Post by tango7 on Aug 3, 2015 12:39:05 GMT
Choirs as we know them began in church. Originally, monks sang in unison tunes known as plainchant (or plainsong) to Latin religious texts. Standardised under Pope Gregory (around 500AD), the form became known as "Gregorian Chant". By then, it sounded something like this (the Christmas prayer Viderunt omnes, sung as plainchant by the Benedictine monks of St Martin Abbey, Beuron, Germany):
To vary the monotony of plainchant, composers (often not credited) wrote faster, more interesting melodies above the original line to create polyphony (literally "many sounds"). The choral sound suited the cathedral acoustics: Composers grew in confidence, relinquished plainchant and wrote polyphony, or counterpoint, free of constraints. One part would imitate another, entering in succession to create overlaps. Here, the men of New College Oxford sing the contrapuntal Lamentations of Jeremiah by Thomas Tallis.
"Women should keep silent in churches", Paul is quoted as saying in his Letters to the Corinthians. Having only men’s voices to play with was problematic for composers, who needed singers for the higher parts they were writing. So from the 12th-century, boys (trebles) were trained for the top lines. Men divided into basses (low), tenors (high) and altos (very high) while composers exploited the range with thrilling effect. Here are the boys and men of Christ Church Cathedral Ottawa Choir singing the joyful counterpoint of Orlando Gibbons’s anthem O Clap Your Hands.
Choirs continued to grow in size. Georg Friedrich Händel wrote choral works for the English public, who responded by forming choirs, or choral societies, with hundreds of members. Women were now allowed to participate. Yet, for a long time, no single choir was large enough on its own to perform Mahler’s Symphony of a Thousand (Symphony No. 8). Conductor Gustavo Dudamel looks impressed as he surveys the lineup of Venezuelan choirs before him.
Swing and syncopation emerged in choirs through Gospel music, which came from the same African-American spirit that generated Blues and Jazz. An infectious off-beat rhythm drives the irresistible sway of the London Adventist Chorale’s Jesus is a Rock, while the harmonies have an instinctive, improvised feel.
source www.sinfinimusic.com/
To vary the monotony of plainchant, composers (often not credited) wrote faster, more interesting melodies above the original line to create polyphony (literally "many sounds"). The choral sound suited the cathedral acoustics: Composers grew in confidence, relinquished plainchant and wrote polyphony, or counterpoint, free of constraints. One part would imitate another, entering in succession to create overlaps. Here, the men of New College Oxford sing the contrapuntal Lamentations of Jeremiah by Thomas Tallis.
"Women should keep silent in churches", Paul is quoted as saying in his Letters to the Corinthians. Having only men’s voices to play with was problematic for composers, who needed singers for the higher parts they were writing. So from the 12th-century, boys (trebles) were trained for the top lines. Men divided into basses (low), tenors (high) and altos (very high) while composers exploited the range with thrilling effect. Here are the boys and men of Christ Church Cathedral Ottawa Choir singing the joyful counterpoint of Orlando Gibbons’s anthem O Clap Your Hands.
Choirs continued to grow in size. Georg Friedrich Händel wrote choral works for the English public, who responded by forming choirs, or choral societies, with hundreds of members. Women were now allowed to participate. Yet, for a long time, no single choir was large enough on its own to perform Mahler’s Symphony of a Thousand (Symphony No. 8). Conductor Gustavo Dudamel looks impressed as he surveys the lineup of Venezuelan choirs before him.
Swing and syncopation emerged in choirs through Gospel music, which came from the same African-American spirit that generated Blues and Jazz. An infectious off-beat rhythm drives the irresistible sway of the London Adventist Chorale’s Jesus is a Rock, while the harmonies have an instinctive, improvised feel.
source www.sinfinimusic.com/
