Today’s music is all about contrast. Our two anthems could not be more different from each other. Although both of the texts are Marian, the differing musical styles offer valuable insight into the challenges of choral singing itself, and of course about life too.

The offertory anthem is a setting of the Magnificat, written by English organist and composer, Sir George Dyson, who had a typical career path of many of the English church musicians of his day. His notable teachers included Charles Stanford and C. H. H. Parry. Dyson was also the director of the Royal College of Music and had a productive career as a composer.

Not only is Dyson’s setting of the Magnificat dramatic, but it’s in unison. What that means is that the entire choir sings the same vocal line. So essentially, this could be done by a soloist. The organ contains all of the harmony. When a choir sings in unison, it opens up all kinds of choral “traps.” As a choral director, I’ve learned a thing or two about people. Unison singing usually exposes the singer who is competing, not cooperating. Blending is challenging, especially when all vocal parts are trying to sing the same line. Singers tend to love the sound of their own voice, and when you ask for blend, it’s not the voice that’s incapable, but the fragile ego behind it!

On the other side of the spectrum lies music in multiple parts, like the famous Ave Maria by Anton Bruckner, our communion anthem. This music is unaccompanied, and breaks into eight, independent lines! The ear naturally wants to hear soprano, alto, tenor bass, so the composite sound is a bit easier to achieve. However, balance and singing in tune often cause a problem. Because our choir is relatively small, there are some instances where only one voice is singing a particular note in a chord, so the other parts have to be softer. Singers don’t always like to sing softly. Again, it seems to be a bruise to the ego when a director “shhh’s” them. With part singing, the blend and balance are suddenly multiplied by adding a deeper level of harmony to the mix. In this kind of music, singers have to concentrate on more than just their voice because now, they have to concentrate on which note of the chord they are singing.

Choral problems result from a failure to listen. The key is cooperative listening. The more anonymous you are in a choir, the better the product. Singers love to contribute robustly, and rightly so – they have a gift! Every choir has its divas, its wobblers, its scaredy cats, and its share of sore thumbs. But a good director knows how to mix it properly. There’s a very low-budget, made-for-television movie called A Christmas without Snow. It’s about a flailing church choir who hires a rather stern, English choir director to champion them to a performance of Handel’s Messiah. All of the characters in the choir are overblown stereotypes. It’s comical, but not meant to be. It’s on Amazon Prime, and for laughs, I highly recommend it.

Choir directing prioritizes the collective. As it relates to life, I think our world is out of balance. Individuality seems more important than the collective. Choir directing has given me a unique perspective about people, and it’s taught me about myself. There are so many other challenges that we deal with because we depend on others to make the music. Conductors make no sound, but probably have the biggest egos in the room. My profession is probably more psychological than musical. But don’t come to me for counseling, I wouldn’t know where to begin. I think I’ll just stick to making music. All of this has taught me so much, and I’m grateful. Soli deo Gloria!