"Can we do that again??" ––choir director
  • RagueneauRagueneau
    Posts: 2,592
    What a difference is made by a choir director's simple plea!
  • Donnaswan
    Posts: 585
    What? Words mean something? LOL

    Donna
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,934
    They actually listen? My choir has a learning disability - they forget nearly everything between Wednesday rehearsal and Sunday morning. LOL. And when it's time to sing, some of them are looking at the light fixtures like I imagine the children at Fatima looked at the apparitions. "You mean you want us to sing? Kind sir, we had no idea..." ;-)

    They are actually good folks, who receive no compensation for the work they do. I am surprised they put forth the effort that they do. It is appreciated.
  • Adam Bartlett
    Posts: 533
    Wait a sec, Jeff, my friend... are you endorsing here that meaning in a sung text can be communicated through dynamic word accent? This surely must be a purely Baroque idea, right? :)
  • Donnaswan
    Posts: 585
    CharlesW
    This is a well-known, widespread disability among church choirs. Found in every state in the union. And I used to hold up a piece of cardboard with the words 'look at me' printed in big black letters! It always got a laugh and was better than growling at them! LOL (Not during Mass)
    I also have the expression 'No'R's' tattooed on my forehead under my bangs, which I lift at crucial moments! I got a present once from a choir long ago which had the words 'Choir director' printed on the front with the 'rs' left out . A Methodist church. Always though the Methodists were not known for their sense of humor, but in this case, I was wrong. I still have that shirt.
    But I have to say, my present choir is really pretty good about watching, esp nowadays the basses. They have finally 'heard with their own ears' the improvement when they do! HAHAHA!
    Donna
  • RagueneauRagueneau
    Posts: 2,592
    Hello, Adam.

    You are absolutely right. This advice would be ridiculous as applied to many Medieval chants, because (quite frankly) the way they honored the tonic accent in the Middle Ages was much more sophisticated than the way that (e.g.) Bach, Mozart, or Vivaldi would.

    However, unless I am very much mistaken, the third chord of this piece puts us without question after the year 1650.

    Does anyone know the composer of this piece?

    I have no idea why they were practicing this piece --- or what it is. Can anyone help?
  • Adam Bartlett
    Posts: 533
    Just having a little fun, Jeff. ;) I know that we disagree on this point. I am under the understanding that most linguistic scholars now agree that Latin was spoken with a stressed tonic accent by the 4th century, when the chant corpus was being composed. According to this reality it is pretty likely that stressed accent conveyed meaning for them also. No need to debate it here though, I know that not everyone has accepted this.
  • RagueneauRagueneau
    Posts: 2,592
    But, again, for me, it isn't so much a linguistic question.

    My own personal belief is that the only logical thing to do is study the earliest chant MSS we have and make conclusions based on those, what they clearly show. Again, it's just my personal preference. I'm pretty much a black and white guy. When the entire body of early chant MSS shows something clearly, I respond to that. But I also know there are other theories out there, as well.
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