Teaching choral music by German-Austrian 18th and 19th century composers : standard-based lessons and materials for seven pieces of the high school repertoire

2006·10 MB·English

by  Bermingham, Gudrun A

TEACHINGCHORALMUSIC '
BYGERMAN-AUSTRIAN18"^AND19*^CENTURYCOMPOSERS
STANDARD-BASEDLESSONSANDMATERIALS
FORSEVENPIECESOFTHEHIGHSCHOOLREPERTOIRE
By
GUDRUNA.BERMINGHAM
ADISSERTATIONPRESENTEDTOTHEGRADUATESCHOOL
OFTHEUNIVERSITYOFFLORIDAINPARTIALFULFILLMENT
OFTHEREQUIREMENTSFORTHEDEGREEOF
DOCTOROFPHILOSOPHY
UNIVERSITYOFFLORIDA
2006
Copyright2006
by
GudrunA.Bermingham
TothebestteachersIhaveeverhad:
mydearMother,
whohasdedicatedherlifetoherfamilyand
whoprovidedformeawarmandwonderfulhometogrowup
andmybelovedPapa(fApril16,2006),
whowasalwaysthereforhisfamilyand
whotaughtme,amongcountlessotherthings,
toread,towrite,tocount,totype,andtoalwaysbehonest.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thanks:
Tomychair,Dr.Robinson,andtoeachofthemembersofmycommittee,
Dr.Hoffer,Dr.Kushner,Dr.Sain,andTonyMata,
fortheirconstantandunwaveringsupportandencouragement,
fortheirclear,preciseandthought-provokinginputandinsights,and
foralwayskeepingmeon-targetandpushingmetomylimits.
Also,tothetwoformermembersofmycommittee:
ToDr.Morrowforinspiringinmethepassionforchoralconducting.
ToDr.Udell,whogavemeinvaluablehelpandsupport,andwholeftusallfartoosoon.
TotheUniversityofFloridalibrarystaff,RobenaandMichele,
for"unstickingme"wheneverIwas"stuck"inthelibrary.
Tomyhusband,Craig,forencouragingmetopursuethisdegreeand
forbeingthereformethroughoutthislongprocess.
Tomyparents,GerhildeandWernerBiller,
fortheirunconditionallove.
iv
TABLEOFCONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS iv
ABSTRACT vii
CHAPTER
1 INTRODUCTION 1
StatementoftheProblem 2
PurposeoftheStudy 9
DefinitionofTerms 10
Delimitations 13
Limitations 13
OrganizationoftheStudy 14
2 REVIEWOFTHELITERATURE 15
LiteratureRegardingtheIntegrationofContextualInformation
inPerformanceGroupsOtherThantheChoralRehearsal 15
LiteratureRegardingtheIntegrationofContextualInformation
intheChoralRehearsal 22
Summary 40
3 PROCEDURES 43
CriteriaUsedtoSelecttheRepertoire 43
CriteriaUsedtoSelecttheContextualInformation 49
OrganizationandPresentationoftheMaterials 51
TestingoftheMaterials 55
V
7
4 LESSONSANDMATERIALS 56
JohannSebastianBach:Cantata#4ChristlaginTodesbanden 56
JosephHaydn:MissaBrevisSti.JoannisdeDeo 79
WolfgangAmadeusMozart:Aveverum 103
LudwigvanBeethoven:HallelujahfromMountofOlives 122
FranzSchubert:Lebenslust 140
FelixMendelssohn:He,WatchingOverIsraelfromElijah 163
JohannesBrahms:DerAbend 181
5 FffiLDTESTSRESULTS 201
ResultsoftheQuestiormaire 201
OtherFeedback 207
6 SUMMARY,CONCLUSIONSAND
RECOMMENDATIONSFORFUTURERESEARCH 210
APPENDK
A E-MAILTOCHOIRDIRECTORS 21
B COVERLETTER 218
C QUESTIONNAIRE 219
D RESULTSQUESTIONNAIREBACH 220
E RESULTSQUESTIONNAIREHAYDN 224
F RESULTSQUESTIONNAIREMOZART 228
G RESULTSQUESTIONNAIREBEETHOVEN 232
H RESULTSQUESTIONNAIRESCHUBERT 236
I RESULTSQUESTIONNAIREMENDELSSOHN 240
J RESULTSQUESTIONNAIREBRAHMS 244
K INTERVIEWRESULTS 248
REFERENCES 251
BIOGRAPHICALSKETCH 262
vi
! •
AbstractofDissertationPresentedtotheGraduateSchool
oftheUniversityofFloridainPartialFulfillmentofthe
RequirementsfortheDegreeofDoctorofPhilosophy
TEACHINGCHORALMUSIC
BYGERMAN-AUSTRIAN18thand19thCENTURYCOMPOSERS:
STANDARD-BASEDLESSONSANDMATERL\LS
FORSEVENPIECESOFTHEHIGHSCHOOLREPERTOIRE
By
GudrunA.Bermingham
May2006
Chair:RussellL.Robinson
MajorDepartment:Music
ThisstudysoughttofacilitatetheincorporationofStandards8and9ofthe
NationalStandardsforMusicEducationintothehighschoolchoralclassroom.Itwas
intendedtoremedytheproblemthatsuchStandardsarefi^uentlyneglectedinmusic
performanceclasses.Assuch,itwasmeanttoserveasareadilyaccessibleresource
containingrelevantcontextualinformationregardingvariouschoralworks.
ThefocusofthestudyweresevenpiecesbyGermanandAustriancomposers
