How many people should be in the choir at a minimum? Abstract: Choral work for mixed choir a cappella by R. Schumann “Silence of the Night”. Arrangements of four-voice mixed choirs for three-part homogeneous choirs
Mixed choir. A full mixed choir, which includes all choral parts - sopranos, altos, tenors, basses, is rightfully considered the most advanced type of choral group with unique vocal and technical capabilities. Thanks to these opportunities, works of varying degrees of complexity are available to mixed choirs. The general range is “A” of the counter octave – “C” of the third octave.
A wide range of timbre characteristics of parts allows the choirmaster to achieve different combinations of them. The virtuosity of the soprano part is complemented by the depth of sound of the bass part. The presence of octavist basses gives the choir power and volume of sound. The role of harmonic filling is performed by the middle parts of tenors and altos.
A mixed choir has unique dynamic capabilities. Works of a chanting, broad nature are distinguished by the special beauty of sound in a mixed choir.
All professional choirs are mostly mixed. It is for this type of choir that many works of different volume, content, style and means of musical expression have been written.
Incomplete mixed choirs (youth) are extremely rare. They exist as educational groups in choir schools and, less often, as amateur groups in secondary schools and secondary specialized educational institutions. When working with a youth choir, it is necessary to take into account its specifics. Youth singing requires a gentle vocal load. Forced singing at the extremes of the range should be avoided. The repertoire for youth choirs consists of works with simplified transcriptions.
Homogeneous male choir: composition - Tenor part, Bass part, possible presence of octavists. In the practice of choral performance, professional male choirs are extremely rare. The range of the male choir is “A” of the counter octave – “C” of the second octave. The lower sounds of the range are assigned to octavists. The upper part of the range is sometimes performed by tenors in falsetto. The leading part of the male choir is the tenor part, which usually performs the main melodic line.
Works for male choirs can be found in the choral works of old masters (Lasso, Palestrina), in Western and Russian choral classics (Shumann, Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, etc.). Excellent arrangements of folk songs were made for this choir. Orthodox sacred music and opera literature are rich in works for male choirs.
Female choir: composition – Soprano part, Alto part. The sound of the women's choir is noted for its unique timbre richness and fairly large technical and performing capabilities. The general range of the female choir is “F” small - “B” second, “C” third octave. The most commonly used operating range is from “G” of the small octave to “A” of the second octave.
A fairly large number of original classical and modern choral works have been written for the women's choir.
Quantitative composition of the choir
The minimum composition of a mixed choir is 12-16 people. Currently, the minimum composition of a choir is considered to be 16-24 people. Smaller numbers are usually called ensembles (currently 12-20 people. The average choir composition of at least 24 (32-40) participants implies the division of each choral part into two. Large choir – 80-120 people.
St. Petersburg Choir Chapel - 90 people, Big Choir of the All-Union Radio - 95 people, State Men's Choir of Estonia - 80 people, State Russian Republican Chapel named after. A. Yurlova - 80 people.
Maximum choir composition - 120-130 people.
Combined choirs in the Baltic countries - up to 10 thousand people.
P.G. Chesnokov: “With three skilled singers, it is possible to form a minimal choir. The smallest number of singers for each part is three.”
Soprano – 3
Violas – 3
Tenors – 3
Bass - 3
Total – 12 people- we call such a choir a small mixed choir (incomplete choir - pure four-voice).
When the number of singers in each choir part doubles (and triples in the bass part), it becomes an average mixed choir with the fewest number of singers (full)
First Sopranos – 3
Second Sopranos – 3
First Altos - 3
Second Altos - 3
First Tenors – 3
Second Tenors 3
Baritones - 3
Mixed choir is formed as a result of combining a children's or women's choir with a male one; in a mixed choir there are two groups of voices: the upper group is female or children’s voices, the lower group is male voices.
A typical four-voice mixed choir consists of sopranos, altos, tenors and basses. An example of such a composition is the chorus from Act I of Glinka’s opera “Ruslan and Lyudmila” - “To the Bright Prince both health and glory”:
A. Incomplete composition of the mixed choir
A mixed choir may not include all of the named parts, but only some of them. For example, a choir may have altos, tenors and basses; or sopranos, altos and tenors; any combination of one of the choral parts of the upper group can be combined with one of the parts of the lower group (sopranos + tenors, altos + basses, altos + tenors, etc.). Such compositions form an incomplete mixed choir.
