As choir masters, many organists have the responsibility of hiring and working with paid singers as well as a dedicated group of volunteer singers ranging in experience from novice to advanced. The similarities of the human voice to the pipe-organ are numerous. Using these similarities and scientific analysis of the two instruments, organists can familiarize themselves with the tuning system of the human voice. Like the pipe organ, the human voice is capable of wide variety of sounds, qualities, textures, pitches and levels of volume. Unlike an organ pipe, the voice is not a fixed resonator. The voice is the most flexible of all musical instruments. Instructing an ensemble of singers to shape their sound simultaneously is the beginning of “tuning your choral pipes.” It will be important to establish terminology with your singers in order to successfully communicate with them despite their varying levels of ability and pronunciation differences. Becoming familiar with the mechanics of the voice and an alphabet of pure vowel sounds can help organist-choir masters achieve a greater degree of success when working with singers. The stops, pipes and expression pedal of the human voice are defined by the laryngeal muscles as they relate to registration, the vocal tract shape as defined by the vowel, and the amount of volume created by the air pressure. This guide for organists covers these topics and contains exercises for the reader to apply during choral rehearsals.

This work contains a narrative about a liturgical chant, its history and various genres and styles. A lot of attention is paid to explaining the theory and practice of various ancient chants. All this helps to understand better the meaning of the phrase "spiritual influence". The second part of the work deals with the practice of the choir directors' (regents') work, the choice of the repertoire and the relationship between the choir director, the choir and the priest. It is about the influence of various musical styles, the tempo and power of the sound of the performed works on the spiritual state of a person. Speaking about the liturgical basis of choir singing in the Orthodox Church, I reveal the concepts of theory and practice. I recall the early Christian practice of psalm chant, traditional singing in an Orthodox church and also modern liturgical singing. The Church Charter is of great importance for understanding the choir singing. The essence of church chant is to convey the meaning of the prayers performed by musical means as fully as possible and transmit them to all those participating in the service, as the choir is the mouth of the worshipers. The challenges facing the Orthodox Church at the present time are not less important than those that faced it a hundred years ago. The future...

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Syftet med studien är att få ökad insikt i körledares förhållningssätt till och hantering av sångtekniska övningar i kör. Bakgrundskapitlet beskriver sångrösten som instrument, och olika – i sångsammanhang – vanligt förekommande begrepp samt ger en presentation av tidigare litteratur och forskning som anknyter till studiens syfte. Vidare presenteras ett sociokulturellt perspektiv i egenskap av teoretisk utgångspunkt. Undersökningen är genomförd med hjälp av den kvalitativa intervjun som metod. Fyra i nuläget aktiva körledare intervjuades och i resultatet beskrivs deras syn på vad röst- och sångteknik innebär och hur de går tillväga för att förmedla detta till sina korister samt vilka redskap som används för ändamålet. I diskussionen förs ett resonemang kring kunskapsförmedling och hur den sker via olika kommunikationsvägar samt vilka olika roller som ryms i körledarrollen. / The purpose of this study is to gain further insight into choir conductors' approach to and manage-ment of technical vocal exercises in the choir. The background chapter describes the singing voice as an instrument, different common concepts in song contexts, and gives a presentation of earlier literature and research related to the purpose. Furthermore the study presents a socio-cultural perspective as a theoretical basis. The survey is carried out using the qualitative interview method. Four currently active choir directors were interviewed. The results describes their view of what the voice-singing technique entails, how they convey this to their choir and which tools they use for this purpose. The discussion reflects on the knowledge transmission and communication between choir and choir director.

Ce travail propose une étude du domaine de la direction de chœur. Il est centré sur les compétences du chef et les conditions d’une performance optimale, selon attentes déclarées des acteurs du monde choral. Il s’agit de compétences souhaitées par les choristes et les chefs. Les questions du répertoire, du contexte social et historique de la direction sont abordées, ainsi que les aspects épistémologiques de l’interprétation musicale. Les origines du concept de compétence, son évolution, son approche selon différentes perspectives, son emploi pédagogique précèdent l’observation empirique qui prend la forme d’une enquête menée sur un vaste échantillon dans six pays : l’Allemagne, l’Autriche, l’Espagne, les Etats-Unis, la France et le Venezuela. L’analyse critique donne une image psychologique des compétences du chef, décrit sa position culturelle et sa performance dans le contexte social. En découlent des considérations liées à l’héritage historique de la direction de chœur et une réflexion relative à la formation du chef. / The work consists in a study related to the field of choral direction. The study focuses on the competences and the conditions of choir directors to achieve optimum performance in the opinion of constituents of the choral world as desired by choir members and directors. Choice of repertoire, social and historical context of choral direction, and epistemological issues of the musical interpretation have been addressed.The origins of the concept of competences, their evolution and approach according to different perspectives and their educational use precede the empirical observation. The latter study consists of a wide survey in six countries, namely Austria, France, Germany, Spain, United States of America and Venezuela. The critical analysis of this study reflects the psychological image of choir director’s competences, describing the cultural position and its performance in the social context. This study triggers assumptions relating to the historical legacy of choral direction as well as a framework of considerations related to the professional qualification of choir directors.