Chorus types - mixed women's men's. Choir team. Choir structure. Quantitative and qualitative composition Minimum number of singers in an average mixed choir

The concept of the type of choir as a specific composition and as a specific composition of choral music. Choir types. Characteristics of their vocal-technical and performance capabilities. Examples.

Choir types. Determining the type of choir and choral score. Definition of the term "choir party". Complete set of choral parts with corresponding solo singing voices. The quantitative composition of the choirs and related performance possibilities. Examples of choral compositions of various types.

Various options for the location of the choir.

Terminology on the topic:

Homogeneous choir- a choir consisting of the same type of voices (male, female or children).

Children's choir- homogeneous. There are junior, middle and senior choirs, in general from 6 to 15 years old.

incomplete choir- a mixed choir in which there is no part.

mixed choir- choir, consisting of 4 parts: Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Bass.

The consignment- part of the choir singing in the same voices.

division(divisi) is a musical term that refers to the division of one part into two or more in the score of the choir.

7. Build in the choir.

Definition of the concept of "musical structure". The historical aspect of the emergence and modification of various musical systems, called musical tunings.

The structure of the choir is one of the main elements of choral sonority.

Disclosure of the concept of "zone system". Confirmation of the main conclusions of P.G.Chesnokov in the scientific research and works of Academician N.A.Garbuzov about the zone nature of the vocal system.

Melodic (horizontal) and harmonic (vertical) tuning. Melodic structure as the achievement of unison in the sound of the choral part through the awareness of modal inclinations and the laws of zonal intonation of steps and intervals. Harmonic system and its relationship with the melodic system. Chord intonation. The development of auditory data in singers. The active nature of vocal hearing and its relationship with muscle sensations. The relationship between breathing and tuning, vocals and tuning. Dependence of order achievement on the musical expressive means of the score, tempo, dynamics, etc. Difficulties in order achievement due to working conditions and other external factors.

Terminology on the topic:

Chorus system- one of the main elements of choral sonority, which determines the intonational purity of singing.

intonation- conscious reproduction of music. sound by voice or instrument. Accurate intonation relies on modal connections.

Fork- a sound source device that serves as a standard of pitch when tuning musical instruments and in singing. The reference tone frequency for the first octave is 440 Hz.

Ensemble in the choir.

The concept of an ensemble in its various meanings, including structural and organizational. Ensemble as one of the main elements of choral sonority. The psychological basis of the ensemble. The ensemble is private and shared. Technological types of the ensemble: by sound quality (vocal), by strength (dynamic), in time (rhythmic, tempo). Ensemble and tuning dependence. Vocal ensemble as a unity of vocal position, articulatory form and timbre. The dynamic ensemble includes: a natural and artificial ensemble, an ensemble in conditions of various textures, an ensemble of a soloist and a choir, an ensemble of a choir and instrumental accompaniment. Rhythmic ensemble, its dependence on metrorhythm, tempo, texture, etc. Tempo ensemble. Art ensemble, its influence on the technological ensemble.

Terminology on the topic:

Choir Ensemble(ensemble - together) is one of the main components of choral sonority.

Dynamics in music- the strength of the sound, loudness and their changes.

Pace- the speed of alternation of metric parts in music. The tempo is closely related to the character, style, genre, as well as the personality of the performer.

Meter- the order of alternation of strong and weak beats in music.

Metronome- a device for determining the tempo of a piece of music.

Rhythm- temporal organization of musical sounds and their combinations.

Syncope- discrepancy between metric and rhythmic stresses.

Accompaniment- accompaniment by one or more instruments, as well as by the orchestra of the solo part (singer, instrumentalist, choir).

Texture- a warehouse, a device for a musical fabric, a set of its elements. And the elements of texture, what it consists of: melody, accompaniment, bass, middle voices and undertones. The texture can be very diverse: homophonic, harmonic, polyphonic, etc.

For more than a quarter of a century, the Russian musical group "Turetsky Choir" has been on the crest of success and pleases music lovers. Ten soloists, led by the People's Artist of the Russian Federation, have found their way to the hearts of millions of fans not only with their impeccable performance and talent, but also with the fact that the group has no repertoire restrictions. The vocal group's arsenal includes world classic hits, rock compositions, jazz and folk songs.

