- Main Feature - Dido & Aeneas
- New Releases - Sacred
- New Releases - Secular
- New Releases - Collections & Major Works
Performing Dido and Aeneas with Adolescent Singers
A Unique Dramatic & Musical Opportunity
Marie Stultz, Contributing EditorWith educators struggling to offer quality music education to their students and state agencies looking to support arts organizations that provide educational outreach, planning a concert of special music for children can be both challenging and fulfilling. There are a number of ingredients the choral director should consider when preparing a concert for school children:
- Determine the demographics of the children you wish to invite to your concert and choose music that is age-appropriate.
- Select a concert hall that will hold the number of children you wish to attend and which will allow everyone a good sight line to the performance.
- Choose music that has a common theme or thread. Title the concert to add to the continuity.
- Prepare an education guide of your concert for teachers to use in the music classroom.
- Select some music as part of the education packet that the children can perform with you.
- Include some dramatic elements to your concert to add to the interest.
- Develop a mission statement to assist in fundraising and programming
For the past few years the Treble Chorus of New England has presented "Hands on Opera" as part of its education outreach program. The philosophy behind the program is that children learn about opera through performances as well as by presenting these operas to their peers. Each summer the choir prepares an opera to use on tours or for a patrons salute. Over the choir's 26-year history, we have produced operas by Britten, Hindemith, Humperdinck, Mozart, Purcell, as well as numerous highlights from most of the major Gilbert and Sullivan operettas. The choir has also performed most of the opera roles written specifically for children with major opera companies.
This year's opera is the great Baroque opera, Dido and Aeneas. The entire program is entitled "Myth and Music" with an extensive education packet, including a teaching guide as well as an opera guide. Because we are featuring an English opera, we used that as a theme for the rest of the program. Sing-a-long pieces include Come, Come Ye Sons of Art, the folksong Lavender's Blue, and the traditional canon Music, O Music written by Bostonian Lowell Mason, who was founder of music education in the public schools. Other pieces the choir will perform are James Quitman Mulholland's Three Sixteenth Century Lyrics; Shepherd, Shepherd Leave Decoying (Purcell); Sally Gardens (Britten); and The Heavenly Aeroplane (Rutter).
Why is This Opera So Successful With Children?
Few moments in music education are more gratifying than introducing young singers to Baroque music. The ability to expose them to a Baroque opera that they are capable of performing, rather than watching or talking about it is even more satisfying. Filled with action-packed scenes from another time, mythological references, romance, sorcery, and great choruses, Henry Purcell's Dido and Aeneas captures young singers and concert-goers immediately with the plot, the history, and the drama. The fact that the young singer can perform this wonderful work for other school children is an added bonus. This chamber opera, lasting one hour and using limited instrumentation (strings and harpsichord - string quartet plus continuo or 3+3+2+1 is most desirable, with bassoon doubling the continuo part), is very believable when presented by youthful performers, an age group for which the work was most likely written.Purcell wrote Dido and Aeneas in 1689 for Josias Priest's Boarding School for Girls in the Chelsea section of London, England. Priest, a dancing master, accomplished choreographer, and occasional collaborator of Purcell, commissioned and prepared the first performance. The opera received its premiere in the spring of 1689, with the composer likely conducting from the harpsichord. Conductors and scholars continue to question the opera's origins, partly because Purcell's original (MS) autograph has not been found.
The early manuscripts available to scholars are incomplete, with one, the Tenbury manuscript, considered by most researchers to be the only reliable source. The fact that the piece does not conform to the scale of Purcell's other dramatic works, coupled with the limited number of male leads, and a reference to the school in Chelsea, written on what many scholars feel is the libretto from the first performance, indicate that Purcell conceived this opera for adolescent singers.
In that period, young girls were instructed in singing, dancing, and acting. This explains the opera's numerous dance interludes, brief recitatives and arias, the predominantly female cast, and limited instrumentation appropriate to accompany youthful, amateur performers. The libretto by Nahum Tate was abbreviated by Purcell. Some scholars believe that the opera was shortened to fit the premiere performance conditions, a "Speech Day" ceremony (about an hour) in the courtyard of the school.
