#3

Listening Project #2
Introduction to Conducting
2020-2021
Vocal/string quality: general comments

a. Praise to the Lord by Concordia Choir

- Light but also concentrated in front of the mouth.

b. For Me To Live Is Christ

- Classical vocal approach but relax. Their sound is not too round, it's quite thin.

c. O Come, Come Away by Boston Camerata

- I think the first part is head voice in soft palate placement.
It sounded folk too. I like how texture increases every repeats.
Vocal/string quality: specific details to emulate with your choir/orchestra

a. Praise to the Lord by Concordia Choir

- Round, light yet clear notes-pitches.

b. For Me To Live Is Christ

- I like this sound, not too mature, not too round, a little thin, but not bright. It would be great to learn this.

c. O Come, Come Away

- I think if our men in church choir learns to sing like the first and second part, hitting high notes smoothly
would be easier.
Phrasing: general comments

a. Praise to the Lord by Concordia Choir

- They sound very soothing and continuous. Singing in complete thought.

b. For Me To Love is Christ

- Even though they were breathing atleast 2-3 measures, it was done well, they do not sound choppy.

c. O Come, Come Away

- Almost silent breathing, flowing, and continuous.
Phrasing: specific details to emulate with your choir/orchestra

a. Praise to the Lord by Concordia Choir

- Singing complete thought. To achieve this, everyone in the choir should be aware of where to breath.

b. For Me To Love is Christ

- When to breath and breathing correctly, controlling airflow.

c. O Come, Come Away

- Almost silent breathing, Clean entrances and releases.
Diction/Articulation (bowing): general comments

a. Praise to the Lord by Concordia Choir

- at the start, I think I only hear vowel sounds in the sopranos. Although it sounded good, but I didn't really
understand the words.

b. For Me To Live Is Christ

- Clear words, long vowels, short consonant but heard.

c. O Come, Come Away

- Round and long vowels. Words are clear enough to be understood.
Diction/Articulation (bowing): specific details to emulate/avoid with your choir/orchestra

a. Praise to the Lord

- During our practices in our church choir, I will keep in mind the importance of our vowels and clear consonants.

b.For Me To Live Is Christ

- We've been practicing long vowels in choir, but I do think I sometimes neglect the consonants. So to be
understood like them, we have to work on our consonants.

c. O Come, Come Away

- Although we can understand the words, I think consonants should be sound a little bit more, especially the ends
of the words.
Blend: general comments

a. Praise to the Lord

- The volume of each part is balance. They use the same tone quality.

b. For Me To Live Is Christ

- Blended, here you can hear the melody clearly. Harmonies are softer than the melody. Though there are
parts that men are a bit louder.

c. O Come, Come Away

- I think I can some people with different timbre in the first and second repeat. Although, I think because this is
like chanting, I guess it's okay to have different timbre.
Blend: specific details to emulate with your choir/orchestra

a. Praise to the Lord

- I really like the how balance their choir is. I would love to have this balance to in our choir. Hearing each part
clearly without any voice really dominating.

b. For Me To Live Is Christ

- In our choir, there are times when the melody is a bit too dominant that the other voices are not that heard.
It's something that we have to work out too to achieve balance sound.

O Come, Come Away

- Since this is a group singing, I would still aim for unity in timbre. Adding textures every phrase made the song
more interesting.
Miscellaneous comments on other aspects you thought were excellent and how you might achieve such with your own choir/orchestra

Balance volume and dynamics appropriate for each part. This is something that requires good hearing
from the conductor. I think the best way for me to improve this is to train more my ears by doing things
like this, and to really try to recreate it to our choir. Doing Vocal exercises that will help them blend well
by adjusting tone quality, volume, and diction as well.