English.

Every choir needs a leader to inspire, train and direct it. That person needs all kinds of musical, social, and administrative skills, and these are all explored in depth in The Voice for Life Guide to Choir Training. Here is a comprehensive manual dedicated to the theory and practice of choir training, drawn from the collective knowledge and wisdom of seasoned practitioners in the field. Conceived for experienced leaders and novices alike, it systematically addresses the many different aspects of choir training from conducting and rehearsal management to legal, financial, worship and pastoral issues. It offers countless practical strategies that will be of enormous assistance to all choir trainers and directors, whether or not they are running a Voice for Life scheme. Choir training is a challenge and it demands commitment, but it is hugely rewarding. The Voice for Life Guide to Choir Training will equip musicians in this role with all the skills they need to develop their talents – and those of the singers in their care – so that everyone can grow in confidence and skill, give pleasure and enrichment to those who hear them, and help to inspire the worship of the gathered community. From the Table of Contents: Part 1: Face to face with the choir, Introduction, Rehearsal management, Planning, Warm-ups, Developing technique, Developing musicianship, Working on repertoire Part 2: Behind the scenes, Introduction, The purpose of the choir, Setting up a choir, Recruiting and retaining singers, Jobs within the choir, Choir in context, Legal and administrative matters, Financial matters, Health and safety, Safeguarding  Part 3: The choir in public, Introduction, The choir in worship, The content of church services, Different types of church music, Preparing worship music with the choir, Hymns, Worship songs, Anthems, Settings of the Mass, Singing the psalms, Chant from the Taizé tradition, World music, Improving congregational singing, The choir in performance, Repertoire selection, Copyright and licensing, Arranging and composing for choir  Part 4: You as a choir trainer, Introduction, Managing your time, Understanding people, Leadership skills, Communication skills  Part 5: The choir trainer’s toolkit, Introduction, Some thoughts about music literacy, Conducting skills, Positioning the choir, Keeping it all together, Focus the choir!, Energize the choir!, Working with young singers, Changing and developing voices, Voice change in older singers, Falsetto, Vibrato, The individual voice and its registers, Getting a good sound: intonation, Getting a good sound: blending, Troubleshooting, Music reference, Photocopiable resources, Voice for Life publications and resources, Other RSCM publications and resources, Index.

SKU: PR.11441345S

UPC: 680160608829. 8.5 x 11 inches.

BACH-SHARDS was commissioned by the Brentano String Quartet as part of their Art of the Fugue companion-piece project. Ran deliberately stays within the realm of Bach-like vocabulary, altering syntax in ways that add up to something slightly different from the anticipated sum of the parts. The work builds up to a climax that makes the entry point into Bach’s Contrapunctus X seem thoroughly natural.
While composing Bach-Shards I found myself gravitating, intuitively and gradually, toward a dual goal.  First, though the tension and dissonance inherent in certain moments of Bach’s own maze-like  contrapuntal structures could quite easily and naturally lead one into a pungent contemporary terrain, I opted not to stray outside the realm of Bach-like materials and harmonic language.  Instead, it was my hope to alter their relationships and context in ways that add up to a something that’s slightly different than the anticipated sum of the parts.  A mildly deconstructed Bach, if you will.  The other important challenge I set for myself was building up the latter, toccata-like portion of Bach-Shards in a way that would make the entry point of the fugue which it precedes, Contrapunctus X, seem thoroughly natural.  It was my intent to have the first fugal entrance feel like a huge and much welcome release of the energy created by my Prelude’s penultimate stretch, with its bravura figurations elaborating on an insistent dominant pedal point.