fromthe18thand19thcentury:Bach'sCantata#4,Haydn'sMissabrevisSti.Joannis
deDeo,Mozart'sAveverum,Beethoven'sHallelujahfromChristontheMountof
Olives,Schubert'sLebenslust,Mendelssohn'sHe,WatchingOverIsraelfromElijah,
andBrahms'DerAbend.
vii
Foreachofthesepieces,fourin-depthlessonswerecreatedwhichdealwiththe
relationshipbetweenmusic,theotherarts,anddisciplinesoutsidethearts(Standard
8),andwhichofferhistoricalandculturalcontextualinformation(Standard9)in
ordertofacilitatestudents'understanding.
Inaqualitativefieldtest,eachsetofmaterialswasdistributedtoonehighschool
choirdirectorteachinggrades9through12fortestingandevaluation.Ananalysisof
thechoraldirectors'responsesdemonstratedthattheselessonsareofpracticalvalue
anduseableinhighschools.Additionally,mostteachersreportedthatthelessons
facilitatedabetterunderstandingofthepieceamongtheirstudentsandthatthey
constitutedavaluableuseoftheirclassroomtime.Nevertheless,theindividual
commentsalsorevealedthatitwasvirtuallyimpossibletocreategenerallyvalid
lessonplansfordifferentkindsofschoolsorlevelsofperformancegroups.
Inorderforteacherstoconsistentlybeabletointegratecontextualknowledge
intothechoralclassroom,severalvolumesofsuchlessonsandmaterialsoughttobe
created.Thesevolumesshouldencompassavarietyofchoralliterature-also20th
centurypiecesandpiecesfix)mothercountriesandcultures-,whileeachvolume
shouldfocusonadifferentleveland/ortypeofperformancegroup.
v•m••
CHAPTER
1
INTRODUCTION
ThisdissertationseekstostudytheincorporationofStandards8and9ofthe
NationalStandardsforMusicEducationintohighschoolchoralclasses.Standard8
providesfor"Understandingrelationshipsbetweenmusic,theotherartsanddisciplines
outsidethearts,"andStandard9requires:"Understandingmusicinrelationtohistoryand
culture."
r'
Inordertoaccomplishthistask,thisworkisintendedtoprovidehighschoolchoral
directorswithinstructionalmaterialsforsevenselectedchoralpiecesbyGermanand
AustriancomposersfromtheBaroquethroughtheRomanticperiod.
Thischapteraddressesseveralissues:Thefirstsection,"StatementoftheProblem,"
discussesthedegreetowhichrelevantbackgroundinformationhasbeenincludedinthe
performanceclassroom,thereasonsfortheinadequatetreatmentofsuchinformation,as
wellasargumentsinfavorofincorporatingthesecontentsintotheperformance
classroom.Thesecondsectionprovidesadiscussionofthepurposeofthestudy,while
sectionthree,"DefinitionsofTerms,"addressesthevarioustermsusedinthetitleofthis
dissertation,andseekstodefinetheminordertoavoidanyambiguities.Sectionfour
describesthedelimitations,andsectionfivethelimitationsofthestudy.Sectionsix
outlinestheorganizationofthisdissertation.
1
2
StatementoftheProblem
PracticesofIntegratingContextinthePerformanceClassroom
Whenin1994Congresspassedthe"Goals2000:EducateAmericaAct,"thearts
were,forthefirsttimeinAmericanhistory,writtenintofederallawasacorecurricular
subject.AspartoftheAct,aspecialMusicTaskForcechairedbyPaulLehman,
presidentofthe"MusicEducatorsNationalConference(MENC)"from1984to1986,
developedninecontentstandardswhichspecifiedwhateveryyoungAmericanoughtto
know,andbeabletodo,inmusic:
1. Singing,aloneandwithothers,avariedrepertoireofmusic
2. Performingoninstruments,aloneandwithothers,avariedrepertoireofmusic
3. Improvisingmelodies,variations,andaccompaniments
4. Composingandarrangingmusicwithinspecifiedguidelines
5. Readingandnotatingmusic
6. Listeningto,analyzing,anddescribingmusic
7. Evaluatingmusicandmusicperformances
8. Understandingrelationshipsbetweenmusic,theotherarts,anddisciplinesoutside
thearts
9. Understandingmusicinrelationtohistoryandculture
(Consortium,1994,pp.97-109)
ThesenineStandardsshouldbeincludedinmusiclessonplans,regardlessof
whethertheparticularsubjectisgeneralmusic,choir,band,orchestraoranyothermusic
discipline.IntheintroductiontotheStandardsforgrades9-12,forexample,onecanread
that"everycourseinmusic,includingperformancecourses,shouldprovideinstructionin