How fortunate for the educator looking for new challenges that Purcell wrote this powerful masterpiece for young singers. Several features of the score make this opera an exciting and viable alternative to other dramatic works often used with adolescents.
- The principal roles of Dido and Belinda are quite moving when sung by the accomplished adolescent female, because they more closely fit the age of the operatic characters; the youthful performers are simply more believable.
- All solo parts in the Tenbury manuscript are written in the G clef. This includes the drunken sailor role, suggesting it might have been performed by a girl. The exception is Aeneas whose part is notated in the tenor clef. Thus, the cast make-up can be largely female or treble (children's) voices.
- Aeneas is a supporting role that can be sung by a tenor or high baritone. The music requires only the singing of recitatives, so that a good actor or amateur with a dramatic voice could manage the part.
- The number of dances found in the score leads to the conclusion that dancing figured prominently in the first performance. A local ballet school could become a collaborator, or improvised movement and simple dances could be choreographed with chorus members.
- There are obvious passages in the orchestration where more instruments could have been added, yet Purcell chose to restrict the orchestra to strings and harpsichord, ensuring that the young voices were not overwhelmed by heavy orchestration. The moderate scoring also reduces production costs.
- The arias are brief, displaying formal simplicity, with much of the music written in a declamatory style that will also accommodate the capable adolescent singer.
- The fifteen choruses in the opera often comment on or expand the story line. While traditional operatic composition usually gives to this role to the principals, Purcell makes the chorus an integral part of the production throughout the opera.
I have produced this wonderful opera with the Treble Chorus five times in 26 years. Each presentation was a challenge, becoming more dramatic, mischievous, and fanciful, as I worked to include the entire chorus, children, and adolescents alike, in a dramatically believable performance. With each production, I am constantly reminded of how students of varied capabilities grow musically and how dramatically powerful this opera can be in the hands of capable adolescents.
For More Information
A Performance Guide for Henry Purcell's Dido and Aeneas can be purchased from Spectrum Music. To obtain more information on TCNE's education outreach concert or obtain copies of the education packet, log onto the choir's web site at www.treblechorus.com or e-mail MIRA Music Education Publications at MIRAUSA2@aol.com.
New Releases ~ Sacred SATB Voices ~ Sacred
Adon Olam, arr. Joshua Jacobson, Hebrew text, Transcontinental, 982078, SATB, SATB soli, & continuo. This anonymous Italian piece is the second movement of a service for an all-night vigil of Hoshana Rabbah. The cantata was created by adapting extant works by other composers. The cantata was created in 1732 for the splendid synagogue in Casale Monferrato, Italy, built in 1595. A translation, background information, and pronunciation guide accompany the edition. Difficulty rating 2. $2.25
Awake the Trumpet's Lofty Sound, by G.F. Handel, English text, MorningStar, 50-4040, SATB & keyboard. Edited and arranged by William P. Rowan from a movement of the great oratorio Samson, this festival anthem is set to a text by John Milton which has been adapted by Newburg Hamilton. Church choirs will enjoy singing this great piece filled with trumpet-like phrases and lighthearted counterpoint. Difficulty rating 3. $1.50
Deck Thyself, My Soul, With Gladness, by Peter Mathews, English text, MorningStar, 50-6027, SATB & organ. This charming setting of a text by Johann Franck (1618-77) is great fun to sing. Filled with changing meters on simple rhythms and harmonies, the choir will enjoy learning this upbeat piece. Tastefully written, the piece is ideal for a communion Sunday. Difficulty rating 3. $1.50
D'Ror Yikra, arr. Alice Parker, Hebrew text, Transcontinental, 992081, SATB a cappella. One of two commissions by Temple Beth El, Aptos, California in 1998, this piece is filled with intricate rhythms and some challenging counterpoint. The text by Dunash ben Lavrat (902-986) is said to be the first Hebrew poetry to be written in Arabic meter. This majestic setting is filled with haunting harmonies. Difficulty rating 4. $1.50
Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis, by Howard Don Small, English text, Oxford, 386220-4, SATB, soprano & tenor solos, flute, handbells, & organ. The chant-like voice parts with simple bell parts open this beautiful magnificat set over quiet harmonies in the organ. This stunning setting of the evening service should be used in churches and cathedrals for evensong throughout the country. It is reminiscent of some of the Herbert Howells settings of the same text, although it is much simpler in nature. The bell parts can easily be played by amateur ringers. The flute part is used in the Nunc Dimittis and weaves with glistening phrase shapes through the choral, handbell, and organ musical fabric. The flutist must be able to play an F 3 with ease on a double piano. Difficulty rating 3. $3.50
Magnificat octabi toni, by Orlando di Lasso (1532-1594), Latin text, Breitkopf & Hartel, 5282, SATB a cappella. Edited by Rudolf Ewerhart, this elegant magnificat setting requires control of long phrase shapes. An accomplished cantor is required to chant with ease and elegance between the choral sections that are set homophonically in contrast to some simple counterpoint. Program notes and performance suggestions in German and English are included in the edition. Difficulty rating 3. Price available on request.
Magnificat primi toni, by Orlando di Lasso (1532-1594), Latin text, Breitkopf & Hartel, 5283, SSATB a cappella. Filled with elegant contrapuntal phrase shapes, and clear, ringing harmonies, this beautiful piece for five voices is breathtaking. Edited by Rudolf Ewerhart, the edition contains program notes and performance practices. An accomplished cantor is required to sing the Gregorian chant between the various sections. Difficulty rating 4. Price available on request.
Sing Praise to God, the Highest Good, by Melchior Vulpius, English text, MorningStar, 50-6028, SATB a cappella. Based on Vulpius' LOBT GOTT DEN HERREN IRH, this anthem is set by Kevin Hildebrand to a text by Johann J. Schütz (1640-90), translated by Frances E. Cox (1812-97). This happy piece is conducted in one and filled with simple counterpoint that the entire choir will enjoy. The two verses are edited to have contrast in dynamics. Difficulty rating 3. $1.25
Treble Voices ~ Sacred
Alleluia, by Charles Callahan, English text, MorningStar, 50-9457, SSA (divisi) & keyboard. This very unusual "Alleluia" was just performed at the ACDA National Convention in San Antonio and quite simply took down the house. Filled with off-beat rhythms and sung at the brisk tempo of 108 to the quarter, the piece is filled with surprising melodic shifts and ringing harmonies. The spectacular conclusion with three and four part voice writing will bring the entire audience to their feet. The piece requires an accomplished choir that can sing with ringing intonation. A stellar work, it can open or close a concert or be included in a church service or evensong with tremendous success. Difficulty rating 3-4. $1.25Come, Christians Join to Sing, arr. Hal Hopson, English text, MorningStar, 50-9923, SA & keyboard. This fun-loving piece is composed to an original text written by 19th century poet Christian Henry Bateman. This Central American folksong is an easy tune to learn. The canonic part-writing and repetitious phrase shapes in the second voice part make the anthem an ideal selection for teaching part-singing. Although the piece does not have the normal cross rhythms of other South American melodies, its origins from a fertile oral tradition, such as Central America, are quite clear. The edition by Marie Stultz contains a teaching tool and performance suggestions. It was recorded by The Treble Chorus of New England for a project for Habitat for Humanity. Difficulty rating 3. $1.25
Song Common to All, arr. Michael Burkhardt, Latin/English text, MorningStar, 50-9809, unison & orff/handbells. This edition includes selections taken from "Pammelia" an early collection of 17th century roundelays, catches, and canons. The collection was compiled and arranged by Michael Burkhardt. Both sacred and secular texts are under laid with each canon or street cry in this unique edition that is appropriate for school or church. The canons, which include Cantate Domino and Miserer nostri Domine, range from three to seven parts .Difficulty rating 3. $2.00
