F. Melius Christiansen (1871-1955) composed four larger choral works between 1917 and 1925. The Reformation Cantata, composed in 1917, commemorates the 400th anniversary of Martin Luther’s Protestant Reformation and the merger of three church synods into the Norwegian Lutheran Church of America. The cantata is scored for baritone, tenor, and soprano soli, chorus, and orchestra. Christiansen’s oratorio, The Prodigal Son, was composed in 1918. The performing forces include SATB soli and SATB chorus with orchestra or keyboard accompaniment. In 1922, Christiansen composed a multi-movement a cappella work for the St. Olaf Choir entitled Psalm 50. The Norwegian-American Centennial Cantata was written in 1925 in commemoration of the Norwegian immigrants who sailed to America and established their homes. The cantata is scored for soprano and baritone soli, mixed chorus, and orchestra. A general analysis of these four larger choral works was performed. This document, with structural analysis and historical background of selected works, is intended to provide conductors with insights into Christiansen’s repertoire. The literature selected displays the composer’s diversity of genres and compositional techniques. For each work, the document includes the identification of melodic and thematic material, musical examples, text sources, vocal ranges, and details regarding form.

Numerous studies emphasise the importance of music-making as an integral human experience, but only a handful focus on the perceived benefits of participating in a university choir as experienced by the singers themselves. An extensive literature search revealed that no research has been conducted that specifically focuses on this topic within a multicultural South African university choir. There is an increasing interest in the attributed values associated with membership in a collective music activity, especially with regard to choirs. The aim of this ethnographic case study was to explore the perceived benefits of choir participation for choristers who are members of a multicultural university choir in South Africa and to examine to what extent if at all social capital is generated as a by-product of their choir participation. A qualitative research approach was most suitable in order to gain an in-depth perspective of choristers' personal perceptions. Data collection included interviews, focus groups and observations of rehearsals and performances, involving 76 members of the University of Pretoria Camerata. The findings of this research highlight the personal, social and musical values attributed to membership within the choir as perceived by its members. The main findings revealed that the experience of singing in a choir is polygonal, and that such experiences are rewarding, plentiful, and even challenging at times. Choristers perceive their participation to be beneficial to their health and see the choir environment as safe and conducive to forming important relationships. Cultural integration takes place as an extension of being associated within a diverse group of people and a wealth of trust is generated amongst the singers, regardless of their cultural, religious or language differences. Findings indicated some negative perceptions as experienced by the singers, as cultural barriers still exist between members which were exacerbated by political tensions on campus at the time of data collection. Another stressful element of choir participation is the extensive time and commitment required due to the demanding and eventful choir calendar, as well as full academic programmes for which they are registered. The study provides empirical evidence of how two types of social capital, namely bridging- and bonding social capital, are generated within the choir. Bridging social capital exists amongst students from different ethnic backgrounds; while bonding social capital is evident between specific language-, racial- and cultural groups within the choir. As a result of choir participation, social norms and values are shared amongst the singers and networks and connections are established across all types of boundaries, creating an environment of reciprocity between singers. Results from this study highlight that the Camerata establishes a wealth of trust between its members, on a personal, professional and musical level. / Thesis (DMus)--University of Pretoria, 2017. / Music / DMus / Unrestricted

The purposes of this study were (1) to develop and evaluate a self-instructional program designed to assist choral conducting students in improving their ability to detect rhythmic errors during rehearsal, (2) to analyze the data acquired from a pre-test, a mid-test, and a post-test given in connection with the evaluation of the program, and (3) to determine the relationship of initial error detection ability, and gains in error detection ability, and each of several variables representing prior conditions which might be expected to affect an individuals error detection ability.

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The purpose of this study was to analyze for reasons of interpretation the unaccompanied choral music of Felix Mendelssohn. What are the stylistic characteristics in each of the compositions selected for examination in this study? What comparisons and conclusions based on the analyses can be made concerning the character of compositional style in Felix Mendelssohn's unaccompanied choral music? What conclusions can be made concerning the interpretation of Felix Mendelssohn's unaccompanied choral music based on the compositional style of his music and an understanding of his musical attributes?

This bibliography is intended as a resource for choral conductors at the beginning of their journey of musical and personal development. While this project cannot possibly cover every aspect of or resource on choral music, it is a beginning. I admit I have spent more time researching my personal weaknesses and have not covered as thoroughly areas in which the choral conducting program at Brigham Young University is exceptionally strong. Even so, I hope this compilation will help address common challenges of beginning choral conductors. The bibliography is divided into sections by topic, with additional sections on Internet sites and a few miscellaneous resources. Under the bibliographic citation for each book or video, I have included additional information to help in finding these materials. First, I indicate if the resource is out of print. Many out of print materials are still available in libraries or from used bookstores online. Therefore, I have included the Library of Congress call number and/or ISBN, if I could find them. Some of the best websites for finding out of print materials are www.addall.com, www.amazon.com, www.bibliofind.com, and www.fetchbook.com. Below this information is the list price for materials in print, or a price or price range as of the date I searched online for an out of print resource. I have included the date of my search (price as of [date]) to assist later readers who may be interested in purchasing these materials. Internet searches six months from the date of my online search will probably result in similar prices, but ten years from now, inflation will likely have elevated that amount. In addition, I have included background information about the author(s) of that resource, if I could find it. These biographical sketches help explain why the material is trustworthy and educate the beginning choral conductor regarding important figures in our field. Finally, annotations discuss the strengths and limitations of each resource. To this, I have added a personal recommendation on the importance or best use of the source, and a list of important topics covered in that item. These topic listings form the basis of the index at the end of the bibliography.

The twentieth century has witnessed a renaissance in the composition of choral music. Not since the Baroque, has choral writing held the prominent position with composers that it has today. At the same time, English composers have regained a stature and influence they have not held since the time of Purcell. It was not until the time of Edward Elgar, Gustave Holst, and Ralph Vaughn-Williams that English music began to recover from the decline of the nineteenth century. Benjamin Britten has played a large role in both the choral renaissance and the recovery of English music.

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Constructivism in music education can help teachers and students alike better their educational experience by working as a collaborative team. In the choral classroom, constructivist teaching establishes the teacher as the facilitator of learning rather than the “teacher as conductor.” Teachers help foster the musical-thinking of the ensemble. Students learn and retain information when teachers can support learners’ understanding of musical ideas and work within the student’s zone of proximal development. Through the use of teacher-guided questioning, cognitive apprenticeship, informal music-making, CMP, problem-solving, and Understanding by Design, students become active participants. Included are supplemental activities for the traditional choir classroom that give a sense of how to provide meaningful lessons to students through a constructivist lens. Each activity is objective-based, working from what the students will know or be able to do by the end of the activity, to how to foster the learning in a way that builds past experiences into new experiences.