The rejection of the phonogram and "live" voices make each performance unique. The repertoire of the Turkish Choir includes songs performed in 10 languages. More than 5 thousand appearances on the stages of Russia, the countries of the post-Soviet space, Europe, Asia and America have made the team world-famous.

Music

The debut of the team took place in 1990, but the origins of creativity are deeper. The art group was formed towards the end of the 1980s at the choral synagogue in Moscow. At first, the repertoire included Jewish compositions and liturgical music. After a couple of years, the band's ambitions grew, and the soloists expanded their genre repertoire with popular songs and music from different countries and eras, opera and rock compositions.

According to Mikhail Turetsky, who headed the group, in order to expand the circle of listeners, the repertoire included the music of the last 4 centuries - from chanson to pop hits of the Soviet stage.

The debut concerts of the "Turetsky Choir" were held with the support of the Jewish charitable organization "Joint" and were held in Tallinn, Chisinau, Moscow, Leningrad and Kyiv. Interest in the Jewish musical tradition, which froze after 1917, flared up with renewed vigor.

In 1991-92, the Turetsky Choir went on tour in Canada, France, Great Britain, America and Israel. In Spanish Toledo, the ensemble participated in a festival organized for the 500th anniversary of the Jewish exile, and went on stage with world stars Isaac Stern and.

In the mid-1990s, the Turetsky Choir split up: one half remained in the Russian capital, the second moved to Miami, where the musicians worked under a contract. The repertoire of the second half expanded with Broadway classics and jazz hits.

In 1997, the vocalists, led by Turetsky, joined the farewell tour of the country and, together with the singer, gave over 100 concerts.

In 1999, the Turetsky Choir presented to the audience a repertoire performance called Mikhail Turetsky's Vocal Show. The premiere took place on the stage of the Variety Theatre.

In 2002, Mikhail Turetsky received the title of Honored Artist of the Russian Federation, and 2 years later the choir gave its first concert in the Rossiya Concert Hall. In the same 2004, at the National "Person of the Year" award, the group's program, called "Ten Voices That Shook the World", was nominated as "Cultural Event of the Year".

In early 2005, the Turetsky Choir went on a tour of America and gave concerts on the stages of concert halls in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston and Chicago. In the same year and the following year, the vocalists visited hundreds of cities in Russia and the CIS with a new program called "Born to Sing".

In 2007, the Turetsky Choir became the winner of the Record-2007 award, which was awarded to the ensemble for the album Great Music. The collection includes classical compositions.

In 2010-2011, the musicians went on the anniversary tour "20 years: 10 voices", and in 2012, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the band's leader, a concert was held in the Kremlin Palace, in which, in addition to the choir, Russian show business stars participated. In the same year, the ensemble presented the fans with the song "God's Smile Rainbow", for which a video was recorded.

In the spring of 2014, the Turetsky team presented a show program to music lovers, which was staged by the choreographer. It was called "Male view of love." To see the performance live, 19,000 spectators gathered at the stadium of the Olimpiyskiy sports complex, who watched what was happening on the stage from interactive screens.

On Victory Day, the musicians gave a 2-hour concert on Poklonnaya Hill, gathering 150,000 people. In April 2016, in the Kremlin Palace, the Turetsky Choir presented fans with an unforgettable show in honor of the 25th anniversary of the group, calling it "With you and forever."

Composition

Over time, the composition of the art group changed, but the leader, Mikhail Turetsky, remained unchanged. He passed the path to the leader of the illustrious team after graduating in the mid-1980s from the Institute. Gnesins. The first wards of Mikhail were children - Turetsky led the choir of young vocalists. Then he headed the choir of the Yuri Sherling Theater.

In 1990, Mikhail Turetsky organized a men's choir in the capital's choral synagogue, which transformed into a glorified collective.

One of the oldest and at the same time the youngest soloists of the art group - Alex Alexandrov - joined the choir in 1990. Moskvich graduated from Gnesinka in the mid-1990s. Alexandrov became famous for copying voices and. The vocalist has a rich dramatic baritone voice.

