Music 455

Book Review
Jetro Meira de Oliveira

Hylton, John B. Comprehensive Choral Music Education. Prentice Hall: Englewood

Cliffs, NJ (1995) 325 pp. ISBN 0-13-045287-4 [MT 875 H94C6]

This book is intended for those aspiring to a career as a choral music educator at the

secondary school level. It is also intended to choral teachers in need of a review of the

basic concepts of a comprehensive choral music program.

The book is organized into three large sections, covering thoroughly a wide range of

issues related to a choral program. Chapters 1 to 3 deal with aspects related to singing

skills, ensemble building and rehearsal/conducting techniques. Chapters 4 to 8 are

directed towards the preparation of a choral program as for music selection and

administration. The last two chapters, 9 and 10, deal with the choral program in school as

education.

This book covers a wide range of aspects related to the building and maintenance of a

good school choral program, and as such I view it as a valuable resource. Because the

book aims at covering such a broad spectrum of issues, some issues are treated briefly or

superficially. At the same time this doesnt present itself as a major problem, for

whenever the text deals briefly or superficially with an issue, it still useful as an

introduction or overview of that particular issue and generally, a bibliography for further

reading is suggested.

I particularly enjoyed the authors presentation of vocal technique (pp. 6-9), where in

spite of conciseness, the author was capable of presenting some very important aspects. I

agree with the concept of the voice as the human musical instrument, in which case the
instrument is the whole body and anything that affects the body affects in a way or

another the whole instrument. As such the author places emphasis on maintaining good

health principles, both for the body and for the mind.

Even though the authors description of the vocal mechanism are all correct, only a

reader who has experienced as a singer the vocal mechanism functioning properly can

really understand the processes which the author describes. He seems to understand the

necessity for a more in depth look at vocal technique, suggesting further reading in a list

at the end of the chapter.

One of the most useful sections of the book is the one concerned with warm-up

procedures (pp.10-31). Here the author is very practical, suggesting a series of exercises

and steps that can be taken at warm-ups to build good vocal technique in the choral

ensemble as well as group singing skills. In this section the examples are very clear, the

information is to the point, presenting itself as a very useful guide.

Also of importance and usefulness is the section dealing with rehearsal planning and

auditions (pp. 34-89). Once again the author is very fortunate in the organization of his

thoughts, building the text on proven experience. The author emphasizes the need for the

choral director to listen to other choral ensembles and to take every opportunity to

develop his own conducting and rehearsing skills. The author presents a very good, step-

by-step, approach to auditioning. This section also contains suggestions for seating

arrangements, going from standard seating through seating for imbalanced ensembles.

Issues such as sound, visual appeal, singer comfort and personality blending are also

addressed.
 The author emphasizes the need for the choral director to develop a positive

relationship with his students as well as with the school administrators. I particularly

think this section is important because dealing with school administrators has been in my

personal experience a much more complex task than making music. It is very important

to be fine tuned with the administration in order to convince them of what you are doing

or to understand their needs and expectations. Theres absolutely nothing in formal

academic education that can prepare one for this type of challenge. So I think that the

words of advice from the author are of great importance. Also of importance, is the

development of clear communication with the students during a rehearsal. It is very

important for the director to be able to obtain results quickly during his class section, and

to that end, effective communication must be established and constantly developed.

Chapter 2 also presents subsections dealing with teaching Junior High students,

particularly in respect to the changing voice, an aspect that is generally neglected in

choral education books. Ive never taught a choral group of changing voice age, but in

my voice studio I was once faced once with a boy 16 years old who had no trace that his

voice was about to change. This personal experience served to make me aware of how

delicate it can be to deal with a boy going through the process of changing his voice.

Because of my personal experience, I believe that Hylton should have included some

suggestions on how to deal with peer pressure and social issues related to boys who are

singing female voice parts in a choral ensemble, and not simply suggest that all boys be

seated together, whether with a changed or unchanged voice.

Chapter 3 addresses the development of conducting skills. This chapter, in my

opinion, could have been totally omitted from the book. It does not present any
particularly original insight on how to teach or learn the conducting skill. It concentrates

mainly on the mechanics of conducting, neglecting the most challenging and important

aspect of choral conducting which is the art of directing lines. It contains some insights

on rehearsal techniques, which are unfortunately brief (pp. 116-120).

