The choral music of Norwegian composer Ola Gjeilo (pronounced “yay-loh”) is gaining international acclaim and is widely performed and commissioned by prominent high school, university, and professional choirs. It represents a philosophical approach and vision of the choral instrument for which the conductor must have a clear understanding in order to prepare a meaningful performance. in particular, his music merges diverse musical influences, which results in a product of unique character among choral compositions in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Gjeilo draws inspiration from a text but then uses its sonic qualities (the sounds of vowels and consonants) to create an atmosphere of sound instead of following the traditions in choral and vocal music of using musical mechanisms (melody, rhythm, and harmony) to reinforce the text poetically. This study provides an overview of Gjeilo’s background, in Chapter 1, and discusses its influence on his compositional philosophy. Chapter 2 contains musical examples from selected works, which are used to illuminate unique attributes found in Gjeilo’s music. Chapter 3 presents important implications to consider aiding choral conductors in their preparation of future performances of Gjeilo’s music.

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For an untold number of years the vocalise has had an integral place in many of the methods used for the training and development of singers. Commonly referred to and used as "warm-ups" in the choral rehearsal, vocalises are considered by many conductors to have a usefulness that surpasses that of simply preparing voices for the singing which is immediately at hand. It remains a tendency in many cases, however, for vocalises to be used in an indiscriminate fashion without a clear understanding of the purposes of the vocalises used and/or using a method of presentation of vocal exercises that can diminish their usefulness or perhaps even have detrimental effects on the singers. A common additional plight facing many choral conductors seems to be the lack of availability of practical, printed resources for choral vocalization. Conductors can feel forced to rely only on exercises passed onto them by colleagues or by their own teachers. Either because of this lack of understanding of purpose or because of a lack of knowledge of vocalise repertoire, or both, a conductor might choose to limit or avoid entirely the use of vocal exercises in the choral rehearsal, depriving the conductor and the singers of what is perhaps one of the best tools for vocal development and conditioning. This study attempts to contribute toward the alleviation of the problems mentioned above. The study provides an extended collection of vocalises arranged with optional piano accompaniments by the author for use in the choral rehearsal, including original exercises, as well as those borrowed from colleagues in the solo and choral music fields and from selected printed sources. In addition, through a review of the writings of noted authorities in the field of voice education, the study discusses the usefulness of vocalises in the development of specific elements of good singing, with reference to the vocalises contained in the collection. Included in this discussion is a determination, based on these writings, of certain principles for the effective use of vocalises in the choral rehearsal. Finally, this study provides a selected list of known, available resource material that specifically contains vocalises for choir.

The intent of this study is to attempt to create new scientific criteria for the evaluation of choral literature for senescent singers, The first criterion developed for selection of age-appropriate choral literature was a measurement for voice quality registration called phonetography. Phonetography is the registration of the dynamic range of a voice as a function of fundamental frequency. Manual phonetograms on twenty young adult singers and twenty senescent singers were developed to determine individual frequency-by-intensity relationships of the senescent voice. The graph that was created when all points of minimum and maximum sound pressure levels are connected, thus enclosing the subject's total phonation area, was the singer's phonetogram. Three choral adjudicators were present at the phonetogram testing to determine which pitch levels and dynamic ranges were acceptable for healthy choral singing in each subject. Gelfer acoustic-perceptual rating scales were completed by the choral adjudicators on each phonetogram test subject. Adjectives utilized most frequently by speech pathologists, singers, otolaryngologists, and untrained listeners were codified and confidence ratings were made by each of the four groups who were polled. Appropriate opposites for the selected descriptors were chosen. The Gelfer test results were consistent with phonetogram findings. Criteria for age-appropriate choral literature were proposed from phonetogram data and the Gelfer acoustic-perceptual analyses. The four pieces which were selected as age-appropriate were analyzed by tessiturometry as a final criteria of suitability for aging singers. The tessiturogram is a graphic analysis of the frequency of note occurrence within a composition. Lower tessituras and limited ranges were recommended for aging singers. Choral selections with long phrases, rapid melismatic passages, wide unprepared leaps, and sustained singing should be avoided. High, soft singing for older female singers is not suggested. Rhythmic, homophonic works are recommended for successful performance. Instrumental accompaniments are beneficial in reinforcing the older singers' intonation.

Herbert Howells (1892-1983), an English composer, was an influential teacher and composer. He wrote in many genres including orchestral works, string quartets, and sacred and secular choral works. As Howells matured into his final compositional period (1945-1983) his style coalesced. Modal inflections were more prevalent, dissonance was harsher with fewer releases of tension, and rhythmic language was increasingly more complex. The four part-songs, Walking in the Snow (1950), The Scribe (1952), Inheritance (1953), and The Summer is Coming (1964), represent Howells' compositional approach in his secular output from this time period, and, through study of the sacred motet Take Him, Earth, for Cherishing (1964), it is evident that the melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic complexities found in his sacred works pervade the secular works as well. This document provides in-depth analysis of the four part-songs mentioned above, while paying special attention to specific melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic characteristics found in his sacred music from the same time period.

The purpose of this study, ve to analyze the stylistic characteristics in the unaccompanied music of one twentieth century composer, Francis Poulenc, in order to discover the choral problems which would confront choruses and conductors as they performed his music. It is hoped that this study will not only enable choral conductors to better understand, interpret, and appreciate the music of Poulenc, but also will serve as a guide toward the investigation of other twentieth century composers and their works.

Thesis (D.M.A.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / 2031-01-01

Program notes and recording of choruses, sung by Kansas State University Chamber Choir; Deanna Freitag, piano; the author, conductor. / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries