CHORAL SINGING.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 13378, 20 March 1909, Page 7

CHORAL SINGING.

Conductor Tk-.mris. of the Royal Welsh Male Choir, wears n medal iu-sn-ib-'d with the word, us«d by Sir Jo=<>ph Birnby in awarding :i comr»'-*i-tive prize to hisc-krvir: "The *no,st choral »ii!oir._ f ever hoard in mv life." The We'«li Choir cimifs front the Rhonn i.i Vii'.k-y. near Cardiff, score of singer*, and is note touring New Zealand. Said Mr Thomas: Thero are four p?rts in a modern m-rje choir—first tenor, seevmrl tei-<-:-, fi-st i>:>~'-. secoi'd l-a.-s. Fo-oii'-r'y the <iito made ii fifth part, which now is rarely included. I have conducted a.s many as tiro hundred in a choir : I tit

tho principle of composition is always. the same—-you strive for the equal I'alI a nee 01 pans, so that tilt" voices, when ! not in e<>ntr_-t. will bier.d haru'.o-m'-I o'i.-iy in unison. ."--onie critics isivo ! s.-.iei tha: the !>::.-•><., in our clio-.r at" j f.» pro.'i.ir.i-nt : others tiuit the- tenors I are ti.'-"? preeminent. It may have :a-i-:h---led so: bul sine.' we are p.;si 170 perI formancis on tin- pre-s»-nt tour, it is j unlikely to be so—or we" shauld have j :--;i::-i it out b-ug before. A great eieal ! dei,:-::ds on t:i»- j->t-it:f>:i of the auditor. Th- a: •"■isii'.-s <>t th-? I>ilL> wo sing in ' vary a great deal, and a great d."d ,«! ■_.-■-:.<:- .;j.".u tr.e p.ace you o, cupy in ■ the h-iM. T--- t« st place is a intle ; Se:u.ird ot th- c.ntre, so that the ! voice-.. .-ii:giu_ a:v j :i.-t each other, v. il; i tlriiie ;e,, ~,r ~. .>;;.... Then you hnve ; e-i:-:a; J i; :i-ri.o..y. I Th- oV.jcct oi choral singing is to ! m"-.-'e;.;iy r-<iA.iy the mills; the m.tsic !'- the !».i I--; i,;:i i.-tot' the words. Thus. : _ii aud:, .:ce toot (!e.i s not under.-tan. I ! W' -sh c.-rta iiily i->-is the shs.de.-. of i xj ]■. ;.--::: rt v •:< r. v.-,- sing in V."Mi. It ; may hi-:, r a soots-ion <v h.innonie'.us I sounds; b;t: the office of th- se senmus ':s to interpret the w <rds, mid when i you do not underhand th- words you ; must 10-e something of the value' ol I liie- sinking. It is the .-ame with all . lai:g;ii-..s for. i-n to v,-.;,. to he sure. | Ihe lict thing in choral .singing is ; the* rendering, the expression of "the j words. If that is not done, nothing is done. To get that you niu-i sing with i la-art. witii feeling, and you must grip ! the notes, not merely utter tlicm. You ! inn.st sing, y.-.s. And 1,1 the singing, i tin- parts i,iu;-t be perfectly bahuiced. !.so that when _::!! ' he> choir' is singing. :lhi- voices strike the oar a.s the voice iof one man. Then they must sing in I tune", and in time, of course, preserving ! the correct intonation, so that the pitch jof the music is maintained to the ear:

and in practice one ear helps another. -So that a choir, ov the parts of a choir, will rarely sing sharp or Hat all at once. One. voice will lead them a little wrong, then a lift!- more wrong: you e-.-in hear them tailing or rising from the pitch, gradually. That, of course, is a bad fault.

A choir is what the conductor makes it, yes. The choir is just the clay which tlie conductor can niotlel as ho chooses, or as he is able. Anel you can tell from a choir's singing just what the conductor is worth—yes, in the first half-dozen bars of a piece you can hear the contluctor—"-when tho choir sings the music it sings the conductor, sure. Sometimes you can bear that the; choir is below tho contluctor, you can hear that he has been trying to teach them how to sing the music, anel they have not yet grasped it. And then in the performance, when tho choir has learned all that it can, the best contluctor is the man who e'lteourages them to give out all that is in them—ho must lift up tbeir hearts if they need it. With the baton, yes—tho baton is not merely to make time. And with theface, and the eye. with nil his soul and strength, yes, sure.