In 1991, the poet, bass profundo Yevgeny Kulmis, who previously led the children's choir, joined Turetsky's brainchild. Eugene was born near Chelyabinsk, started his career as a pianist and also went from Gnesinka to work in the Turetsky Choir. Kulmis is the author of lyrics and Russian translations of some songs.

In 1991-92, two more Muscovites joined the team: dramatic tenor Evgeny Tulinov and altino tenor Mikhail Kuznetsov. Tulinov and Kuznetsov - Honored Artists of the Russian Federation since 2006 and 2007, respectively. Both are Gnesinka graduates.

In the mid-1990s, Oleg Blyakhorchuk, a lyric tenor from Minsk, joined the ensemble. He plays the piano, accordion, melody, electric and acoustic guitars. He came to the team from the orchestra of Mikhail Finberg, where he was a soloist.

In 2003, the Turetsky Choir accepted two more residents of the capital into its membership: Boris Goryachev, who previously performed Russian sacred music, who has a lyrical baritone, and Igor Zverev (bass cantanto).

In 2007 and 2009, the art group was enriched by baritone tenor Konstantin Kabo and countertenor Vyacheslav Fresh. Both are native Muscovites.

Of those who left the band, music lovers remember Boris Voinov, who worked in the Turetsky Choir from the day of its formation to 1993, tenor Vladislav Vasilkovsky (immigrated to the United States in 1996) and operatic tenor Valentin Sukhodolets (left in 2009). From 1991 to 1999 tenor Mark Smirnov and bass Vladimir Aranzon sang in the Turetsky Choir.

"Turetsky Choir" now

In 2017, the art group presented the fans with the lyric song "With You and Forever", for which the director Olesya Aleinikova shot a video. The video was the leader at the 7th award of the RU.TV channel. The ceremony took place in the capital's Crocus City Hall.

At the annual music award RU.TV for the first time presented a nomination for the best clip, which was filmed in the Crimea. Vladimir and the Turetsky Choir fought for the victory.

In October 2017, the wards of Mikhail Turetsky made another surprise for music lovers by presenting the song and video “You Know”. The actress starred in the video.

On the page of the "Turetsky Choir" in "Instagram" and on the official website, fans of the group will learn about the news in the creative life of the team. In February 2018, the ensemble gave a concert in the Kremlin.

Discography

• 1999 - "High Holidays (Jewish Liturgy)"
• 2000 - "Jewish Songs"
• 2001 - Bravissimo
• 2003 - "The Turetsky Choir presents ..."
• 2004 - Star Duets
• 2004 - "When men sing"
• 2006 - "Born to Sing"
• 2006 - "Great Music"
• 2007 - "Moscow - Jerusalem"
• 2007 - "Music of all times and peoples"
• 2009 - Hallelujah of Love
• 2009 - "Music of all times"
• 2010 - "Music of our hearts"
• 2010 - "The Show Goes On"

A choir is a team that is sufficiently proficient in the technical and artistic-expressive means of choral performance necessary to convey those thoughts and feelings, the ideological content that is inherent in the work.

Choir types:

There are parts of voices in the choir. They are grouped according to the nature of the sound and the range of voices. High female voices - soprano; low female voices - violas; high male - tenor; low male - basses; high children's voices - soprano (treble).

Characteristics of the choral parts:

SOPRANO is characterized by a high, mobile light and light sound. Most often, this part is entrusted with the performance of the leading melody of the work. Range: up to the first octave - re of the second octave.

Altos are distinguished by a lower, denser, richer sound. In women's two-part choirs, the altos often take the lead, singing the melody on their own or with the soprano. Range: la small octave - re second octave.

TENORA: mobile, light, but at the same time firm, strong sound is inherent. In a mixed choir, this is the middle voice, but sometimes it plays the role of a leading part, singing a melody on its own or with a soprano. Range: up to a small octave - la of the second octave.

