Back-up

We think of choral music as a purely "ensemble" activity. We exhaust ourselves in trying to blend and balance the voices in a choir, so that the total sound doesn't reflect the individuals who make it. Rather, the sound the audience hears is greater than the sum of its parts.

But western music seldom happens without featuring a combination of predominant melody and subordinate harmony. As we listen/perform, it is easy to identify the primary tune and the accompanying background of harmony. And this characteristic of most of our music brings to mind the importance of those who give great effort to accompanying.

When I was in graduate school at Florida State University, I was given a graduate assistantship primarily so that I could be the accompanist for the Chamber Choir. It was comprised of graduate students, and its director, Clayton Krehbiel, liked to use its rehearsals as an opportunity to read through a lot of very difficult music. He felt that we should all know the music of composers whose works were so difficult and sophisticated that they were seldom performed. It was my job to accompany the rehearsals in such a way that the singers' efforts to read this music were facilitated. During this time we were privileged to have Robert Shaw as a guest conductor periodically over several years, and I was asked to accompany his rehearsals. Through these experiences I found my dissertation topic, the "Competencies of the Choral Accompanist." For several years, accompanying became my primary focus. Since then I have enjoyed the help of several fine accompanists, making it possible to take this particular kind of musical excellence for granted.

Two recent events have brought the importance of accompanying to my mind again. In the first instance, our Birmingham Chamber Chorus gave a concert a few days ago in which we performed two pieces that call for a very advanced level of playing from the organist who is accompanying the choir. The organ parts actually function as equal partners in the pieces, and frequently provide the melodic material, rather than serving purely as accompanying harmony. The organist, Beth McGinnis, dove into this challenge and did an expert job, in-keeping with her usual level of excellence. The concert's success was dependent upon her efforts, and she rose to the occasion.

In the second instance, I conducted the first performance of the Samford University OperaWorks production of Otto Nicolai's "The Merry Wives of Windsor" last night. The singers in the cast have done a great job all semester in preparing for their performance. Their director, Bill Bugg, has built a beautiful concept, so that the production is visually and musically stunning. In my role as Musical Director, I spend the duration of the show down in a tiny orchestra pit with a group of student instrumentalists. While the singers in the show have dedicated their entire semester to preparing their roles, the players in the orchestra have had three weeks in which to prepare to play the two-and-a-half hour score. They have faced this difficult process with good attitudes and hard work. They have worked on their own outside rehearsals, and have never complained about the long hours we spend together in rehearsal. These accompanying musicians will not be seen by the audience. In fact, to the degree they succeed in playing the score, they will become completely invisible. They will allow the audience to become lost in the plot of the opera, and forget that individual musicians are busy painting the picture they see.

In a sense, most of the music we enjoy represents a tiny audible portion of a much larger enterprise. Behind a great solo or choir or opera cast stand teachers and accompanists who invisibly make success possible. The performers deserve our applause, and accept it on behalf of the hidden musicians whose efforts they represent. In choral concerts, the accompanist is acknowledged and the audience shows their appreciation, but it is impossible for them to fully appreciated the accompanists' work in the daily rehearsals that lead to a successful concert.

So I'd like to take a moment here to salute the players in the pit, and the pianists and organists who work in our rehearsals and performances. They facilitate our enjoyment and create the context in which beautiful melodies can have their desired effect.