The Choir Invisible by David Childs

2009 ACDA High School Honors Choir 1. Conducted by Christine Bass


The piece itself is very gorgeous, filled with soaring melodies, colorful harmonies, canon like passages from the choir that sparkle with clean texture and a beautiful piano accompaniment. There are many expressively aching suspensions, piercing cluster chords and lyrical passages that make this piece spectacular in its musical composition. I love the piano intro and outro; it sets the mood for the mysterious, unknown, ethereal soundscape that this piece communicates. The text is apparently from George Eliot's poem of the same name.

Overall, its a great performance from this honors choir. They do a great job in bringing out passages that demand for specific nuances of expression. I really like the ending, canon-like section that starts around 5:14. The choir members do a good job in bringing out each phrase, one after another, with each part complementing the other. One thing I would bring to attention are the notes that tenor's seem to struggle reaching for, particularly 4:30. They are not blending well with the basses. Contrary, the altos and sopranos do a fine job in the first phrase of the piece, with a nice pedal tone from the altos.
I'm sure that the sound of the choir would have been more clearer if one were attending a live performance of this piece.

Lacrimosa, from Mozart's Requiem
Los Altos High School Concert Choir, California

        Overall, the voices of the members of the choir sound very mature and well developed. I was very impressed with their tone, ability to project the sound over the orchestra and direction towards arrival points in the phrase. The choir's interpretation of the requiem is a fairly faithful one and I wouldn't expect to hear such a mature sound from a high school choir. My expectations for the capacity of a choir sound and repertoire have increased!
       However, the text isn't very clear in my opinion. The consonants drown out when the orchestra plays in forte and all I hear are vowels, which aren't perfectly in matched either. I can hear the pitches just fine, just not what it is their saying. A notable exception is at 0:50, when the orchestra quiets down, all the parts are heard with text and all. Also, some phrases seem to be giving certain choir members difficulty in range. The tenors, for the most part sing with a confident, strong tone but certain parts sound like they are struggling to reach the notes, like 1:31 and 2:15, when their part comes in. Its not stable but it has passion. Sopranos at times also seem to be struggling with some parts, but their phrasing is great, carrying the theme eloquently with passion and sorrow.

The Blue Bird Written by Charles Villiers Stanford
2012 South Jersey High School Choir

I imagine that this is the end of the concert, as there are many students, all dressed in different colors, representing different sections of the concert.

Listening to this, I found that the chordal intonation was great. All of the pitches were in tune with the chord and they stayed in key (F#) throughout the entire performance. There was one chord that could have been more clear, in 2:28, but it was a great chord and could have been very moving if the inner voicing's were clearer. The soloists also do a great job in having their melodies soar above the choirs homophonic movement. The diction, to me, is not clear. I don't think I could pick up the majority of words, and that could be because of the size of the choir. The vowels are sort of matching, but its the consonants that create my confusion in the text of the song. I do love the overall tone and character that this choir presents. To me, its clear that this choir likes this piece, as the sound emanates the sentiments, subtleties and character of the piece.

An interesting musical idea that this choir did is the staccato phrase that I think says "pick up the ??". I listened to another version (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJcad_kowuI) and that part, "bellow the hill" as the text says, its slower and more marcato. The diction is clearer with this version and the tone more appropriate, not surprising since its performed by the Cambridge Singers. I think the high school's interpretation is also enjoyable and moving, creating a different ambience of sound.

Lux Aurumque by Eric Whitacre
Performed by the Seymour High School Chorus.

This is a relatively strong choir. They have a great blend, especially with the dissonant chords that really add a rich texture to the piece. Whitacre has a gift for composing vocal music with vibrant colors that reach to the subconscience workings of the soul. There are some intonation issue with the middle parts which are evident at 0:32, 0:45, 1:43. At these instances, the choir seemed unsure of what pitches they were suppose to sing, which could have been due to lack of preparation, or lack of strength from the voice. There are also parts where the minor second intervals between the alto's and soprano's were piercing but not clear, creating an unbalanced contrast. I was very impressed with the alto's sustained Ab note at 2:30, as the rest of the choir sang chord passages gently. Diction isn't particularly clear, but the choir's warm and confident tone quality make up for it. Dynamics are also effective, displaying  pleasing light crescendo in the opening chords and great piano dynamics in the end. The singers display a genuine aesthetic enjoyment from piece, which I think reflects in the sound of the performance. I enjoyed this choir's sound and I think the sound would have been even better if I was there in person.

Ride On King Jesus
Traditional Spiritual arranged by Moses Hogan
Performed by Liberty High School Concert Choir.

This choir emanates the spirit of this piece quite well through the use of phrasing and dynamics and appropriate character for the spiritual genre. The soloists also display a genuine satisfaction with what they are singing, particularly the second soloist. They start with great force and display great control over dynamics as the soloists sing and swelling ability on "Ride on", a nice subtle touch to this already great performance. At the end of the piece, with the large chordal sound, a single soprano is clearly heard above the choir with pitch accuracy and power. The pronunciation of the text is also clear and appropriate to the genre, not too round and not too nasally. The choir members also hit the notes precisely adding to the chromatic passages that can occur throughout. I thoroughly enjoyed this composition and performance; this choir demonstrates that the conductor clearly has an understanding of what it takes to create a solid choir.

Sure on This Shining Night
Composed by Samuel Barber.
Performed by the Los Angeles High School Festival Choir at the Walt Disney Concert Hall.

This is an enormous choir made up of over 850 students from around 25 different schools. Their sound echoes through the concert hall with great power. The pitches are spot on, with no fluctuation and the voice parts are clearly heard. Sopranos and altos weren't perfectly in harmony with each other and the tenors, rarely, sung out with minor intonation problems. The last chord of the piece also wasn't perfectly in tune, but these are minor problems to the entire performance of the piece. Amazing dynamic levels with this grand choir, the alternating dynamic phrases are well executed. Its not an easy task to get so many people to create a single product of music that sounds fantastic as this did.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iE3EDIBCWc

This is a well organized choir with a balanced sound, clear harmonic rhythm, distinguishable voice parts, and a driving motion that really pulls the audience in for the performance. A majority of the students have character and are enthusiastic, which successfully reflects the conducting of the director. They are moving to the music, displaying interest, which in turn affects the sound of the choir. Towards the end, a high soprano floats effortlessly through the harmony of the choir. The inner voice are audible, creating clear harmony. The bass has a driving force to it that grounds the choir to stay in key and in tune with each other. The choir is not perfectly in tune with the piano, but its very close. Their enunciation of the language is clear and the dynamics really add to the motion of the piece, skillfully crescendoing to short climatic moments.