CE Eton Choral Course Wed, 27 August 2014

[Mr Stoat]

Quite right, Miles, 'button' was the term I was failing to find.
It's still prevalent at St John's - does it date back to the G.G. ear?

Very possibly. GG was a great advocate of using dynamics as an integral part of phrasing.

[Wolsey]

Quite right, Miles, 'button' was the term I was failing to find.
It's still prevalent at St John's - does it date back to the G.G. ear?

I think it dates from after his time. I stand to be corrected, but I never heard it being used by him when I was an undergraduate at another college and attended the Chapel for services, nor does it feature on the recordings of the choir under his direction that I've heard.

[decantor]

I think it dates from after his time. I stand to be corrected, but I never heard it being used by him when I was an undergraduate at another college and attended the Chapel for services, nor does it feature on the recordings of the choir under his direction that I've heard.

I have to agree with the above. I too attended both St John's chapel services in the early 1960s and all GG's lectures on choir training, and bought all the choir's LPs of that period. I have no recollection of the 'button' featuring in any of it - it seems too contrived to be part of GG's style. So is the name "Johnian button" a misnomer, or derived from a later era, or possibly based on a different St John's? Newfoundland, perhaps?

[ardcarp]

...or is it what you flush the john with?

[Finzi4ever]

I have to agree with the above. I too attended both St John's chapel services in the early 1960s and all GG's lectures on choir training, and bought all the choir's LPs of that period. I have no recollection of the 'button' featuring in any of it - it seems too contrived to be part of GG's style. So is the name "Johnian button" a misnomer, or derived from a later era, or possibly based on a different St John's? Newfoundland, perhaps?

Perhaps those with a greater familiarity with St G's, Windsor in the 80s will be able to tell us whether the 'button' was a a feature there pre-91, when CR moved to St John's...

[Roger Judd]

Whenever this topic rears its head in this forum, I try to recall whether Christopher Robinson did employ this device when at Windsor. I think he did, but it was only infrequently deployed, and always in pursuit of a valid musical result - he wasn't / isn't capable of doing anything unmusical. Unfortunately I don't have any recordings that could bear this out - the CDs we made for Hyperion didn't require this device.

I have to say that it amuses me quite a bit that this is a cause for heat to rise under collars in some ...!
RJ

[ardcarp]

...agreed; hence my frivolous #19

[DracoM]

And I too remain slightly bemused. As said, it always turns up..............!!