From Byrd to Britten: Special Summer Study Opportunity

From Dr Sharon Paul, a wonderful conductor at the University of Oregon:

[Please consider] ..." an extraordinary opportunity to study choral music in London this summer. I will be teaching a course called “From Byrd to Britten: A Survey of British Choral Music” from July 24 to August 14. This is available to graduate and undergraduate students from any college throughout the country [may also be open to auditors?- P.C.]. Every subject we study will be enhanced with excursions to relevant historic sites and attendance at concerts. Imagine singing madrigals in a preserved Tudor home, visiting Handel’s house, studying Evensong music and then attending a service at Westminster Abbey or Kings College Cambridge, or attending Britten centenary concerts at the BBC Proms!"

You can find more information from AHA International at http://www.ahastudyabroad.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=505&Itemid=1267,  or you are welcome to e-mail Sharon (sjpaul@uoregon.edu) for further information.

At the Proms!

Sharon has also given me the syllabus for the course, read below after the overview- it's great stuff plus there are plenty of tour activities as well- you won't just be stuck in a classroom studying John Blow!

Choral Music

LONDON PROGRAM OVERVIEW

Professor Sharon J. Paul is Director of Choral Activities and Chair of Vocal and Choral Studies at the University of Oregon. She will lead this inspiring three-week program exploring the rich history of English choral music. The course will consist of weekday class meetings, daytime and evening concert attendances, and excursions to relevant historic sites throughout London. We shall travel outside London to the historic cities of Lincoln and Gloucester, each associated with the glories of the English choral past.

This course is open to all students with a minimum sophomore standing, and ideal for undergraduate and graduate music students. The seminar will include lectures, class discussions, listening assignments, singing, journal writing, attendance at concerts, and frequent excursions.

Dr. Sharon Paul

 TITLE: From Byrd to Britten: A Survey of British Choral Music

Instructor: Sharon J. Paul

Contact Hours: 48 hours in class, plus excursions/concerts

Language of Instruction: English

SITE CITY, SITE COUNTRY: London, England

COURSE DESCRIPTION

London provides the backdrop for a survey course exploring highlights from Britain’s rich history of music for choir. From the 16^th-century English madrigal through Benjamin Britten’s brilliant contributions to the choral canon, students will explore British choral music through listening, lecture, singing, concert attendance, and excursions to relevant historic sites.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

By the end of the seminar, students will have increased their knowledge of British choral music, and possess an appreciation for the wealth of British choral repertoire available for future study.

INSTRUCTIONAL METHODOLOGY

Lecture; discussion; student presentations and projects; listening assignments; student written reflections; concert attendance; excursions to relevant historic sites

METHOD OF EVALUATION (GRADING)

Students will be graded in the following areas:

Written assignments: 30%

Presentation: 15%

Projects: 25%

Final exam: 20%

Class participation: 10%

Graduate students enrolled in MUS 688 must complete two additional writing assignments.

COURSE OUTLINE

Unit 1: The English Madrigal

Having been familiar with the Italian madrigal from publications and manuscripts, as well as from traveling musicians, the English interest in the genre expanded after two important publications. In 1588 Nicholas Yonge published a collection of Italian madrigals translated into English (Musica Transalpina), and in 1590 Thomas Watson published, Italian Madrigals Englished, which featured translations of Marenzio madrigals. In this course we will trace the birth of the English madrigal, from its Italian inspirations to its mature English style, studying major madrigalists such as Weelkes, Wilbye, and Morley, while also exploring lesser-known madrigal composers. Students will study the English madrigal through singing, viewing partbooks and manuscripts, studying iconography, and visiting extant Tudor sites.

Unit 2: William Byrd & Thomas Tallis: Music and Politics

William Byrd and Thomas Tallis flourished as musicians during turbulent religious changes in England; both composers created music for the Catholic Church as well as for the Anglican Service. Students will be able to visit sites where Byrd and Tallis worked, such as the cathedral in Lincoln where Byrd served as organist and Master of the Choristers, and St. Mary-at-Hill in London, where Tallis served as organist and singer. In addition we will visit venues key to the musical and political shifts that took place in England late in the 16^th century.

Unit 3: Highlights of the Baroque Era: Purcell & Handel

The Baroque era in England produced a considerable number of choral masterpieces. Our survey will feature two composers’ contributions to the English choral canon: Henry Purcell and George Frideric Handel.

Considered a musical prodigy, Purcell began tuning the organ at Westminster Abbey when he was only fifteen years old, and he became one of the organists at age twenty. A prolific composer who died in his thirties, our survey will focus on Purcell’s anthems, motets, and odes.

