Vocalises for choir: A collection of vocal exercises with a study of their value and of principles for their effective use.

Abstract

For an untold number of years the vocalise has had an integral place in many of the methods used for the training and development of singers. Commonly referred to and used as "warm-ups" in the choral rehearsal, vocalises are considered by many conductors to have a usefulness that surpasses that of simply preparing voices for the singing which is immediately at hand. It remains a tendency in many cases, however, for vocalises to be used in an indiscriminate fashion without a clear understanding of the purposes of the vocalises used and/or using a method of presentation of vocal exercises that can diminish their usefulness or perhaps even have detrimental effects on the singers. A common additional plight facing many choral conductors seems to be the lack of availability of practical, printed resources for choral vocalization. Conductors can feel forced to rely only on exercises passed onto them by colleagues or by their own teachers. Either because of this lack of understanding of purpose or because of a lack of knowledge of vocalise repertoire, or both, a conductor might choose to limit or avoid entirely the use of vocal exercises in the choral rehearsal, depriving the conductor and the singers of what is perhaps one of the best tools for vocal development and conditioning. This study attempts to contribute toward the alleviation of the problems mentioned above. The study provides an extended collection of vocalises arranged with optional piano accompaniments by the author for use in the choral rehearsal, including original exercises, as well as those borrowed from colleagues in the solo and choral music fields and from selected printed sources. In addition, through a review of the writings of noted authorities in the field of voice education, the study discusses the usefulness of vocalises in the development of specific elements of good singing, with reference to the vocalises contained in the collection. Included in this discussion is a determination, based on these writings, of certain principles for the effective use of vocalises in the choral rehearsal. Finally, this study provides a selected list of known, available resource material that specifically contains vocalises for choir.