Choral Society

 

Keep an Open Ear!

 

The NUIG Choral Society, currently in our 110^th year, has just experienced another music-filled year. As always our repertoire is central to our continued success. Since the conception of the choir at Galway, the choir has specialised in a varied, contemporary repertoire. Pieces, for example, that were contemporary in the early 1900’s are now classified as romantic pieces! For example Stanford’s Beati Quorum Via, composed in 1905, is now a standard piece for choirs. The then QCG Choir was the first choir in Ireland to perform this piece.

 

Today the choir’s repertoire is very diverse and includes styles from minimalism to post-modernism. It features such internationally renowned composers as John Rutter, Franz Biebl and David Hamilton, and Irish composers of note like Michael McGlynn and Micheál Ó Suilleabháin. This as you can well imagine leads to a “different” type of choir and choral singing. Contemporary music is generally difficult and requires a great deal of thinking and concentrating from the singer. As a result of singing this genre of music the standard of musicality in the choir has risen considerably. This is a positive side effect of the music, especially at a time when the college lacks any department for music.

 

The choir has travelled and competed extensively over the past year and we have seen and heard many choirs. An observation that I made early in the year is the fact that many choirs, including university choirs, will not even attempt to try contemporary music. They continue to perform music that was written many decades and centuries ago. While this is admirable and keeps the music of different eras alive, it leaves the music of this era at a considerable disadvantage. In particular at university level, and youth choir level, we should be experimenting with different types of music – not only in the genre of contemporary music, but jazz singing, gospel music, etc., which would probably maintain a level of interest amongst the younger generations in choral singing over music from Bach or Mozart.

 

Irish choral singing is certainly not renowned throughout the world. Perhaps if choirs were braver and more innovative in their choice of music the level of music, musicality and enjoyment would rise. Music from the last century is more diverse, interesting and relevant to our lives today. Each piece has a story behind it, for example Franz Biebl’s Angelus Domini was composed in a concentration camp in Germany during World War II. It is a simple but effective Ave Maria with three soloists who sing in monotones, representing the number of times the bells in the camp rang out each day.

 

Perhaps people are too reserved or afraid to experience something new, innovative and fresh. Perhaps they do not understand the relevance or content of the piece; yet if people were more tolerant and willing to have an open ear they might learn and experience something new and even enjoy the experience.

 

Maybe this can be said for many fields of life.

 

Peter Mannion

Director

NUI, Galway Choral Society

 

 

The NUI, Galway Choir perform at the Societies’ Awards 2003 in the Aula Maxima