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Now the rewarding fun begins, singers!
We've spent weeks baking the cake, and now we will begin adding the frosting. Well, I'd better not carry that analogy too far, because in some instances the cake needs a little more time in the oven, but we'll be fixing those places as we proceed with the glory of bringing musicality to this beautiful work: that's the frosting.
A reminder: Musicianship consists of everything in the music that can be measured: intervals (that's the distance between notes), rhythm, tempo, language, pitch accuracy, and diction (that's pronunciation, which every choir struggles with and which must be unified).
The end product of all of this attention can and should result in taking the big step up to another level. How sad that in some cases choirs don't have the time or inclination to use Musicianship's accomplishments to rise to that next step of Musicality, the end product that results in communication to singers and audiences! In a truly musical performance, the text really rules, and all the dynamics come from that concept. Lacking that, the performance cannot communicate to and move the audience.
We've been working toward that step. We'll examine what Dvorak himself does with the text. The choices that every composer makes with dynamics, shaping, even silences within a given passage are entirely individual! That's the reason there can be so many settings of sacred (and also secular) texts, and the reason why it's so fascinating to compare them. And it's not just the personal nature of each composer that contributes to the differences. It can be national: one of my favorite settings of the Stabat Mater is by the French composer Poulenc. His setting is mystical, and for whatever reason the natural rhythmic sense of the text takes a back seat, but it's ravishingly effective in its communication. The listener knows at once that Poulenc isn't German, or Czech, or American.
So now we embark on an examination of Dvorak's own use of these powerful words. We know that he wrote out of grief at the loss of three of his children in infancy, so that's a start: he is personally involved.
Next Tuesday, I'd like to focus on the first and last movements, comparing them while cleaning up certain places in these long movements. And as a practical consideration, we need to gain total strength and confidence in the fast portion of the final movement, just when you'll be tempted to be exhausted! That kind of stamina can only be acquired with repetition: runners don't just step onto the track for a marathon without rigorous preparation. (For specifics about that process, ask Shelley Uselman in the back row of the alto section.)
Please stay healthy as our weird weather continues.
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