BASS: usually - the foundation, the basis of the choir. Characterized by strength, power. At the same time, the lightness of the sound is inherent. In the male two-voice choir - the role of the second voice, but sometimes they perform the main melody of the work. Range: fa, salt of a large octave - re of a small octave.

The number of members of the choir.

The number of singers in each part should be approximately the same. The smallest number of votes in a party is three. The minimum composition of a mixed choir is 12 people.

C.3 + A.3 + T.3+B.3=12; C.3 + A.3=6; T.3 + B.3=6

Vocal Ensembles

C.6 + A.6 + T.6 + B.6 = 24 - small choir.

Elements of choral performance:

Ensemble (rhythmic ensemble). The ability of all singers to sing, pronounce words, take a breath, start, end a song at the same time.

Build (pure intonation of each singer).

Nuances (different sounding of different parts of the work).

Diction (pronunciation by singers of the text clearly, clearly).

Choir arrangement

For the successful work of the choir, a certain arrangement of parties is of no small importance. There are various placement methods. It is more expedient to arrange the choir in the form of a semicircle, since this creates the most concentrated sound. (see annex 1)

Main questions.

I.1) Definition of the choir by prominent masters of choral art.

2) Directions in choral performance.

3) Type of choir.

4) The number of choirs.

II. Chorus types.

III. Arrangement of the choir.

Target: Determine the significance of the arrangement of the choir for the most favorable sound of the choral work, in connection with the type and type of choir.

Definition of a choir by eminent masters of the choral art

A. A. Egorov (“Theory and practice of working with the choir”): “A choir is a more or less numerous group of singers performing a vocal-choral work. Moreover, each part is sung by several homogeneous voices. In this, the choral group, as a vocal organization, differs significantly from the chamber vocal ensemble (duet, trio, quartet, etc.), in which each individual part is always entrusted to only one performer. The most typical, pure type of choir group is the a cappella choir, i.e. the group singing without instrumental accompaniment. Another type of choir group - a choir group accompanied by a piano, an ensemble of instruments or an orchestra - is no longer completely independent: it shares its performing tasks with instrumental accompaniment.

The a cappella choir is a kind of vocal orchestra, which, based on the synthesis of sound and words, conveys the artistic images of a musical work with its rich colors.

V. G. Sokolov (“Working with the choir”): “A choir is a team that is sufficiently familiar with the technical and artistic and expressive means of choral performance necessary to convey the thoughts, feelings, and ideological content that are embedded in the work.”

P. G. Chesnokov (“Choir and its management”): “The a cappella choir is a full-fledged union of a significant number of human voices, capable of conveying the subtlest bends of spiritual movements, thoughts and feelings expressed in a performed composition. A choir is such a collection of singers, in the sonority of which there is a strictly balanced ensemble, a precisely adjusted system and artistic, distinctly worked out nuances.

Note that Chesnokov refers nuances to the elements of choral sonority, interpreting this concept more broadly than a movable dynamic scale. Nuances, according to Chesnokov, cover the means of musical and choral expressiveness - features of rhythm, tempo, agogics, diction, etc., in connection with their dynamic changes.

Chorus is an extremely capacious concept. It is usually regarded as a musical and singing group whose activity is the creative process of choral music-making (or choral performance). In this context, the choir is a vocal and performing group united and organized by creative goals and objectives. The principle of the collective beginning is obligatory for all participants of the choir and must be maintained at any stage of the work of the choir. A choir is a large vocal ensemble in terms of the number of participants, consisting of choral parts. The basic basis of each choral part is the unison, which implies the complete fusion of all vocal and choral components of the performance - sound formation, intonation, timbre, dynamics, rhythm, diction, in other words, the choir is an ensemble of vocal unisons. Choral performance is expressed in two forms of music making - singing without accompaniment (a cappella) and singing with accompaniment. Depending on the method of intonation - in natural or tempered tuning - the role of intonation increases. Accurate intonation (system) and balanced sound (ensemble) in the choir are the main conditions for his professionalism. A well-coordinated choir is always perceived as a vocal orchestra consisting of human voices, and therefore requires the constant and systematic attention of the choirmaster from the moment the choir sings to the concert performance on the stage. The structure in the choir depends on the skill and training of the singers participating in it, as well as on the personal and professional qualities of the conductor-choirmaster, his will, knowledge, and experience. The system in the choir is always associated with the performance of many different interrelated tasks - from the organization of the singing and choral process and the education (training) of singers to the embedding of the actual choral sonority with the identification of ensemble and system problems. At the same time, important tasks in the process of building a choir - the creation of an ensemble of vocal unisons, the high-altitude uniformity of the performed sounds, their timbre unity - are solved under the condition of properly organized vocal and choral work with singers. In choral performance, various types of arts are organically combined - music and literature (poetics). The synthesis of these two types of art introduces specific features into choral creativity. A logical and meaningful combination of music and words defines the concept of the vocal-choral genre. A good choir is always distinguished by technical and artistic and expressive performance, where, along with the problems of the ensemble and the system, the tasks of musical and literary interpretation are solved.

