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.
First of all I'm so glad you picked this piece. This has to be one of my favorite pieces of music. Thanks. :)
ReplyDeleteI agree completely, their sound is very mature for a high school choir. I question whether this is healthy for some of the younger singers and possibly for some of the older ones. We are told all the time at the college level not to try and sing with a sound that is older than we are (i.e. with the weight and volume of 40 year olds.) I hear this mostly in the altos and the basses but I also think this might explain why the tenors and sopranos have trouble with their higher notes. They are trying to bring weight that they don't have up to the high notes. I think their vowel problem might also relate to this. Some of them are trying to darken their vowels in order to sound older causing their vowels not to match.
For the most part I don't think their consonants are too bad but that could be because I know the piece. I do think that the orchestra is too loud.
Great analysis, Aaron and Liz. This is a challenging piece for high school and I wonder if that performed the entire requiem...and which edition.
ReplyDelete