| Comment: Re: 5 Dumb Things Directors Say to Choirs | Dan Kreider | March 3, 2012 |
|
Agree with Austen as well.
Actually... I may say all 5 of these things!
#1 - I often tell the choir to circle tricky notes in their score.
#2 - I say this often. And I MAKE them watch me. =) hehehe...
#3 - absolutely. I tell them to speak the text dramatically, to crea... |
| Comment: Re: Don't make me sing about Allah! | Dan Kreider | February 21, 2012 |
|
Joseph,
That's a false correlation. The composer is not the music. Singing a piece by a Muslim composer is far different from singing a song that praises Allah.
And regarding a Jew singing Messiah - frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if he/she didn't feel comfortable with it. And... |
| Comment: Re: Don't make me sing about Allah! | Dan Kreider | February 20, 2012 |
|
Ronald,
Your position presupposes, however, that the student adjusted his "convictions" to suit himself in this situation - which isn't stated. Nor did he show any distrepect to Islam by his statements. It's not "picking and choosing" to hold a religious belief so strongly that you're p... |
| Comment: Re: Don't make me sing about Allah! | Dan Kreider | February 20, 2012 |
|
Julia,
There was no "hate" either implied in the student's position or in the article that discussed it. It's possible to profoundly disagree with someone's beliefs without hating them in the least.
We ought to save the term "hate" for when it is truly appropriate (And there ARE, s... |
| Comment: Re: Don't make me sing about Allah! | Dan Kreider | February 20, 2012 |
|
I know there will be obvious claims of a potential double standard, but I don't think it's the case. Im my view, it's ok for a public school choir to sing Judeo-Christian music if it's representative of the masterworks. In many cases, there's a significant disconnect between the art and what t... |
| Comment: Re: Creating a Culture of Music | Dan Kreider | October 1, 2011 |
|
Philip,
This is a great discussion to have. Check out a blog post I wrote on it - not many solutions, but some ideas.
http://kreidermusic.com/2010/05/01/ten-marks-of-a-singing-culture/
I'll be checking in on this thread often - hoping to hear some good input on tihs.
... |
| Comment: Re: SATB arrangement of Gesu Bambino | Dan Kreider | September 27, 2011 |
|
Hi Bruce,
I wrote an arrangement that combines Gesu Bambino with "Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus." Message me with your email address, and I'll send you a perusal PDF.
Thanks!
Dan
|
| Forum message: Realization for "Jesus bleibet meine Freude" | Dan Kreider | September 24, 2011 |
|
Hi Folks,
I've got the full score for "Jesus bleibet meine Freude," but I can't find a realization for my harpsichord player. Does anyone know where I can find one?
I've already checked all the usual suspects (IMSLP, CPDL). I'm hoping I can find it in the public domain!
... |
| Comment: Re: Why ChoralNet is not "taking off" | Dan Kreider | September 15, 2011 |
|
I'll join the chorus here. ChoralNet is a great resource. I don't use it very often, but when I do, it's very handy.
I do appreciate the OP wanting to improve things. I think they're fine the way they are though.
Dan
|
| Forum message: Instrumental parts (Finale?) for "I Know that My Redeemer Liveth" | Dan Kreider | August 17, 2011 |
|
Hi Folks,
I'm programming "I Know that My Redeemer Liveth" for an upcoming choral concert (to fill time). I have a PDF of the score (public domain), but I'd like the string and continuo parts without having to enter them in Finale myself.
Does anyone have either PDFs of the parts, ... |
| Borrowing request: Request to Borrow: Appling "We Shall Walk Through the Valley" | Dan Kreider | August 7, 2011 |
| Item: "We Shall Walk Through the Valley in Peace"
Composer/Arranger/Edition: arr. Appling, SATB
Starting: ASAP
For: 4 months
Copies: 30
Willing to rent: Yes
Anyone have Appling's arrangement of "We Shall Walk Through the Valley in Peace"? I'd like to use it with my choir for a November 3rd... |
| Comment: Re: Earbuds for choral music | Dan Kreider | July 16, 2011 |
|
Sennheiser are outstanding.
|
| Forum message: Pairing for the Schutz Musikalische Exequien | Dan Kreider | July 12, 2011 |
|
Greetings all,
I'm programming the Schutz Musikalische Exequien with my small unauditioned college choir this fall (I've got excellent soloists and colla parte instruments, so we'll be fine). The theme is "An All-Saints Meditation" - a believer's perspective of death.
