During Master Chorus Eastside’s two All-American Independence Celebration concerts this past Sunday I
was struck by how much fun we and our audience were having together. Eyes were bright, faces shone, laughter
rippled throughout the building, both in the audience and on the risers! We were playing (singing) our music and playing
through our music, and we all responded with self-forgetful, childlike joy. What is it in choral music that can make us,
like children, forget ourselves and enter into the spirit of play?
Part of it is the marriage of music and text. Music heightens emotion and as a result adds subtle
layers of meaning and atmosphere to a joke. Take our premier of Spencer
Hoveskelund’s Two Homes in Fifty States,
a hilarious romp through all fifty states as the narrator, born in a Boeing 737
at 20,000 feet, attempts to find a place to call home! It wouldn’t have been the same without the rollicking
music. Or the languid, jazzy Java Jive’s positively sensuous description
of a good cup of coffee, enhanced with deliciously close harmony, relaxed
rhythm, and droll sound effects. Or our
sing along, Oh When the Saints Go Marching
In, accompanied by air trombones, air clarinets, air trumpets, air cymbals…whatever
the audience felt like creating. It was
sheer fun.
But on the other hand, there was our rousing vocal
rendition of Sousa’s The Stars and
Stripes Forever. There are no words; its stellar effect was created by the delightful
twist of singers recreating instrumental sounds, especially a sterling soprano mini-group
singing the famous piccolo melody with aplomb! Or how to explain the exuberance of Son de Camaguey with its Cuban dance
rhythms and intertwining syncopations? It’s
sung in Spanish, with no jokes involved.
Actually that one is kind of easy; it’s the irresistible rhythm! And the driving percussion! And the chance to dance and take on the Latin
persona! It’s pure play in musical form.
I recently read an article in which the author studied children
at play. It seems they make musical
sounds, both consciously and unconsciously, as they play: chanting, dancing,
“rhythmicking,” rhyming, clapping, and parodying songs and poems. I guess music and play are natural partners,
and we never quite outgrow them. As Charles
Dickens said in A Christmas Carol, it’s
good to be children sometimes. And
although he was talking about Christmas, it holds for all holidays…or for any
day for that matter.
May your 4th of July celebrations be full of
music and play!
Dr. Linda Gingrich
Artistic director, Master Chorus Eastside
Great information and nice share!
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