None of the properties listed above can exist in isolation. All components are interconnected and are in constant agreement.

Initially, choral performance was amateur and only due to special historical conditions acquired the status of professional art. From here come two main forms of choral activity - professional and amateur, hence their own names - professional choir and amateur choir (folk, amateur). The first is a choir consisting of specially trained singers, the second is a choir in which everyone who wants to sing takes part. Classes in amateur choirs are not as regulated as in professional ones.

There are two main directions in choral performance - academic and folk, which are characterized by qualitative differences in the manner of performance.

The academic choir (or chapel) relies in its activities on the principles and criteria of musical creativity and performance, developed by professional musical culture and the traditions of the centuries-old experience of the opera and chamber genre. Academic choirs have a single condition for vocal work - the academic manner of singing. In considering the problems of vocal-choral singing, we will start from the concept of the academic manner of singing.

A folk choir is a vocal group that performs folk songs with their inherent features (choral texture, voice leading, vocal manner, phonetics). Folk choirs, as a rule, build their work on the basis of local or regional singing traditions. This determines the variety of compositions and the manner of performance of folk choirs. It is necessary to distinguish a folk choir in its natural, everyday form from a specially organized, folk choir, professional or amateur, performing both genuine folk songs and author's compositions in the folk spirit.

Choral works can be characterized by the number of independent choral parts in them, which is determined by the concept of the type of choir. There are works for the choir of various compositions - one-voice, two-voice, three-, four- and more. The principles of using divisi (separation) in choral parts are related to the pitch ratios of singing voices, as well as their harmonic and timbre-color combinations. It is known that divisi harmonically saturates the choral presentation, but at the same time noticeably weakens the power of the sound of choral voices.

The main and minimal structural unit of the choir is the choral part, which is a coordinated ensemble of singers whose voices in their general parameters are relatively the same in range and timbre. It is with the choral part (a group of singers) that the construction of choral sonority begins in many aspects: the choral part is the initial object of the conductor’s work in establishing the ensemble and the system, in the artistic decoration of the work. In this regard, the problem of the smallest number of singers (voices) in the choral part - 3-4 singers, as well as their timbre and dynamic balance, is revealed.

Theoretically, according to the definition of P. G. Chesnokov, a homogeneous two-voice children's, women's or men's choir can be at least 6 singers, for example 3 sopranos (treble) + 3 altos, 3 tenors + 3 basses. However, in modern performing practice, a choir of a similar size is called a vocal ensemble. The double composition of the choir is considered more sonorous, where each part has two minimum compositions: 6 first sopranos + 6 second sopranos + 6 first altos + 6 second altos, in total 24 singers are obtained. Here it is also possible to divide (divisi) each party into two groups.

The number of singers in the parts of the choir must be the same. It is unacceptable that a female or children's group of singers of 30 people consists, for example, of 11 first sopranos, 9 second sopranos, 6 first altos and 4 second altos. It is recommended to slightly increase the number of singers in the parts of the first sopranos and second altos in the women's (children's) four-part choir, which is associated both with the dynamic selection of the choral part that performs the upper melodic voice (C I), and with a more compact sound of the chord base (A II) , for example:

soprano first - 8 people;

soprano second - 7 people;

first violas - 7 people;

violas second - 8 people.

