Wow ... article on the perpetual education

[UtahDan]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

I think the best argument is this: why was the BYU men's chorus superior to Motab?

And please don't tell me it is because they don't have women (as they are saying on cougarboard).

Good question. Here is my theory:

It actually does have to do in part with there being no women. To me, there is nothing comparable to a mens chorus, and BYU's men's chorus has some unique things about it. But I start from the proposition that a large mens chorus is just a very impressive thing to listen to. Large mixed chorus not so much. Smaller mixed choirs can be equally impressive but there is, to me, a critical mass where a mixed choir is too big to maintain quality.

What makes a chorus or a choir great is not just techinical proficience and great singers, but the ability of the singers to blend into a single sound. If you are hearing individual voices (for any reason including tone, timing, diction) then something is wrong. This is one of the main issues with Motab. It is filled with sopranos who have these big vibrato voices which you just can't conceal. They are going to stand out because of the quality of thier voices and because there is always danger that the highest note will stand out, which is often okay because the high note is frequently the melody.

With the Men's chorus, you have a group of above average but not great singers. If they were any better they would be in one of the more elite mixed choirs at BYU (which it sounds like Snipe was). This being true, you are much less likely to have solo performance type voices and egos which are tougher to blend with each other. With the men's chorus you have a more maleable group that it is easier to get a uniform sound from, which makes it sound better. So ironically, you may get a better choral sound from lesser individual voices.

The other problem with Motab is that their repertoire is enormous. It is just impossible to be very good when this is true. Given that, I think they do pretty well. Men's chorus has a much smaller repetoire and practices several times a week. Practice makes perfect.

My sense had been (being many years removed from it now) that the Men's Chorus' zenith was under Mac Wilberg and that it had slid somewhat when he moved on to bigger and better things. But they did sound nice this last weekend.

How many here were in Men's Chorus at some point? I'll out myself and OhioBlue.

[creekster]

Originally Posted by Brian

i don't get into the motab either. once you've heard a song or two, you've basically heard it all. And our hymn selection is a lot to do with it. very boring stuff.
i'd be much more inspired with some pipe-breaking bach on the organ instead of the choir.
they ought to use that organ how it was mean to be played.

At the end of the last session of conference the organ started into Jesu, Joy of Man's Desire, and I thought how cool it would have been for the MoTab to sing that during conference instead of having it be an organ solo while everyone shuffles out of the room.

I think the criticism of the Motab is both justified and wrong. They are not perfect, but it is due in large part, IMO, to their size. 300 vocies just aren't as nimble as a smaller choir. On pieces that call for a large and booming choir they can be perfect, such as ode to joy, Jesu, or the messiah, for example. On other pieces, it is hard to get the same effect and so the directors compromise by doing showy sorts of things that try to play to the choirs strengths (Wilberg loves the big key changes, for example, and I also think this is part of the explanantion as to why they slow songs down as often as they do). I also agree that the range and size of their repertoire makes it even harder to stay sharp. This having been said, I also think we take them for granted. They are a tremendous choir and, taking them for what they are, they are great.