Three Elizabethan Ayres, arr. Michael Burkhardt, Latin/English text, MorningStar, 50-9925, unison/SA & keyboard (opt. cello). Pieces by John Dowland, Thomas Morley, and Robert Jones are included in this short collection. Dedicated to The Treble Chorus of New England, this edition by Burkhardt contains teaching suggestions and historic background. The original secular text is included with a religious paraphrased text by the arranger. Difficulty rating 3. $1.90
New Releases ~ Secular SATB Voices ~ Secular
Dashing Away with the Smoothing Iron, arr. John Rutter, English text, Oxford, 386237-9, SATBB cappella. This arrangement was first included in a publication in 1978 called Five Traditional Songs. It was reprinted in the anthology Folk Songs for Choirs 1 by Rutter in 1985. This separate edition is welcomed and demonstrates Rutter's fluid musical style. A playful love song, the counterpoint and homophonic sections are cleverly crafted. Written in 6/8 meter, the choir will find the dynamics and accompanying passages in contrast to the melody great fun to sing. Difficulty rating 4. $2.75
Hamba Lulu (Five African Songs), arr. Mike Brewer, African text, Hal Leonard, 08718040, SATB divisi a cappella. This collection offers the conductor the rare opportunity to offer authentic African music to choirs with little experience in this genre. Information on the music, performance suggestions, and style considerations are included in the edition. Filled with challenging rhythms, these songs from various African tribes are beautifully arranged. Improvisation is part of the creation of these wonderful pieces, with choir members playing appropriate percussion instruments. A translation of the African text is included. The part divisis suggests that the arrangement would be most effective when being sung by a large chorus. These pieces will be great fun to sing. Difficulty rating 4-5. $3.95
Kumah Echa, arr. Alice Parker, Hebrew text, Transcontinental, 992082, SATB a cappella. This quick, spirited setting to a text by Y. Sheinburg is the second in a commission by Temple Beth El. A song about dancing in the fields as the scythe and plum-line are used by the farmer, the piece is great fun to learn. Off-beat rhythms and challenging counterpoint between the voice parts require an accomplished choir. A pronunciation guide and translation accompany the edition. Difficulty rating 4-5. $2.25
La Villanella "O Come Bali Bene Bela Bimba" (O How Well You Dance, Beautiful Girl), arr. Steven Sametz, Italian text, Oxford, 386182-8, SATB, soprano & alto solo, a cappella. Composed for the professional choral ensemble Chanticleer, this arrangement has numerous divisi sections that are a real challenge. The wonderful rhythmic phrase shapes and Italian nonsense syllables add to the fun of singing this piece. This canzonet is filled with playful counterpoint and crossing voice parts, with a melody taken from Canzone Veneta. The piece is one of many commissions the composer has received to write for numerous professional adult ensembles supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, Connecticut Council for the Arts, and Santa Fe Music Festival. Difficulty rating 4. $2.50
Treble Voices~SecularAt the Turn of the Year, by Alan Bullard, English text, Oxford, SS (S) & piano. This is a cycle of three separate pieces - Stocking and Shirt (341534-8), Snow (341535-6), Wisselton, wasselton (341536-4), The first movement is set to a poem by James Reeves and is set with great spirit and playfulness. Filled with canonic counterpoint in a wonderful tessitura for building headtone, the children will love singing this piece. The second movement is set to a text by Walter de la Mare. It is in sharp contrast to the first movement with mysterious phrase shapes and quiet harmonies. The children will find the dynamics and expressive text a challenge to sing artistically. The third movement is a charming Christmas carol set to a traditional secular text. The three-part canon at the piece's conclusion can be easily learned, but the children must learn to sing in tune with crossing voice parts. This choral cycle is a real winner and will work with the intermediate or advanced treble ensemble. Difficulty rating 3. $1.50-1.35-1.50