I'd like to fin... |
| Comment: Re: SSAB Repertoire Suggestions | Dan Kreider | July 9, 2011 |
|
I second Robert's suggestion. The Moravian stuff is great, and almost exclusively for SSAB (in the original).
Dan
|
| Comment: Re: "Beneath the Cross of Jesus" Arrangement | Dan Kreider | July 6, 2011 |
|
If you like the Gettys' version of the hymn (different words and tune), check out Dan Forrest's setting. It's wonderful. Anything by Dan Forrest is pretty wonderful, actually.
-Dan
|
| Comment: Re: Did Bach write a Requiem? | Dan Kreider | June 2, 2011 |
|
Ha!
|
| Forum message: Did Bach write a Requiem? | Dan Kreider | May 30, 2011 |
|
I thought I knew the answer to this... but now I'm not so sure. There seem to be some indications that there are manuscripts of precisely such a piece. I'm pursuing this but haven't been able to find anything. Can anyone help?
PS - it's most definitely Johann Sebastian to which I'm ... |
| Comment: Re: Unison | Dan Kreider | May 22, 2011 |
|
John,
Thanks for your reply. It certainly was food for thought. A few replies of my own:
I'm aware of the Augustine quote. I posted it in its context on a previous blog post, here. I'm not sure how the context undermines what I was getting at. As I see it, Augustine's broader... |
| Forum message: Schutz Musicalische Exequien | Dan Kreider | April 29, 2011 |
|
Hi all,
I'm considering programming Schutz' Musicalische Exequien for All Saints this fall. My choir is a small group (24-28) at a very small college. We have the option of hiring instruments if needed.
Have any of you performed this work? Could you offer any advice or suggesti... |
| Comment: Re: Verdi Requiem - full score edition? | Dan Kreider | April 22, 2011 |
|
...aaaaaand I looked at my prof's conducting score - and he has the Dover. So there y'go. =0)
|
| Comment: Re: Verdi Requiem - full score edition? | Dan Kreider | April 22, 2011 |
|
Jerome,
Thanks for the info. I actually *do* need the full conducting score - or I would definitely pick up the Dover.
Dan
|
| Forum message: Verdi Requiem - full score edition? | Dan Kreider | April 21, 2011 |
|
Hi all,
I'm needing to purchase the conducting score for the Verdi Requiem. Recommendations? I saw a score on B&H, edited by David Rosen. Is that considered the definitive performing edition?
I've purchased full scores in the past that were STILL being printed on old copper... |
| Forum message: Pronounciation of "our" | Dan Kreider | March 19, 2011 |
|
Hi Folks,
Just curious - how do you have your singers pronounce "our"?
I can't stand it being sung as a homonym to "are," which is how my singers treat it by default. I have them sing it as a triphthong- AH-(oo-uh). But for slow passages when it occurs, I find I have problems get... |
| Comment: Re: Google and the Choral Composer | Dan Kreider | February 27, 2011 |
|
Agreed. Dan Forrest is an important choral composer - one of the big ones. Probably a much better search result than before. =0)
|
| Comment: Re: Help with justifying choral music in languages other than English during traditional service | Dan Kreider | November 14, 2010 |
|
I agree with John. One of the greatest distinctives of the music that arose from the Reformation was that it was in the vernacular - the language of the people.
