Ashland tidings. [volume] (Ashland, Or.) 1876-1919, 1912-10-14
THE CHURCH CHOIR
Timely Hints 20 Ashland Choir Lead
ers On How to Train and
Maintain One.
(By Henry C. Gilmore.)

/ ganiZation, in the best OF temper,
sent their skillful, but somewhat
lethargic, leader, on the eve of his
conducting THE Messiah" the short
but incisive. missive, Handel with
care" they placed themselves on
record as recognizing a qualification
absolutely essential to the successful
W Gliding of the baton. Skill, tact,
a serene disposition and a determin-
alton to compel success in the face
of even almost insuperable difficult
ties are the prime requisites of a
choir leader who would "feign see
long days.
Like good accompanies, inspiring
directors are born, not made, (which
accounts readily enough for tangible
results achieved by one individual
as against another more highly gift
ed, but who, from lack of this ma
tive leadership, grievously fails to
meet expectations.
A singer joins a choir for one of
two reasons: either for pay in pro-
fessional sense, or as a volunteer in
tent upon enjoying good music and,
at the same time, lend a helping
hand to the church to which he owes
affiliation.
The quartet choir is essentially an
: nf
uncertainty which finds the singer
located one day in Maine and, few
days later perhaps in some town on
our Pacific coast country. AS oul
country grows older and more staid
= in the social relations of life, the
: quartet is not likely to remain the
dominant factor it has been in th'
I past indeed, already the chorus
choir of mixed or boys and men,
( voices is beginning to supplant it
< A marked change, too, has come owe
the spirit of our musical dreams, S,
that, instead of the enervating con
= coctions that have done duty so lon
= in the past, music of an ennoblin
character is fast asserting it's swa
in our churches. To sing the musi
O of when the Sparrows Homewar
Fly" to Jesus, Lover of My Soul,
Drink to Me Only With Thin
Eyes" to "Oh! for a closer Wal
If With Cod" and to perpetrate othe
k like atrocities, can no longer be don
% with impunity
4, To come now directly to the pu
re pose of this article, viz, the 'traiI
le ing and maintaining of at churc
a. choir" two conditions will have
al be assumed in furnishing data illu
ir trative of actual choir work: Firs
en- the existence of volunteer choir
ne thirty mixed voices, supplemented
az a professional quartet; second,
e. vested choir of boys and mer
We voices with little or no profession
ID. assistance.
Dealing briefly with this first co
en- sets out to secure resonant voic
ng where time, tune and a good emu
rim citation are positive factors to wo
ID upon. and the certainty that SON
he thing more than passing intert
nd will be manifested by the singer
ey the drill necessary to a good pt
ew formance. Conceding the quartet
ne be up to date in it's acquiremen
the drill master ought to be at lib,
ay ty to devote the major portion of
a time to his chorus, explaining t
zen ins and outs of good ensemble sir
lev ing, seeing that the voices are pre-
nm erly used in regard to breathing, t
ne emission of tone, attack, and ma
,rs plain the fact that enunciation a
fic pronunciation are qualities that c
M by no means be ignored 1t is W
he that the choirmaster drill the siI
ng ers of the respective parts by the
,ek selves before uniting the ent
body; and it may be set down as
.le- unbending rule that under no {
avs cumstance should a choir atten
of music beyond it's capacity or app'
before a congregation when, inste
of finished service, the perfor
,,o ance smacks too suggestively of
.ro ing a choir rehearsal and moth
more.
The second condition assumed
the purpose of illustration is that
boys and mems choir of, say, TO
no voices. Boys voices require diff
w. ent handling from those of won
The boys voice to become mel
and sympathetic and to have
ooc proper carrying power needs to b
eOc head tone trained downward, so
4Oc speak, with an open throat deliv
hc that shuts off all the shrillness
&c harshness supposed to be the spe
~ Inheritance of the "cherub of
&c temple" Through the kindness
&c Sir Frederic Bridge and Sir Geo
&c Martin, the writer not long since