives and destinies.  When it passes through the heart, soul, and mind of the performer and the hearer, it changes those lives forever.

William O. Baker, DMA

Founder and Director, The William Baker Choral Foundation

References:

Image found online:

https://www.google.com/search?newwindow=1&safe=active&biw=1280&bih=610&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=27ZPXJm3HMvOjwTYv4OgAg&q=classical+music&oq=classical+music&gs_l=img.3..0j0i67j0l8.1735.3465..4968…0.0..0.100.668.10j1……1….1..gws-wiz-img…….0i8i30j0i24j0i10i24.A13fuZfIZ_g#imgrc=UZQMmVIIzqbAoM:

 

 

 

 

Showing Students How Classical Music is Relevant to Their Lives ~

When our students hear the words MUSIC APPRECIATION they most likely think “what a snore”. They most often will think this means listening to a lot of lectures and a lot of music they have never heard or will hear again. After all, who wants to sit and listen to someone talk about music of dead composers? Of course, as teachers we believe that just as current events are relevant to us so is the past as it has been part of the evolution that has made us who we are.

Sometimes, we are so busy preparing for the next performance and competition, we forget to talk about the global musical journey. Every great creator of music has studied the creators that lived before them and have been influenced by them in one way or another whether we believe that or not.

Have you thought of sharing an entire Beethoven symphony with your class lately? Why not? Would it require too much preparation time? Is there no room in the schedule? Might the students find it boring? The fine art of listening must be encouraged and cultivated as it’s an important element to our mental and spiritual growth. It’s critical that we help our musicians know how to articulate how the music makes them feel and why. After this, you may find that some of your students will experience classical music in a way they never have and some may be inspired to know more.

You can download entire symphonies from online sources like imslp.org It is worth the time and money to print an orchestral score to share with each of them. After all, it may be the only orchestral score they ever see. It may also be the first in a long line of scores because you have inspired them. All kinds of mental floss can be exercised: really hear the music, conduct a search for which instruments have the primary theme, find where the sudden shifts in harmonic structure and tempo occur. What is the image you have in your mind when you hear this music? How does it make you feel?

Did you know the following scores can be found on imslp.org and downloaded for free?

With score in hand or projected, you can study the overture to Beethoven’s only opera Fidelio. This can also be re-enacted in the classroom or viewed on YouTube. Your class will love it! Even though this opera has been around for a couple of hundred years, your students will find the story line relevant to their life. Since human behavior hasn’t changed much over the course of time, they may well find this story quite amusing while experiencing the exuberant, extreme writing that Beethoven gave us.

Fidelio: 7:05 https://youtu.be/YI-CF_rOApI

There are countless free scores to download from IMSLP.org including:

Mozart Symphony No. 44

Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1

Ives Symphony No. 2

After this great experience, I’m sure your young but mature musicians will want to know more about Beethoven and the other great composers that have contributed to our global musical heritage over the course of time changing all our lives without even realizing it.

The American “R” and the Chinese “R”

I am privileged to be appointed as the Assistant Director of the Zhuhai Classical Children’s Choir in Zhuhai, China. It is a chorus under the Webb-Mitchell Centre for Choral Studies. The children are taught Western world classical music in the British Choral Tradition.

I have had initial rehearsals with all of the children’s ensembles in the short week I have been working with the Zhuhai Classical Children’s Choir.  There is also a beginner women’s chorus and an intermediate women’s chorus. The children are eager to learn and therefore learn very quickly. Chinese families are motivated to give their children every possible educational opportunity available in order to advance themselves. Expectations to succeed in areas that will help them operate on a global level is very high. The work ethic is very strong. Higher education is revered and sought after. They are a very competitive people. In essence, they strive to excel in all that they do.

Regarding observations I have made, in my first rehearsals, on the impact of language and singing Western-world classical music –

Mandarin has few words that end in consonants. Generally, the words are one syllable. Vocal inflection is not part of the phrasing. Consonants used at the ends words include n, ng, or er.

Tones are used to differentiate word units even though the spelling is the same. The first tone is the same pitch throughout the pronunciation. It’s pitch is also high. The second tone starts mid-range and rises. The third tone starts mid-low and falls then rises again. The fourth tone starts high and quickly falls. Occasionally, there are unstressed syllables that possess a neutral tone. The use of these tones can be very nuanced and therefore sometimes difficult to identify especially in the flow of a sentence.

If you know me at all,  I am constantly talk about nuance and the difference this makes in music coming alive or leaving one empty. Anyone can sing the notes, but how they sing the notes breathes life into the phrase.

Every dialect and every language has its difficulties when producing a unified choral sound according to Western-world standards. The r sound creates the most problem for, as we like to say, corrupting the pitch. There are so many colors and variations of the pitch when an r is present. We teach our choirs to default to the ah sound if in the middle of the word or to flip the r replacing it with the letter d.

In Mandarin, the use of the er allows for variation of pitch and what can sound like a glissando or intentional bending of the pitch. The use of the Chinese er can create extreme intonation problems and lingering tones.

The use of the er also creates tension in the jaw and teeth. It can handicap the resonators. To cleanse the young singers of the use of this harsh default (certainly where Western-world classical music is concerned) we have included exercises that encourage the lifting of the soft palate and zygomatic arch muscles. I have added kinosthetic actions that have positively and almost immediately resolved the issue. These don’t require explanation, just modeling.  The children copy perfectly.

These exercises include stretching and yawning. Yes, stretching, yawning and sighing are universal. Using the thumb and index finger to draw the sound up from the cheeks to above the head has also been a good remedy. Explaining that the vowel must be reinforced on successive notes and not produced by using articulators has been a great revelation. Even though these singers may need to be reminded about these issues, they quickly fix them when asked.