Total: 30 people

The sound density of the unison parts of the chamber choir, the number of which does not exceed 10 singers, is incommensurable with the sound of the choral parts of a large choir, where the number of singers in the choral parts is 20-25 singers.

In the theory of choral studies, it is customary to classify the quantitative composition of choirs into three main types - small (chamber), medium and large choirs. In modern performing practice, a chamber choir with an approximate number of singers is 20-30 people. The average mixed choir, numbering up to 40 people, involves the division of each choral part into two. The number of a large mixed choir usually ranges from 80-120 people (occasionally more).

Under favorable conditions, mass and combined choirs of several hundred and even thousands of people can be created. In the choral literature there are examples of multi-choir compositions, in general, numbering over a dozen and a half independent choral parts.

The existing concept of a double choir means a choir divided into two honors, each of which is relatively independent; both parts of the double choir can be both mixed (full and incomplete) and homogeneous composition. The triple choir accordingly consists of three parts.

There is a special choral literature for any performing composition of choirs, which, of course, takes into account the timbre-catalistic features and the size of the choir composition. Thus, works written for a chamber choir, and therefore aimed at a small group, will sound thick and heavy in a large choir, numbering about 100 singers. And vice versa, the score for a large choir with divisi in different voices in the sound of a small choir loses its figurative brilliance.

Choir types

The composition of the performing team by groups is characterized by the term type of choir. Singing voices are divided into three groups: women's, men's and children's. A choir consisting of the voices of one group is called homogeneous, and a choir consisting of female (or children's) and male voices or singing voices of all three groups is called mixed. Currently, there are four types of choirs: women's, men's, children's and mixed.

Mixed choir (full composition)

The range of the mixed choir is more than 4 octaves in G-A counter octaves up to 3 octaves. The mixed choir has a great dynamics of sound power from barely audible pp to ff, capable of competing with a symphony orchestra.

male choir

The range for the counter octave is up to 2 octaves. The male choir has a great dynamism of sound, bright timbre colors. The tenor part is the lead melodic voice and sings with a thicker chest sound.

Women's choir

The range is from the fatal octave to up to 3 octaves. Extreme sounds are rare. The most common is a mixed and close arrangement of voices. Many original compositions and adaptations of folk songs for women's choir were created by Russian and foreign composers.

Children's choir

The expressive and technical capabilities of the children's choir are closely related to the age characteristics of the composition.

A child's voice is characterized by transparency, softness, sharpness of intonation, and the ability to perfect harmony and ensemble. The sound of the children's choir is distinguished by immediacy and sincerity of performance. The children's choir has great performing abilities.

The arrangement of the choir

The arrangement of the choir is a specific system for the arrangement of singers for the purpose of their joint performing activities. Domestic choral culture has accumulated rich experience on the issue of arranging the choir. The theoretical understanding of this experience was reflected in the works of P.G. Chesnokov, G.A. Dmitrevsky, A.A. Egorov, S.V. Popov, K.K. Pirogov, V.G.Sokolova and others. So, V.G.Sokolov notes that "for the successful work of the choir, a certain arrangement of parts during rehearsals and concert performances, which is familiar to both the leader and the singers, is of no small importance."

One of the most important in this matter is the artistic and performing aspect. It is known that the arrangement should provide the singers of the parts with the most favorable conditions for ensembles. In this regard, A.A. Egorov writes: “By successively rearranging the voices within the group and carefully selecting one voice for another on the basis of homogeneity and timbres, it is possible to establish a complete merger and thereby lay the foundation for a choral part.”

The correct arrangement should ensure the possibility of auditory contact between the singers of various choral parias, because "good mutual hearing of the choral parts creates the most favorable conditions for the emergence of an ensemble and system, which is the basis for the coherence of the choir."

Usually, in the placement of the choir or the stage, they are guided by established traditions. Related parties are in the same group. The voices of each part match each other in terms of timbre, sound range, etc. The choir group is located in such a way that high voices are on the left hand of the conductor, and low voices are on the right. In a mixed choir, sopranos are placed to the left of the conductor, followed by tenors; on the right are the altos, followed by the basses.