B. Doubling voices in a mixed choir
Depending on the texture of the musical work, a mixed choir can sing in unison (rare cases) or in an octave, the so-called octave unison (common case); can also sing in two voices; in the latter case, the soprano part is usually doubled into an octave by the tenor part, and the alto part by the bass part. All one-voice and two-voice choral works can thus be performed by a mixed choir with octave doublings.
When a mixed choir performs a piece of music written in three voices, the most common method of doubling is octave doubling between the first sopranos and the first tenors, between the second sopranos and the second tenors, between the altos and basses.
An example of duplicating voices in unison and octave is the following excerpts from the opera “Prince Igor” by I. Borodin:
B. Possibilities of a mixed choir due to the division of voices
It was said above that a mixed choir is basically four-voice. However, the possibilities of a mixed choir far exceed this typical presentation. If in choral scores designed for a homogeneous composition, the division reaches four, five, six and even seven voices, then it is not difficult to imagine the possibility of dividing the parts of a mixed choir that has two homogeneous choirs.
Let's consider some combinations resulting from dividing the voices of a mixed choir, adopting the following conventions: voices are designated by letters (C - soprano, A - altos, T - tenors, B - basses); the numbers next to the letter indicate the part being performed - the first or second, etc. For example, C 1 denotes the first sopranos, C 2 the second sopranos, etc.
1. (C 1 + C 2) + A + T + B
2. C+(A 1 +A2)+T+B
3. C+A+(T 1 +T 2)+B
4. C+A+T+(B 1 +B 2)
1. (C 1 + C 2) + (A 1 + A 2) + T + B
2. (C 1 + C 2) + A + (T 1 + T 2) + B
3. (C 1 + C 2) + A + T + (B 1 + B 2)
4. C+(A 1 +A 2)+(T 1 +T 2)+B
5. C+(A 1 +A 2)+T+(B 1 +B 2)
6. C+A+(T 1 +T 2) + (B 1 +B 2)
1. (C 1 +C2)+(A 1 +A 2)+(T 1 +T 2)+B
2. C+(A 1 +A2)+(T 1 +T 2)+(B 1 +B 2)
3. (C 1 + C2) + A + (T 1 + T 2) + (B 1 + B 2)
4. (C 1 +C2)+(A 1 +A 2)+T+(B 1 +B 2)
(C 1 +C 2)+(A 1 +A 2)+(T 1 +T 2)+(B 1 +B 2)
Other combinations are also possible. There are often cases when a piece of music requires performance by two or even three choirs.
Thus, according to the number of voices for which the work being performed is designed, a mixed choir can be one-voice, two-voice, three-, four-, five-, six-, seven-, eight-voice, etc.
There are many polyphonic choirs in Russian musical literature. We recommend that the student analyze the choirs of Taneyev op. 27.
With Itza songs - this is how Mitrofan Pyatnitsky called folk songs with love and tenderness. The famous collector of Russian folklore became the founder of the first folk choir in Russia. Natalya Letnikova studied the history of the group.
Peasant - this is how the Pyatnitsky Choir proudly calls itself at concerts. The stage premiere of the group was in 1911. And immediately in the hall of the Noble Assembly - the current House of Unions. Folk music as high art. This was the first time.
"The Lamentations of the Mourners." Such an item in the concert poster could not ignore the concert of Great Russian peasants, specially drawn from the Voronezh and Ryazan provinces. Folk songs and epics accompanied by ancient instruments. A real sensation.
The first composition of the choir
“They sing as best they can” is the main principle of the peasant choir. The “song artel” didn’t even rehearse.
The peasants simply came from their villages and sang. Between this and then. Like at home at work, or in the field, or in the evening on the landfill.
Pyatnitsky appreciated this primordial nature. And he was not alone. Among the choir's fans are Fyodor Chaliapin, Sergei Rachmaninov, Antonina Nezhdanova, Ivan Bunin, Vladimir Lenin. By order of Lenin, the singing peasants moved to Moscow. They began to work in factories and factories and sing with a permanent cast.
The choir received the name of Pyatnitsky in 1927, after the death of the founder. The musician’s legacy includes more than 400 songs recorded on a phonograph, a unique collection of folk instruments and costumes. But the main thing is attention to the talents of the people, which made it possible to create a unique team.
During the Great Patriotic War, the choir performed on the front line as a front-line concert brigade. And the song “Oh, my fogs...” becomes the anthem of the partisan movement. On May 9, 1945, artists sang on Red Square in honor of the Great Victory. The team carefully preserves letters from the front.