Hamisha Asar, by Flory Jagoda, arr. Nick Page, Ladino text, Boosey, M-051-47234-5, SSA & piano. This festive song written in the Spanish/Hebrew language spoken by Sephardic Jews is a challenge rhythmically. Set in 7/8 with numerous enharmonics in the melody, it is an excellent tuning and intonation builder. This short 2 minute piece was written for the Jewish holiday held in the spring that celebrates the time when sap begins to flow. The edition contains a translation and pronunciation suggestions. It is also available for SATB voices (M-051-47078-5) and both versions can be performed simultaneously. Difficulty rating 3-4. $1.80
Ronde du crepuscule (Round Dance at Twilight), by Cecile Chaminade (1857-1944), French text, Treble Clef Music, TC-166, SSAA, soprano solo, & piano. First published in 1909, this wonderful poem about Queen Mab (inspirer of men's dreams) tells a story of evening kissing and dancing. The choral parts are filled with atmospheres that will be easy to learn. Written to support the elegant soprano solo, this is a real winner for women's choirs. The edition contains an excellent translation and program notes. The harmonies have a mystical quality about them, written over a lyrical, fluid piano part that is not very difficult. Difficulty rating3-4 $2.10
Taivas on Sininen, arr. Charles Collins, Finnish text, Boosey, M-051-47196-6, SSAA & piano. This setting of a Finnish folksong that expresses the longing of youth and talks of the secrets of the heart is lovely. Commissioned by the Spivey Hall Children's Choir in Atlanta, this piece requires an accomplished choir. The majority of the voice leading lies in the lower tessitura of the voice, therefore it requires accomplished breath support and an unforced voice quality. Difficulty rating 4-5. $1.80
Mens Voices ~ Secular
A Dream Deferred, by Paul Siskind, English text, Hal Leonard, 50483627, TTBB, tenor solo, & piano. Set to a text by Langston Hughes, this ambitious piece was commissioned by Michael Reiser for the 1993 GALA Leadership Conference for the Gateway Men's Chorus from St. Louis. The opening is written homophonically with many enharmonics between the voice parts. Changing meters and complex intervalic relationships over a sparsely written piano part will make this piece a challenge. This six minute piece requires an accomplished men's chorus. Difficulty rating 4. $1.95
New Releases ~ Collections & Major Works Music and Method for Children's Choir, by Evy Lucio, Spanish text, Kjos, V87, unison to SSA. This collection is arranged and developed by Evy Lucío, director and founder of the San Juan Children's Choir. The book is not so much a method book but a collection of songs, many authentic to Puerto Rico. Each piece in the collection has some teaching suggestions, a translation, and historic background; all explanatory text is in both Spanish and English. The book is great for teaching children to sing Latin music with authenticity. Difficulty rating 1-4. $6.95
SATB Voices ~ Collections
A Josquin Anthology, by Josquin Desprez, Latin text, Oxford, 353218-2, SATB (divisi) a cappella. This edition is beautifully edited by Ross W. Duffin. Included in the publication are style considerations, historical information, notes on the motets, sources and complete translations. The edition includes 12 motets and will be tremendously useful both in a church environment or with a choral society. The motets are completely researched and the edition offers a piano accompaniment for rehearsal only. The style observations and how to sing Josquin by the editor are insightful and quite complete. A must own for the church or early music conductor. Difficulty rating 4. $13.95
By Special Arrangement, Beautiful Choral Arrangements of Favourite Classics, mixed texts, Novello, 072523, SATB (divisi) a cappella, & keyboard. This interesting collection of choral arrangements, primarily of works originally written for orchestra, is edited and selected by Ralph Allwood, director of music at Eton College. The collection includes pieces by major composers from all periods of music history, including Bach. Mozart, Chopin, Tchaikovsky, Schubert and Barber. The 13 pieces, with texts adapted from various liturgical and other sources, offer the choral conductor a variety of both sacred and secular music. Difficulty rating 3-4. $17.95
