Choral conducting for Dummies: Renaissance and Baroque Conducting Technique

Choral Conducting for Dummies:

Basics Principles of Renaissance and Baroque Conducting Technique for Beginning Conductors

Forrest Glass M.M., Choral Conducting Temple University

Introduction

Those who wish to be good conductors must be great stewards of the music that they guide their ensembles through. A great steward will know the music intimately, of course, but he or she must also understand the music’s place in history and its context.

This will most often inform how the music is interpreted and conversely, what the conductor show his or her ensemble from the podium. Sure, one can have good basic technique and beat patterns for their musicians, but a conductor worth their salt will bring so much more to the table. For this project, I will focus on the periods of the Renaissance and the Baroque. It is my hope that after briefly surveying the history and conventions for each of these eras, the conductor will have a better idea of how to proceed with their score study and interpretation of the music. While this will by no means be a comprehensive study in performance practice, it should serve as a springboard for further scholarship. Many of the ideas suggested here will come from the research of Dennis Shrock, a major historian in musicology and performance practice, and also an esteemed choral conductor. Additionally consulted was an article published by Chorus America written by Daniel Abraham and James John on Baroque and Renaissance Choral Conducting Technique.

Renaissance

The Renaissance in choral music began as a very smooth transition out of the Medieval style. Sacred music still dominated the choral scene (Gregorian chant, formes fixes, cantus firmuses, etc.) but notation began to change, and we started to see more standard SATB scoring, motives that were dispersed throughout all the voice parts, not just the soprano, and music that started to text paint just a bit more. This is while, of course, still following the very strict rules of counterpoint mastered by the likes of di Lasso and Palestrina. Much Renaissance choral music was highly homophonic and was set to match the text. Short musical motifs and varied rhythms outlined each new section. This fascination with text was by no means an accident, and it later continued on into the Baroque era, where text came to dominate over prima prattica, or the strict rules of counterpoint. The Council of Trent in the mid-­‐1500s led by Pope Paul III wanted music in the church service to really accentuate the text and make meanings clear for attendees. While most Renaissance music was meant to be performed a cappella, there was often organ accompaniment played colla parte. Additional instruments could be used as well, but again it was almost always colla parte.

Here are a couple of basic considerations when preparing Renaissance music:

• Tactus o Much music was written in time signatures that generally reflected how fast the composer intended it to be sung/played.

Meters with larger beat divisions (i.e. 3/2) were meant to be played slower, while 3/8 would typically be interpreted as faster. o It is important to remain in the pattern that you begin the piece in and allow the tactus to remain constant. This allows the players to really feel the syncopations more. Example given: Byrd, Ave Verum Corpus

• Suspensions o The crux of choral Renaissance music is in the suspensions that often lead to quite satisfying cadences. The trick to conducting this is to isolate the suspensions early and cue into that voice part and show a messa di voce, or a gradual crescendo-­‐decrescendo as it ‘rubs’ with another voice part or parts.

• Example Given: Byrd, Ave Verum Corpus

• The time signature indicates common time, which was usually suggestive of a more regular tempo (i.e., Andante). The lengths of the first few notes further reinforce this idea. Whole notes and half notes suggest that we should not be moving too quickly.

• The conductor would need to be with the sopranos at the beginning of the 3rd bar and lead them through the suspension to the D major chord followed by the perfect cadence, and show a messa

di voce, so that dissonance on the downbeat is brought out. All of these instances (or at least as many as possible should be carefully notated by the conductor.)

Notice the bass line and its function. It is crafted very linearly and is almost just as much of a melody as the soprano line.

• At pickup to measure 16, many editors will change the meter to a triple meter, with the half notes falling on beat 1. This change violates the rule of the tactus mentioned earlier. We must stay in our common time, so that the syncopations feel more satisfying and commensurate with the era.

Baroque

The Baroque is usually assigned the dates 1600-­‐1750, as these almost perfectly line up with both the birth of opera and Bach’s death year. Other noted composers during this time were Vivaldi, Buxtehude, Schutz, Purcell and many others. King Louis XIV was one of the prominent figures of the Baroque period and had a major influence on the culture of the era. The idea of absolutism was the main way of thinking during this time, and it prioritized God, Country, and then King and the main places in which to put your devotion and loyalty. Choral music continued to be heavily influenced by the church, but secular vocal music emerged as well, the biggest example being the opera.

Choral music also followed along in this operatic suit, with the emergence of the oratorio. Although it was not staged, the oratorio was often quite dramatic in nature.

In terms of musical style, Baroque music still made frequent use of counterpoint, but the text was made superior to the music, or in the other words, the music was meant to serve the text. The Doctrine of Affections and the Florentine Camerata both held a lot of sway over the compositional techniques of the day. The Doctrine of Affections stated that music had the power to influence emotions, with composers using certain keys and modes to affect different moods within a person. The Florentine Camerata was a group of artists, patrons, and scholars that wanted to get back to the idea of the Greek tradgedy and these dramatic

elements within the music. Developing single themes throughout different movements became common, whereas in the Renaissance each section of text used its own theme and there were many throughout a single piece. Now that we have some historical context, let’s look at some technical considerations.

• Continuo o The continuo plays a major role in Baroque music. Where as the bass line in Renaissance music was written linearly and melodically, the continuo serves almost purely a harmonic purpose. (figured bass, pedal tones, etc.)

• Stress o In Renaissance music, beat 1 was usually most important, but it could vary from meter to meter. o Baroque music, beat 1 is always most important (unless in a dance form like the sarabande which emphasizes beat 2). For choral music purposes, most phrases will lead to beat 1. If there are 4 beats, beat 3 will be important as well, but still not as heavy as 1.

• GALVAP o Grave-­‐Andante-­‐Largo-­‐Vivace-­‐Allegro-­‐Presto § While it may be tempting to see Allegro and just assume it means “fast”, you must avoid this. Fast means nothing without some context. What exactly is the difference between Grave and Largo?

This is what you must ask yourself.

§ Always look at the previous tempo indication, the time signature, and other contextual clues that will give you an idea of exactly how fast your fast should be. If previous section is marked Presto, and then you see Vivace, this should indicate that the composer wants you slow down considerably, even though at face value Vivace means fast or lively.

Example Given: Handel, ‘Since by man came death’, from Messiah

• Please note that the metronome markings in the score above are purely editorial and were not Handel’s. It would be up to the conductor to decide

what his or her Grave is, and then what the following Allegro would be. GALVAP would lead you to believe that it would much faster, I would venture to say almost double the tempo of your Grave.

• Also note how the bass line functions here. This would of course be accompanied by orchestra and continuo, but even with just the choral you can see how the basses really lead the harmonic progression in the first 6 bars. Then they help root our tonic key by outlining arpeggios in the Allegro section.

• It looks like beat 2 would be more important in the first and fourth bars, but upon further consideration of the text and harmonic progression, you can see that we are leading the downbeat on ‘death’ both times.

Conclusion

This little guide should serve as a springboard into more in-­‐depth study of some of the differences between the Baroque and Renaissance periods. It should also give the beginning conductor some basic guidance in how to proceed with their interpretation of a given piece. Conductors should also remember that interpretation is personal. While there are rules and guidelines in place, at the end of the day, it is up to you to bring the music to life in a way that is authentic to you. Some purists may get upset in the process, but so be it. Monteverdi to Vivaldi to Bach to Handel, they all pushed the boundaries with their music and look where it got them. All of this is to say, while trying to be as true to the composer as possible, remember to not lose yourself to the music!

Happy music making!