Traditions are also preserved. Folklore is still in the repertoire. Lipetsk choruses are performed exclusively in the dialect of the Lipetsk province, Bryansk - in Bryansk, Vladimir - in Vladimir. Songs recorded by Pyatnitsky at the beginning of the last century are also heard.
Any musical phenomenon has followers. Voronezh, Ural, Northern, Ryazan, Omsk, Volzhsky... choral groups appeared in almost every region. And abroad. The Polish ensemble “Mazowsze”, the Czech “Sluch” are echoes of the noble work of Mitrofan Pyatnitsky.
In 2008, the Pyatnitsky Choir was recognized as a national treasure of the country. And also the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, Friendship of Peoples, the government medal “Patriot of Russia” and an informal award - a personal star on the “Walk of Stars” in Moscow.
Today, about 90 artists from 30 Russian regions sing, dance, and play in Pyatnitsky. The main criterion for selection is talent. To work in the most frequently touring band in the world requires great talent. It’s no coincidence that the choir’s longest number is… taking a bow!
For more than a quarter of a century, the Russian musical group “Turetsky Choir” has been on the crest of success and delights 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 elimination of soundtracks and “live” voices make each performance unique. The repertoire of the “Turetsky Choir” includes songs performed in 10 languages. More than 5 thousand appearances on stages in Russia, post-Soviet countries, Europe, Asia and America have made the group world famous.
Music
The group's debut 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, to expand the circle of listeners, music from the last 4 centuries was included in the repertoire - from chanson to pop hits of the Soviet stage.
The debut concerts of the “Turetsky Choir” took place with the support of the Jewish charitable organization “Joint” and took place in Tallinn, Chisinau, Moscow, Leningrad and Kyiv. Interest in the Jewish musical tradition, which had died down 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 Toledo, Spain, the ensemble took part in a festival organized for the 500th anniversary of the Jewish exile, and took the stage with world stars Isaac Stern and.
In the mid-1990s, the Turetsky Choir split: one half remained in the Russian capital, the second moved to Miami, where the musicians worked under contract. The repertoire of the second half expanded with Broadway classics and jazz hits.
In 1997, vocalists under the leadership of Turetsky joined a farewell tour across 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. Also in 2004, at the National Person of the Year Award, the group’s program, entitled “Ten Voices that Shook the World,” was nominated as “Cultural Event of the Year.”
At the beginning of 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 and next 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, to mark the 50th anniversary of the band’s leader, a concert was held in the Kremlin Palace, in which, in addition to the choir, stars of Russian show business took part. In the same year, the ensemble presented fans with the song “The Smile of God Rainbow,” for which a video was recorded.
In the spring of 2014, Turetsky’s team presented music lovers with a show program staged by a choreographer. It was called "A Man's View of Love." To see the performance live, 19 thousand spectators gathered at the Olimpiysky Sports Complex stadium, watching what was happening on stage from interactive screens.
On Victory Day, the musicians gave a 2-hour concert on Poklonnaya Hill, attracting 150 thousand people. In April 2016, at the Kremlin Palace, the Turetsky Choir presented fans with an unforgettable show in honor of the group’s 25th anniversary, calling it “With you and forever.”
Compound
Over time, the composition of the art group changed, but the leader, Mikhail Turetsky, remained unchanged. He made his way to becoming the leader of the illustrious team after graduating from the Institute named after him in the mid-1980s. Gnesins. Mikhail's first students were children - Turetsky led a choir of young vocalists. Then he headed the choral group of the Yuri Sherling Theater.
In 1990, Mikhail Turetsky organized a men's choir in the capital's choral synagogue, which transformed into a renowned group.
One of the oldest and at the same time youngest soloists of the art group, Alex Alexandrov, joined the choir in 1990. The Muscovite 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 and bass profundo Evgeniy Kulmis, who previously led the children's choir, joined Turetsky's brainchild. Evgeniy was born near Chelyabinsk, began his career as a pianist and also went from Gnesinka to working 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 are Honored Artists of the Russian Federation since 2006 and 2007, respectively. Both are Gnesinka graduates.
In the mid-1990s, lyric tenor from Minsk Oleg Blyakhorchuk joined the ensemble, who plays piano, accordion, melodica, electric and acoustic guitars. He came to the team from Mikhail Finberg's orchestra, where he was a soloist.