Among the many options for the arrangement of homogeneous choirs, one where each party is located in a group, like a sector, is popular. In the women's or children's choir (from left to right): second sopranos, first sopranos, altos first, altos second. In the male choir: second tenors, first tenors, second basses, first basses, octavists are in the center. It is believed that placing the first high voices (I soprano or I tenors) in the middle of the choir improves the sonority, and the location of the second high voices (II soprano or II tenors) “covers” the sound of the first to some extent.

Women's (children's) choir

male choir

This arrangement of the choir is usually used in sound recording. In this case, a separate microphone is placed before each choral part. The placement of a mixed choir when recording sound takes into account the direction of the sound of each choral part to a separately exposed microphone.

In addition to the above, other options for arranging the groups of the choir group are also used, for example:

Women's (children's) choir

During rehearsals, the choir should be positioned in the same way as during the performance. It is not recommended to place the choir in the same horizontal plane, as this loses proper visual contact between the singers and the conductor. In addition, members of the choir will be forced to sing “in the back” of the choristers in front. In a mixed choir, it is customary for the male parts to be placed slightly higher than the female ones.

The quartet arrangement of the choir creates the best conditions for the auditory self-control of the singers, takes into account the individual singing abilities of each member of the collective and is used in chamber choirs.

The placement of the choir on the stage depends on the acoustic properties of the reverb. Reverbation is the acoustic property of a room due to the reflective ability of their internal surfaces to increase the strength and duration of sounds (the "echo" effect). With insufficient reverb, the sound becomes “dry”, with excessive reverb, the performance will be “illegible, dirty”. Based on this, at the present time in the St. Petersburg State Singing Chapel. M.I. Glinka (headed by V.A. Chernushenko) uses the arrangement of the choir, in which female voices make up the third and fourth rows, and male voices occupy the first and second rows. At the same time, the leader of this group uses a wide arrangement of the choir.

It is better to arrange the choir in the form of a small semicircle (fan-shaped) or, in extreme cases, in a straight line with small roundings at the edges. The location of the choir exclusively in a straight line is less appropriate.

When performing choral works with piano accompaniment, the instrument is placed in front of the choir in the center or to the right (from the conductor); when performed with an orchestra or ensemble accompaniment, the orchestra or ensemble is placed in front, and the choir is placed in a small semicircle behind it. For example, when performing “Three Russian Songs” by S. Rachmaninov, written for an incomplete mixed choir (altos and basses) and orchestra, choral voices are usually located to the left (altos) and to the right (bass) of the conductor behind the orchestra on a special platform (choral benches) . In this case, the sonority of each individual part becomes more compact and monolithic. The long-term use of one choral part, as, for example, in the specified work, makes it possible to characterize the choral part with a very rare term - a choir of violas or a choir of basses.

Conducted modern scientific research on the influence of acoustic patterns and the location of singers made it possible to make adjustments to the arrangement of the choir and develop a number of practical recommendations aimed at ensuring proper conditions for the auditory self-control of singers:

do not put strong and weak voices in the neighborhood;

use a mixed version of a wide arrangement with an alternation of related and heterogeneous voices.

The presented arrangement has the following advantages:

It creates conditions for achieving artistic ensemble not on the basis of leveling timbres, but by identifying the natural timbre capabilities of each voice, which reflects the trend of progressive vocal and choral methods and contributes to the successful development and improvement of singing abilities.

Creates more effective conditions for the organization of the choir as a community of individuals (ensemble of soloists).

Contributes to the formation of each singer a higher degree of responsibility for the quality of their "vocal production". Making music in such an arrangement requires the singer to show maximum initiative and independence.

It contributes to the identification of the individual timbre characteristics of each voice and thus has a very significant impact on the quality of the sound of the choir, which becomes richer in timbre, more saturated and voluminous.

Keywords

Choir; type; view; number; choral parts; female; male; mixed; children; arrangement; execution; timbres.