Although appreciating the beauty of music as art can cause us to glorify the God who is the Master Artist, that's not the primar... |
| Forum message: Saint-Saens Christmas Oratorio | Dan Kreider | September 6, 2010 |
|
Hi all,
I'm preparing the Saint-Saens Christmas Oratorio with my choir for a December concert. It's a choir of 30, decent voices but not big ones. I have a couple questions:
- I'd like to do it with organ and string quartet. Has anyone else done it with these forces? Is har... |
| Comment: Re: Software for Choral Library | Dan Kreider | July 26, 2010 |
|
James,
I use Excel for our library of 500 titles, and it works great. You can sort and filter by all kinds of criteria, and of course you can do a simple word search. Honestly, some of those "special programs" are goofy and impractical. Excel is by far the most straightforward way to ... |
| Announcement: New setting of Psalm 96 for TBB, piano, opt. percussion | Dan Kreider | April 12, 2010 |
| Check out a new setting I wrote of Psalm 96 - "Sing to the Lord With a New Song" - for TBB choir, piano, and optional tambourine (I didn't add the tambourine part into the score, but it would be ad lib from mm 101-110). Duration: about 4:15.
You can find a perusal PDF (11 pages out of 14) at htt... |
| Comment: Re: How do you respond to this statement? | Dan Kreider | April 12, 2010 |
| Out of the 25 or so pieces my HS chorale has done this year, only about 3 or 4 met with their immediate "approval" upon first reading. By the time that they had them performance ready, there were only about 3 or 4 that they *didn't* like (and those were probably because they hadn't worked hard eno... |
| Comment: Re: More iPad for the Choral Musician | Dan Kreider | April 10, 2010 |
| It's a nice idea, but I'm not ready to embrace the iPad for performing (yet). There are a number of problems:
1. The screen is WAAAAY too small - 9.7 inches diagonal. That's basically the dimensions for a study score, but I don't think anyone would want to use it as a "performing edition."
... |
| Comment: Re: More iPad for the Choral Musician | Dan Kreider | April 10, 2010 |
| I do need to revise my first point. It's not HORRIBLY small. I put it on a big monitor and made it actual size - and compared to a paper score. Still small and cramped to my eye, but maybe not prohibitively so to some people. I guess I would need to try it out myself first. |
| Forum message: Fair Use and class assignments | Dan Kreider | April 3, 2010 |
| Hi all,
As part of my high school choir, I require my students to listen to a list of choral works with score. I have set up a "listening lab" of two boomboxes with headphones in my classroom.
My question - would "fair use" allow me to photocopy scores for the students to look at without hav... |
| Comment: Re: How to prepare for a College Conducting Audition | Dan Kreider | February 20, 2010 |
| Hi Kelly,
I just finished traveling for three DMA auditions.
The biggest advice I can give is "Talk less, sing more." Don't ramble on about how you found this or that editorial difference, and long monologues about some aesthetic principle. Conduct them efficiently, listening the whole t... |
| Forum message: Latin pronunciation question | Dan Kreider | February 13, 2010 |
| Hi all,
What is the pronunciation of "sequutur"? I'm assuming it's se-kwu'-tur (sorry, can't do IPA!), but I wasn't sure about the double "u."
Thanks!
Dan Kreider |
| Comment: Re: Austrian-German Latin for Mozart's Requiem? | Dan Kreider | February 1, 2010 |
| Thanks for the replies. Not what I was hoping for... =0( ...but good to know.
Thanks,
Dan |
| Forum message: Austrian-German Latin for Mozart's Requiem? | Dan Kreider | January 31, 2010 |
| Hi all,
I'm familiar with the variants of Austrian-German Latin (as compared to liturgical Latin), especially the "o" vowel and and the consonants "g" and "c" (and the vowel sound for "oe" and "ae") as defined by Jeffers.
My question: is it universally accepted that these German pronunciation ... |
| Forum message: Need HS men's quartet contest piece ASAP | Dan Kreider | January 14, 2010 |
| Hi all,
I have a group of 4 HS guys that really do well together, and I need a good contest piece for them asap. They were doing "De animals a'comin" (arr. Bartholomew), but they blew right through it. I'd like something a little harder and a *little* longer.
I was thinking "Vive l'amour" ... |
| Comment: Re: World's First Topless Choir | Dan Kreider | December 10, 2009 |
| I think that's the stupidest thing I've every heard - and I teach high school, so that's saying a lot.
