Choral music for Children - The Choir - Sun 12th

[ardcarp]

Choral conductor Susan Hollingworth explores choral music for children's voices.

[ardcarp]

Reminder....today at 5pm

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I look forward to this.

[ardcarp]

A few thoughts about this edition:

Good to hear about the Scottish youth choir prgramme...almost a sistema.

Enjoyed the Tapiola youth choir best, followed by National Youth Choir of Scotland girls.

Most UK kids' choirs featured did not do high notes very comfortably.

Playing the entire Rutter Mass of Children (which is mainly for orchestra, adult SATB choir and professional soloists) took up far too much of the programme. IMO the time would have been better spent hearing a much wider selection of children's choirs.

Ms Hollingworth's presentation style was a bit cringe-worthy....sorry! I'm sure she's a dynamo in front of her own choir.

The final Canadian piece was fun.

[Simon]

IMO, largely a wasted opportunity, sadly.

[DracoM]

The Rutter choice was bizarre, totally bizarre for all the reasons ardcarp gives.

When you consider what riches there are in this genre, to include a long piece with very little in it for children to sing, where the dominant elements are orchestral and an adult choir struck me as inexplicable. And if any kids I know had been there they'd have been fidgeting to get out after ten minutes. Rutter seems not to know where to put the final full stop. Oh dear.

Like ardcarp, I very much liked that jolly Canadian piece - tricky, but also entertaining.

[Wolsey]

The Rutter choice was bizarre, totally bizarre for all the reasons ardcarp gives.

When you consider what riches there are in this genre, to include a long piece with very little in it for children to sing, where the dominant elements are orchestral and an adult choir struck me as inexplicable. And if any kids I know had been there they'd have been fidgeting to get out after ten minutes. Rutter seems not to know where to put the final full stop. Oh dear.

More gratuitous Rutter-bashing.

The reason for the inclusion of Mass of the Children was explained beforehand, and as Rutter himself has said elsewhere about it, "I had always wanted to write a work combining children’s choir with adult performers, not only because I find the sound of children’s voices irresistible but also because I wanted to repay a debt. As a boy soprano in my school choir I had been thrilled whenever our choir took part in adult works with children’s choir parts, such as the Mahler Third Symphony and the Britten War Requiem, and years later I remembered this experience and wanted to write something that would give children a similar opportunity to perform alongside adult professionals." If one is to criticise Rutter for writing a "long" piece with "very little" for the children to sing, then the criticism should also be levelled at Mahler and Britten as well, and one could then have a go at Mathias (Lux Aeterna and This Worldes Joie), Orff (Carmina Burana), Brian ('Gothic' Symphony) and, of course, J S Bach (St Matthew Passion) et al.

[Simon]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnRX6_Txpaw

- one of the most effective ever uses of kids in song.

We did it some time ago with a school. They absolutely loved it. I can well understand JR's delight at kids' voices. Very different from the trained sound of a cathedral choir, but equally moving in its own way, for me.

[Sir Velo]

If one is to criticise Rutter for writing a "long" piece with "very little" for the children to sing, then the criticism should also be levelled at Mahler and Britten as well, and one could then have a go at Mathias (Lux Aeterna and This Worldes Joie), Orff (Carmina Burana), Brian ('Gothic' Symphony) and, of course, J S Bach (St Matthew Passion) et al.

Except that the Rutter is entitled "Mass of the Children", while the other pieces were not primarily written for young voices, as both their titles and evident subject matter make clear.

[ardcarp]

Er....

Well, anyway, I am certainly not a Rutter-blaster, and my criticism of the playing of the whole of his Mass of the Children was in no way a criticism of the piece. Surely it is perfectly reasonable to suggest that more children's choirs, more pieces and a wider diversity of children singing could have been included had that work not been played in its entirety; a work which included in large part adult soloists, adult singers and an adult orchestra? IMHV it was poor judgement by the producers of the programme.

[DracoM]

Endorsed 100%.

Rutter is Rutter: BUT what was being questioned by ardcarp was the choice of THAT piece for THIS programme. Slightly smacked of 'helpful' but perhaps misguided producer 'researching' and putting 2 [Rutter-tick] with from the online BBC Gram Lib File the title Mass for Children [tick -2] and getting 5, as producer etc did not actually know that the Rutter Mass for Children was as ardcarp pointed out and not quite what it said on the tin. Hmm.

[Gabriel Jackson]

It's possible that this programme was put together in a different way but, certainly, when I presented The Choir a couple of weeks ago, the script was written by me, all the music was chosen by me, and the recordings were supplied by me (as they were, mostly, not easily available here). The running order was the producer's, and one piece I had proposed for inclusion was left out, as we had too much music; it was agreed by myself and the producer which one that would be.

[ardcarp]

It's good to know that the guest presenters are in the driving seat! Look forward to Nigel Short's programme about doing Russian choral music next week.

[Wolsey]

...did not actually know that the Rutter Mass for Children was as ardcarp pointed out and not quite what it said on the tin. Hmm.

The work is entitled Mass of the Children.