At 7:11 PM -0700 5/6/07, Mark D Lew wrote:
Whether singing solo or chorus, the same artistic decisions are there to be made. The only difference is who is the artist making the decision? With a chorus you'll typically have a choral director. He or she will make the decision and pass on instruction to the singers accordingly. With a small ensemble you might not have a leader, but you still make decisions by consensus.
Absolutely. That's exactly how it works.
In situations like the ones we were discussing, even if the music is for chorus, why not leave the decision of whether to sing "fye-er" or "fah-ayre" to the chorus director?
Because as the composer or arranger, I have an interest in the performance that's co-equal to those of the conductor or singers. I know they can and will overrule me if they want to, but I owe it to them to express my preferences if I have preferences, whether it's providing an mm or indicating where a cutoff should come. It's part of my job.
If your argument is that a composer/editor needs to be more explicit about interpretation when writing for a chorus than when writing for a soloist, I think we disagree.
When it's a question of ensemble stylization, perhaps we do disagree. If there's one principle I think most on this list agree on, it's that unless an aleatoric approach is part of the concept, the notation should be as exact and unambiguous as possible. In the case of group stylization, failure to provide guidance WILL result in an aleatoric performance!!!! Less so, of course, if the ensemble is used to working in a single style, but most vocal ensembles work in a variety of styles.
John -- John & Susie Howell Virginia Tech Department of Music Blacksburg, Virginia, U.S.A 24061-0240 Vox (540) 231-8411 Fax (540) 231-5034 (mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]) http://www.music.vt.edu/faculty/howell/howell.html _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list [email protected] http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