Just my two cents. =0)
Dan |
| Comment: Re: Best Choral Performance Nominees - Grammy | Dan Kreider | December 9, 2009 |
| My vote is between Christophers and Keene. Both outstanding musicians and fabulous work. |
| Comment: Re: Messiah movements, with harpsichord | Dan Kreider | November 20, 2009 |
| Matthew,
I had the EXACT same situation last year - we did Messiah highlights last Easter.
We did organ and harpsichord. The organ used the Peters organ score, and the harpsichord used the cembalo score. The results were excellent. The organ provides the power, and the harpsichord fill... |
| Comment: Re: Preparing Barber's Agnus Dei | Dan Kreider | November 17, 2009 |
| Jim,
I sang this piece with my collegiate choir several years ago. The piece is brutal. I think we pulled it off, but it completely fried our voices. I sang baritone, and the tessitura was very difficult. I know that for me as a singer, I'd prefer to never perform the piece again. Eve... |
| Forum message: Need standard apparel suggestions! | Dan Kreider | November 12, 2009 |
| Hi All,
I have a small (32 voice) HS choir, and I need apparel suggestions. We're a small school, so we can't afford to buy a bazillion tuxes or dresses or whatever. The students are required to purchase their own clothing. It has been a constant problem for me finding something that looks ... |
| Comment: Re: Which Way do I Go About Becoming A Choral Conductor? | Dan Kreider | October 27, 2009 |
| I have a BMus in Piano Performance and a MMus in Church Music with proficiencies in conducting and composition. I'm in my third year of teaching music at a private school.
For me, my undergrad was GREAT. While all my Music Ed friends were making bulletin boards, filling out lesson plans, and ... |
| Forum message: Piano adaptation of accompaniment for Rutter "O be joyful"??? | Dan Kreider | October 13, 2009 |
| Hi all,
My HS choir is doing Rutter's "O be joyful" in our upcoming Fall concert. My accompanist is very capable, but all we have is a piano. The accompaniment is most definitely NOT suited for piano.
Has anyone tweaked this for piano? I don't know if this violates copyright; if it does,... |
| Comment: Re: CCLI License | Dan Kreider | October 12, 2009 |
| John,
Check out www.ccli.com. Any time you reproduce lyrics that are under copyright, you absolutely need permission (either through CCLI or directly from the copyright holder). The same holds true for reproducing music - you MUST have obtained permission.
In my opinion, this is a very ser... |
| Forum message: Male voice change - different breaks? | Dan Kreider | October 7, 2009 |
| I'm in my third year of teaching, and I'm becoming more and more fascinated (and sometimes frustrated) with the boy's changing voice.
I need some advice. Most of my MS boys are approaching the voice change. What I don't understand is how they all seem to be happening differently. The ones t... |
| Comment: Re: Bad time for choir concert - vocal rest?? | Dan Kreider | October 7, 2009 |
| Thanks for the input, Joanna and John.
I had the concert moved to the following week. =0) Fortunately the arts enjoy a place of prominence at our school, and it was no problem!!
Thanks
Dan |
| Forum message: Ideas for creating a "culture of singing" | Dan Kreider | October 7, 2009 |
| Hi All,
I teach music at all levels at a small private school (100 students total). It's a wonderful opportunity, because I get students in 1st grade and can train them all the way through. This is my third year teaching, and I inherited a struggling program (they had been without a music tea... |
| Comment: Re: Easy TB, TTB, TTBB male repertoire | Dan Kreider | October 3, 2009 |
| If it's a beginning male choir, I don't think "easy TTBB" is a realistic goal. If they are beginners (I don't know what age), probably best to start TB. Better to sing a strong, "manly" sea song unison or 2-part than a piece in 4-parts that they will struggle to sing. Set them up for success f... |
| Comment: Re: HS Choir Rehearsal Time | Dan Kreider | October 2, 2009 |
| Hi Samuel,
I agree that 75 minutes per week is not enough for HS! I teach K-12 vocal music (and a few other things) in a school of 100 kids total. Here's my schedule:
1-3: MW, 30 min.
4-6: MF, 30 min.
JH Choir: TF 50 min.
JH Chorale: MWThF 40 min. (M - girls, W - unchanged boys, Th - barit... |
