The problems of vocal training in the conditions of modern choral art
Authors: Mykhailets V.V. 
Published: June 2020

Background. The contemporary choral art has accumulated many bright samples, which present various performing directions and genres. Particularly interesting are those that include the traits traditionally not inherent to the choral performance. We will consider some of the requirements for the performance of choral music, put forward by the composers of the twentieth century, in particular, representatives of the new Viennese school and the Italian avant-garde, as well as the performance conditions, which require the tendency to adaptation for the stage of choral works and the improvisational component of musical thinking today. The need for such analysis is connected with vocal-performing training of contemporary choirmasters. The choral collective is a complex musical organism, and its successful work depends not only on the conductor, but also on the performers, therefore, there is a question of improving the complex development of the vocal-technical skills of the choirmaster, taking into account the specifics of his/her future activities. Methods. The scientific and methodological basis of improving the performing skills must be deepened in the issues of the psychology of performance and expanded with the questions of combining the choral performance with theatre. Due to such a methodological basis, it is possible to study extremely complex psychological processes of artistically meaningful vocal intonation, formation, control and implementation of performing skills, peculiarities of the psychological state of the choir performers, etc. The article is based on the analysis of materials on the development of the choral performance in various artistic directions and their synthesis (Kyrylenko, Ya., 2017; Ryzhynsky, A. 2015, 2016; Saponov, M., 1982), as well as the study of psychophysiological regularities of the vocal education in different performance conditions (Lukishko, A. 1984; Morozov, V., 2008, Selezneva, N., 2005). Objectives. The purpose of the article is to consider the performance tasks in the contemporary choral art and to outline the factors that shape the skills for the implementation of these tasks. Results. The analysis of the development of the vocal-choral art proves that vocal-technical means are defined and formed in unity with the performing tasks that characterize certain musical trends, styles or genres. Throughout the 20th century, in the choral art appears the works that became the result of the composers’ search for new versions of the timbre sound. The representatives of the new Viennese school A. Schoenberg and A. Webern were the first to overcome the timbre “conservatism” of the choir. In the choral creative activities by A. Schoenberg, the experiments with the use of timbre can be found. Namely, the use of expressiveness of the unison of the alt and tenor and the falsetto singing of the tenor, which provided for the alignment of the timbre and corrected dynamic misbalance of the artificial ensemble of tenor and soprano. However, the further introduction of falsetto singing was no longer a technical necessity, but became a means of a new expressiveness. The experiments are typical for the choral creativity by A. Webern, where the following two tendencies are clearly distinguished: 1) the jump-like structure of the melody in combination with syllabics; 2) the presence of pauses, which divide the motive into separate intonations. The purpose of the texture transformation was to uncover a fundamentally new sound of the choir, the creation of a new choral timbre. A. Webern achieves the timbre richness through a constant game with various nuances, strokes, and juxtaposition of the singing registers. The Italian composers L. Nono (1924–1990), B. Maderna (1920–1973) and L. Berio (1925–2003) became the followers of Webern’s creative experiments with regard to the organization of sound, the texture of the composition and timbres. In their creative work, they showed the possibility of an organic combination of centuries-old traditions of the vocal art with the latest composition techniques. In the modern choral art, a great interest is paid to theatrical actions during the choral performance. Hence, the new performing tasks rise for both, the conductor and performers of the choir. So, in the dramatized choral performance, a personality of an actor-singer is characterized by a certain complex of skills. The latter include ownership of different types of expressive intonation: vocal intonation, the verbal intonation and the acting intonation or the intonation of the gesture. The choral performer’s instrument is a singing voice. The vocal development of choral singers bases on the objective laws of the singing, the basis for understanding of which is the positions of musical acoustics. The choirmasters need to know, which acoustic patterns influence the formation of the singing voice in the choir, which of its properties develop automatically, and which require special techniques that stimulate an individual development. Another important aspect on which it is necessary to focus attention in the modern vocal education is the improvisational thinking, the ability to creative ingenuity. The tasks of the modern choral art are the preservation, the development, and sometimes the revival of the traditions of improvisational vocal-ensemble music. The solutions of these tasks one should look for in several directions. The first of them is the preservation of the traditions of Western European professional polyphonic (counterpoint) music, which is determined by the highest level of combination of the canonically invariable melody, of the cult or secular, with improvisational melodic decorations. The second is due to the preserving the traditions of collective vocal improvisation in folk singing cultures. The third direction is due to performance tasks, which are provided by the composers’ creativity of contemporary authors. Conclusion. The contemporary choirmaster needs to have a wide range of knowledge in the questions of history and theory of the world music, choral science, vocal pedagogy, acting skills, psychology, without which it is impossible to solve numerous issues that constantly arise in practice. The choirmaster must develop a critical and analytical thinking in him/her, be able to judge right the work of his/her mind and be thoughtful in the actions. The creative approach in work contributes to the flexibility in solving any problems – perhaps, it allows to abandon the usual techniques in work, which at the present moment do not produce the desired results. Practice is the only criterion for the truth of the selected actions.