Choirmaster is the head of the collective

Choirmaster is a person who directs the choir and conducts the singing of all its members. He is the flagship of the team, which sets the direction, which regulates the course of performance of the composition. This person always knows what will be the next swing of his hands.

Origin

Choirmaster is a conductor who, together with musicians and vocalists, rehearses and learns parties. The roots of this profession can be found even in ancient Greece. It was then that choral singing appeared during the performances. Together with him, new creative professions developed. This "folk choir" was accompanied by a conductor, who told the audience about what would happen in a certain act.

Special attention was paid to the head of the collective in the middle of the nineteenth century. Then the choirmaster was also called the headman, the regent, and even the cantor or kapellmeister. Close functions could also be performed by the head of the chapel. He was at the singing schools and churches. But then the head of the church choir was given a separate niche for the works and called him a regent.

It is worth noting that until the nineteenth century the conductor did not stand with his back to the audience, as is customary today. Then he managed the team, not seeing it, complicating the task for themselves and colleagues.

Choir

Later, during the active development of music, performing and contemporary art, the profession of interest began to develop actively. From this moment the head choirmaster always heads the singing groups, regardless of whether it is an academic or a national choir. He also takes on a number of additional functions.

In particular, he acts as the conductor of an academic orchestra. Today, besides artistic work, the choir director is obliged to provide the collective with a high level of creative activity, good sounding, team spirit. It is important to remember that each member of the ensemble sounds differently, and everyone was trained in different methods of sounding. Therefore, the choir leader must work out a single direction for everyone to get high-quality vocal singing.

To understand what is the essence of the work of such a professional, it is important to understand and in what he manages. The choir is not an ensemble, a trio, a quartet, and so on. Its main difference from other types of singing is concluded in the presence of at least two or three people who perform simultaneously the same party. Also the choir can sing along with accompaniment or without it (a-chapel). Accompaniment can be carried out almost any musical instruments, one of them or even an entire orchestra.

Tasks

Choirmaster is a professional with an enormous level of preparation. He must perfectly orient himself in matters of vocal culture and voice production, as well as in technique of techniques, methods of managing a team of singers, etc. A choirmaster is a person who is obliged to have a good and clear voice not only in someone else's performances, but also in his voice. He should have an excellent idea about each stage of the sound generation technology, know the musical techniques and tricks, have a lot of experience and transfer it to the whole group.

The conductor must learn the technique of plastic gestures and creative approach to work, to show an unusual approach to each task. Therefore, it is worthwhile to know that the management of the choir during the performance is only the tip of the iceberg's work of the conductor. Most of his time and effort this person spends on rehearsals while learning new works. Also, on the shoulders of the choirmaster, the selection of the repertoire for the collective, the selection of new participants, listening to and analyzing parts of all the pieces most often falls.

Location:

A good master needs to be able to navigate in the world of music and variety of works, to know the theory of reading choral works. The professional also easily determines what voice is missing from his chorus, listens to candidates and looks for new "vocals". The leader should correctly place the choir's participants on the stage (this largely determines the sound), correctly pick up each part and organically combine all the singers in timbre and voice power.

Before beginning to learn every new musical statement, the choirmaster should explain to each member of the group his task, to rehearse the party and to settle all the details.

Conductor of the academic choir and his gestures

More and more often choirmasters refuse and from all habitual wand. Modern masters know that the conductor must possess the technique perfectly, but you can also indicate the direction of sound of the choir with smooth hands. In addition, choirmasters are allowed to supplement their actions with light movements of the head and body. Each stroke of the hand is a conditional gesture that can indicate a change in tempo or rhythm, volume control, chorus sound strength and other aspects of the performance of the piece.

Therefore, the choirmaster is the spirit and strength of any choir, its basis and beginning. Without the described person, dozens and hundreds of members of the group can remain silent and impersonal. Even a single miss of a choirmaster can be a disaster for the entire collective.