In 2003, the Turetsky Choir accepted two more capital residents into its composition: Boris Goryachev, who had previously performed Russian sacred music, and 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 group, music lovers remember Boris Voinov, who worked in the Turetsky Choir from its formation to 1993, tenor Vladislav Vasilkovsky (immigrated to the USA in 1996) and opera 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 fans with the lyrical song “With You and Forever,” for which director Olesya Aleinikova shot a video. The video was a leader at the VII awards of the RU.TV channel. The ceremony took place in the capital's Crocus City Hall.
At the annual music awards RU.TV presented for the first time a nomination for the best video filmed in Crimea. VladiMir and the Turetsky Choir fought for victory.
In October 2017, Mikhail Turetsky’s team 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 news in the creative life of the group. In February 2018, the ensemble gave a concert in the Kremlin.
Discography
- 1999 – “High Holidays (Jewish liturgy)”
- 2000 – “Jewish Songs”
- 2001 – “Bravissimo”
- 2003 - “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”
Such a choir can perform only those works in which no divisions(divisi) in batches. Choirs with a minimum number of singers used to be quite widespread. They fully satisfied the practice of conducting church services, and later took part in concert performances in noble salons.
Currently, the minimum composition of a choir is considered to be 16-20 people.
Smaller teams are usually called ensembles .
The same standards are usually followed in the practice of homogeneous choirs.
· Average choir composition
suggests the possibility dividing each batch into at least two . Therefore, he must have at least 24 people.
Typically these choirs have between 30 and 60 members.
Performing Opportunities! the middle choir are very significant. The insufficiency of the number of members of the average choir is revealed when performing large works with a large orchestra, as well as polyphonic and polychoric works. In all other cases, this choir can successfully cope with the performing repertoire. It is known that the Leipzig choir, in which Bach worked and in which most of his works were first performed, had a composition of 20-25 people. The famous Sistine Chapel consisted of 15 - 20 adult singers. A good example of the capabilities of an average choir staffed with highly qualified singers is the O. Shaw chamber choir. This group, consisting of 31 singers of a small chamber orchestra, has an extremely wide performing range. His repertoire includes Negro spirituals, various works for a cappella choir, and such major works as Bach's Mass in B Minor. The choir successfully performs at both small and large concert venues.
A serious mistake is made by those leaders who, in pursuit of numbers, lose the quality criterion when accepting singers into the choir. The presence of singers in the choir who do not have sufficient data slows down the growth of the group, reduces creative interest, and undermines organizational foundations.
· Big choir must have such a composition that would ensure the performance of any choral work. In such choirs it is usually from 80 to 120 people.
Here are data on the size of some choirs:
State Academic Russian Choir of the USSR - 100.
Great Choir of the All-Union Radio - 95.
Leningrad Academic Chapel - 90.
Krasnoznamenny named after Alexandrov Song and Dance Ensemble of the Soviet Army - 100.
State Men's Choir of the Estonian SSR - 80.
State Academic Choir of the Latvian SSR - 80.
State Russian Republican Chapel of the RSFSR - 80.
State Honored Academic Chapel of the Ukrainian SSR "Dumka" - 80.
· Maximum choir composition it is generally accepted 120-130 people Further increase in the permanent composition of the choir does not contribute to the improvement of its performing qualities. The choir loses its performing flexibility, mobility, and rhythmic clarity, the ensemble becomes vague, and the timbre of the parts is less interesting.
For speeches at ceremonial meetings, song festivals, and demonstrations, numerous
· combined choirs , uniting dozens of amateur and professional groups . Thus, at traditional song festivals in the Baltic republics, combined choirs consisting of 30 - 40 thousand performers.
For combined choirs, they usually select not very complex, “catchy”, “poster” works. Often these choirs perform rather difficult works of large form. In a number of cities in the Volga region and the Urals, for example, large combined choirs and orchestras performed Sviridov’s Pathetic Oratorio, and a combined male choir, which performed in 1965 at a song festival in Riga, performed the complex polyphonic work of E. Kapp “North Coast”.
There are cases when up to one hundred or more thousand people took part in mass singing. Thus, the author of this book had the opportunity to manage a choir consisting of 130 thousand participants (VI World Youth Festival).
Directing choirs of thousands of people has its own characteristics and difficulties. These difficulties, mainly of an acoustic nature, are associated primarily with the establishment of a rhythmic ensemble
