The Helix of Choral Music

Dr. Leonard Ratzlaff, Director of Choral Activities at University of Alberta (my Alma Mater) in Edmonton Alberta Canada has recently embarked into the world of blogging on Choral Music.

Here is a sample of a recent post:

Learning to communicate with every phrase one sings - what a concept! It might seem so basic as to be obvious, but I am sure we have all experienced the mundane as well as the refreshing and inspiring, both in our own singing and the singing we have heard from others, so we do recognize the difference immediately. The powerful effect of such engaged and enlivened performances can shake one to the core if one is lucky enough to be present when it happens! This was most aptly demonstrated for me by a number of university choirs at this year's national convention of the American Choral Directors Association in Oklahoma City. Many of the best performances were delivered for memory, enabling visual communication and highly refined ensemble awareness within the group, but there were also some groups whose use of music (the British Early Music group Alamire comes to mind) did not compromise their ability to communicate their passion for the music they were presenting. The key in all of these performances was surely that the group, through the leadership provided from the podium, had considered the potential communicative impact of every line and phrase - a process that can take great amounts of time but can nevertheless be life-changing for our singers if we ourselves take the time to deliver the message in a cogent and well-thought out plan of attack.

Welcome to the Blogeshere Len, I think we will all enjoy what you have to offer to our expanding network of Choral Blogs.

Hidden in Len's blog URL is the title "Choral Helix", bringing to mind the imagery of choral music as an organic growth, compared to that of the "double helix" known in the sciences as the building blocks of our DNA. A lovely metaphor to choral music, and singing.