Handel spent a considerable amount of his career in London. The class will visit his former home (now the Handel House Museum), along with the Foundling Museum, originally a home for abandoned children founded in the 18^th century. Handel served as a Governor and benefactor for the Foundling Hospital, which is now home to the Gerald Coke Handel Collection. We will explore the British Library’s collection of music by both Purcell and Handel.

Unit 4: English Service Music

Music composed for the Anglican Church Service has become an integral part of choral repertoire. Our seminar will explore music composed for Matins and Evensong, Holy Communion, and the Burial Service, from composers such as Purcell, Tomkins, Byrd, Stanford and Howells. We will have the opportunity to attend services at Westminster Abbey in London and King’s College in Cambridge.

Unit 5: Celebrating Benjamin Britten’s Centenary

The year 2013 marks the one-hundredth anniversary of Benjamin Britten’s birth – what an extraordinary time to be in London! Our class will attend numerous concerts of Britten’s music, exploring repertoire ranging from chamber music to large-scale masterpieces.

Another guest blog by composer Reg Unterseher from NW ACDA

More from Reg Unterseher reporting from the NW ACDA Conference in Seattle

Please visit Reg's website at www.reginaldunterseher.com

Reg says:

I am reminded that when the level of performance at these events overall is high, my tolerance for performances that are merely good is quite low. I am not alone in that respect. I am a little disappointed in myself for that. But only a little. My ears are full! I am not going to be able to get to all the concerts tomorrow, even though they all look like they would be worth going to.

I got to the first concert session late, just in time to sort of hear (from outside the door) Carol Stenson’s South Salem High School choir sing your "Mashed Potato/Love Poem". The audience was clearly getting it, and loved the choir. Also in the same concert session was a well-programmed, beautifully sung set by the Western Washington University’s Advanced Women’s Chorale with Tim Fitzpatrick. Of particular note was the Magnificat by Christina Donkin. It was sung in a circle, with 4 singers in the middle, with their backs to each other. The quartet sang with remarkable expressive and tonal unity, all without being able to see each other, and without a conductor. They were deeply musically connected, listening in an absolutely focused way that was riveting. Also, the standing in the round truly produced a particular color and depth to the sound that was remarkable.

The afternoon concert session started with the Alla Breve Women’s Chorus with Marcia Patton, made of mostly alums and mothers of the Casper Children’s Chorale. I love it when people make that connection to singing for their whole lives! Community choruses sometimes don’t fare so well at these events, and come up with programs that are outside their strengths, but these women were spot on. They used music for some pieces, had the courage to sing from memory on some, and even used the folders in a creative way for some stage business.

The other standout was Sharon Paul’s University of Oregon Chamber Choir. The first thing that struck me was the healthy, clear, focused sound, the kind of singing that makes you sit back and be willing to be taken wherever they want to go. It was also another wonderful example of good programming, pieces that treated us as a normal audience, not people they had to impress somehow. They gave terrific readings of your "My Friend Elijah" and "Vending Machine" from "Play with your Food!", with just the right amount of physical movement. When they sang the Stanford “The Blue Bird,” I was absolutely transported.

The evening concert started with what may turn out to be the highlight of the whole series for me, a performance of “Canticum Calamitatis Maritimae” by Mäntyjärvi, by The Phoenix Chorale with Charles Bruffy. It is a deeply moving work, and I found myself completely wrapped up in the music itself. Not until it was over did I even begin to think about what a gorgeous choral sound, full range of colors, perfect tuning, and amazing balance it was that took me there. When the Soweto Gospel Choir came on, it was the perfect counterpoint to the Pärt, Whitacre, Gjeilo, and Lauridsen the Phoenix Chorale had sung. The singing, dancing and drumming were such a complete unit, and so full of joy and life. They did not need the over-driven amplification, which muddied things up a bit. Even so, the audience absolutely ate it up.

I am going to miss the concerts today, unfortunately, and I am sure there will be something I really should have heard. I got to hear some of the High School Men’s Honor Choir rehearsal led by Timothy Peter, and those young men sounded fantastic.

My suggestion for the next conference is to hire a whole bunch of massage therapists. If people visit enough booths in the exhibits, they get a free massage in a room with no music or sounds at all. My version of that was to go to World Spice Merchants down by Pike Street Market. Going in there and just breathing in and out gave some other senses the opportunity to balance out the aural overload that this many concerts builds up in my brain. I wish we could decree that there be no music in the lobbies and restaurants and elevators of the convention hotels while we are there, we need the break!

-- Reg Unterseher