It was my good fortune to sing under the baton of Robert Shaw for a span of nearly a quarter century. During that time, I experienced some of the most well planned and executed rehearsals of my entire musical life. Mr. Shaw was a master at knowing how the music should sound and what needed to be done to accomplish that sound. He believed there were four foundations of choral technique and that for successful performance we must always keep them foremost in our minds.
- Intonation is the sine qua non (without which, not) of choral singing. In other words, correct pitch is essential!
- Time is divisible and must be particularized with a precision similar to that given to intonation. Count singing anyone?
- Vocal tone (in addition to being capable of absolute pitch at an absolute moment) is also capable of a variety of dynamics and colors.
- Choral music includes words and the distinct and successive sounds which form these words must be given their moment in time.
These four basic concepts, followed carefully and consistently in rehearsals, can produce some fine choral singing. It certainly worked for Robert Shaw!