Short conclusions

The vocal and methodological aspect of the arrangement of the choir is touched upon in works on children's musical education. So, M.F. Zarinskaya notes the importance of the arrangement of singers for organizing the influence of some voices on others in the process of vocal education in the choir. She recommends placing in the last row and along the edges of the choir "those who sing in the most beautiful timbre and naturally, also experienced choristers, in front - children who sing more dimly or have certain shortcomings in singing."

test questions

1. What is a choir?

2. Give a description of the mixed choir.

3. What options do you know for arranging the choir?

4. What factors influence the location of choir singers on stage?

Literature

Osenneva M.S., Samarin V.A. Choral class and practical work with the choir. - M. 2003

Keerig O.P. Choreology - S.-P. 2004

Sokolov Vl. Work with the choir - M., "Music", 1983

The type of choir is determined depending on which parties make up it. A choir consisting of female voices is called a homogeneous female choir. Similarly, a male choir is called a homogeneous male choir, and a choir consisting of boys and girls is called a children's choir. There is a tradition of performing works written for a children's choir by female members and vice versa. It is possible to determine what type of choir the author assumes in this case, if he does not indicate specific types of voices, based on the figurative content of the work.

A choir consisting of male and female voices is called a mixed choir. A variation of it is the choir, in which the parts of female voices are performed by boys, it is often called the boys' choir. As a rule, all Orthodox spiritual chants written before the beginning of the 20th century were intended to be performed by such a mixed choir.

The type of mixed choirs also includes incomplete mixed choirs. Incomplete mixed choirs are choirs where any one of the parts is missing. Most often these are basses or tenors, less often - any of the female voices.

Each type of choir corresponds to certain types of choirs. The type of choir indicates the number of choral parties included in its composition; choirs are one-voice, two-voice, three-voice, four-voice, etc.

Homogeneous choirs, as a rule, have two main parts (soprano + alto or tenor + bass), therefore, the main type of homogeneous choir is two-part. The mixed choir consists of four main parts, and its most characteristic form is four-part.

Reduction and increase in the number of real-sounding parts by duplication or, conversely, division can give new types of choir. For example: homogeneous one-part choir, homogeneous four-part choir, mixed eight-part choir, mixed one-part choir, etc.

Duplications and divisions can be either permanent or temporary. A choral score with an unstable change in the number of voices will have a form called episodic one-, two-, three-, eight-voices, with the obligatory indication of a stable number of voices (for example, a homogeneous two-voice female choir with episodic three-voices). With temporary divisions, sometimes denoted by the Italian word divisi, the emerging new voices have, as a rule, a subordinate meaning.

In addition to simple choirs, there are also multi-choir compositions, when several choirs with independent choral parts simultaneously participate in the performance of works. Such multi-choir scores are particularly common in operatic music. In Orthodox musical practice, there is also a tradition of composing the so-called antiphonal 6 works, in which two choirs sing, as if answering each other. Such compositions are called respectively: double, triple, etc.

2. Range and tessitura features of the product

After determining the type and type of the choir, it is necessary to find out the range and tessitura features of the choral parts. First of all, the general range of the choral score is determined. To do this, it is necessary to “measure” the distance between the extreme lower and upper sounds found in this score. For clarity, you can mark them on the musical staff as follows:

The concept of range is closely related to the concept of tessitura, the most used part of the range in this work. To assess the tessitura, it is necessary to carefully study the use of register possibilities of voices in all parts, throughout the entire composition. Tessitura, depending on the range and register features of a particular batch, can be medium, high or low. For example, the registers of the soprano part would look like this.

Example 20

Similarly, taking into account the peculiarities of the vocal ranges, registers will be distributed in other choral parts.

A tessitura can be called comfortable if the height position of the choral part corresponds to the free sound of the voice. If, during the performance, the voice sounds in an uncomfortable register for a long time, tensely, the tessitura is considered uncomfortable. It is difficult to sing for a long time in the upper register. In a low register, the technical and dynamic capabilities of the voice are significantly limited. In most cases, significant parts of the choral parts are placed in the middle, most convenient for singing, tessitura.

However, the above does not mean that the use of extreme registers is undesirable and wrong. Very often it is in this way that the composer achieves the necessary timbre selection of a particular part, the creation of a certain color.