Motetten (Motets), by J.S. Bach, German text, Bärenreiter, BA5193a, SATB (divisi) a cappella. Edited by Klaus Hofmann, this superb edition is one every choral director should own. It contains all the Bach motets, BWV 225-230, in an edition that is easy to read with a piano reduction for each motet. Background information and sources for the English translation are provided in the edition. Beautifully bound with large notes, this edition is pure pleasure. Difficulty rating 4-5. $24.95
SATB Voices ~ Major Works
A Dream of Gerontius, by Edward Elgar, English text, Novello, 072530, SATB, mezzo soprano, tenor, bass soloists and orchestra (piano reduction edition). This fine edition by Hywel Davies and Bruce Wood has an extensive preface and background information in both English and German. An historic edition, there is a list of sources and the editors also provide Elgar's alternatives that have been taken from the original MS. An excellent new edition of this great piece by this great turn of the century English composer. Difficulty rating 4. $29.95
Eleanor Roosevelt, by Libby Larsen, English text, Oxford, 386154-2, SATB, speaker, mezzo-soprano solo, clarinet, cello, and percussion. This unusual piece by contemporary American composer Libby Larsen is set to a libretto by Sally M. Gall. A dramatic cantata, the piece is based on this great First Lady's life and words. The piece is as sumptuous inside as the edition is outside. The cover of the publication offers one of the most beautiful photos of Eleanor this editor has ever seen. The piece is filled with intricate rhythms, advanced harmonic writing, and beautiful text painting. A truly unique work, the cantata is perfect for the advanced choral society or college choir. Larsen has been cited by USA Today as "the only English-speaking composer since Benjamin Britten who matches great verse with fine music so intelligently and expressively." The piece will take a lot of work to prepare, but definitely provides the choral conductor with an opportunity to program an unusual work on this brilliant woman's life. Difficulty rating 5. $29.95
Lux Perpetua (Peace and Unity), by Jonathan Willcocks, Latin/English text, Oxford, 338742-5, SATB & orchestra. Commissioned by Hinsdale Township High School District 86, Gary L. Wilhelm Music Director. It is written on the theme of peace and unity. The work had its premiere on March 23, 1999 in Chicago with the composer conducting. In the composer's notes, Willcocks makes the following statement, "By coincidence, the time when I was considering the structure of the work and texts that might be included coincided with the 80th anniversary of the November 1918 armistice and I spent a few days amongst the battlefields and endless cemeteries of the Great War in Flanders...... On the very night of the first performance of the work....allied forces began saturation bombing of Kosovo in a conflict that was to prove yet again that in war there are rarely winners, but always many who suffer." This hauntingly beautiful work is carefully set to various texts selected by the composer. A meaningful work, the piece is ideal for the accomplished high school choir, choral society, or college choir. The cantata is scored for wind ensemble, percussion, timpani, and harp. Parts and full score can be hired from the publisher. Difficulty rating 4. $12.95
Missa in C, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791), Latin text, Breitkopf & Härtel, (choral score) 5301, (vocal score) 8723, SATB, soloists, orchestra, & organ. This new edition is quite practical. The choral score contains just the voice parts which are printed very clearly. This Credo Mass was written by Mozart in November of 1776, during his time in Salzburg. It is scored for two oboes, two trumpets, three trombones, timpani, two violins, and organ, making it easy to mount in a church setting. Difficulty rating 3. Prices available on request.
Missa Gaia: Mass for the Earth, by Libby Larsen, English text, ESC, 4807, SATB, oboe, percussion, four-hand piano, and string quartet. This very unusual mass is set to texts by various poets. The piano/vocal score is available for purchase with the full score and parts available from the publisher as a rental. Larsen's selection of texts are always beautifully set and selected with great care. The ringing harmonies and text painting make this a unique six movement work. Difficulty rating 4. $16.95