Chapter 4 contains some valuable suggestions as to how a program can be

developed and organized. It presents ideas of repertory divided by group type (mixed,

womens or mens voices), and samples of both short and major programs. I found

particularly insightful the authors endorsement of shorter programs, as I believe that

short, guest appearances at various types of meetings and organizations are of great

service to all involved. It helps to develop community support for the choral program,

and it takes music to members of the community that would otherwise not have access to

music.

Chapter 5 is entitled The Score, and the author states that the choice of

repertory to be rehearsed and performed is at the heart of the quality of the music

education that the students will experience. As such, the author establishes some criteria

for the selection of music: range/tessitura, text, voice leading, accompaniment, harmony,

how the piece fits the choir, educational implications, how the piece fits the total program

and programming sacred music. It is interesting to note his last category, programming

sacred music, as it relates to my teaching episode on Bachs St. Matthew Passion in

class. The author makes some interesting suggestions on how to deal with the issue,

emphasizing that a balanced choral program needs to have a representation of the rich

choral heritage represented through choral works. He mentions the MENC pamphlet

entitled Religious Music in the Schools as a document to be consulted whenever in

doubt. The author then goes into a detailed exemplification of how a score can be

analyzed.

In Chapter 6, the author was able to present some valuable information, in a

concise manner, about style in choral singing. This is particularly important when

dealing with early music, as some misconceptions were put in print and followed in the

past. In this chapter the author presents each major period of western music with

significant historical/background information, descriptions of prominent forms/genres, a

short discussion on the principal composers and a very good section on the choral style of

each period. He also includes some information on how to recognize a good edition.

I particularly appreciated the authors writing on Renaissance choral style, as it is

a style somewhat difficult to grasp. Here the author presents the close relationship

between text and music as the starting point for an understanding of this style. Thus, he

gives some excellent musical examples of how a renaissance score should be interpreted

as to give emphasis to text stress and not simply metrical stress (pp. 168-170).

There were some aspects, though, in which the author made some unqualified

comments. For example, his very brief commentary on the performance of dotted notes

in the Baroque period. He affirms that dotted notes are often performed longer than

notated (double dotted), but doesnt give any musical examples nor qualifies specific

circumstances when that would be the case (p. 179). Also in his list of forms/genres of

the Classic period he includes the term Choral Symphony, citing as an example

Beethovens Ninth Symphony (p. 182). Heres a double mistake, for I cannot think of

Choral Symphony as a genre of the Classic period, nor Beethovens work belongs to this

period stylistically.
 Chapter 7 is entitled Administration of the Choral Music Education Program, and

here the author places great emphasis on the choral directors ability to be organized and

presents his own ideas in a very practical how to approach. Towards the

accomplishment of a well-organized program the author offers good suggestions on how

to be organized, how to do public relations, how to recruit, how to deal with budgets,

how to do fund-raising, how to schedule your program, how to organize a choral library,

and a few other ideas. Once again the author presents valuable information gathered

from his own experience, dealing with an area that can decide the success of a school

choral program. I agree with the author that it is important to do great music, but that a

successful program needs a well thought plan to insure its continuous success through

many and many years. With this in mind, the authors suggestions are very good.

In Chapter 8 the author discusses the pros and cons of participating in

competitions, the benefits of promoting and participating in choral clinics and festivals,

suggestions for tours and travel, and the development of specialized ensembles. One can

derive from the topics listed that the approach is very practical, and in this book

whenever the author is drawing form practical experience, hes able to convey very good

ideas.

In Chapter 9 the author talks about the development of a comprehensive choral

music education. He points the way towards the development of a personal philosophy

making a historical perspective of the development of choral music education in the US,

from the 18th century to current developments, offering insights on how certain traditions

emerged. The author also creates an anecdote about three distinct choral programs and

their directors, exemplifying his concept of what truly education through choral music is:
more than simply having a good time, or producing a public performance, it is the

personal and musical development of the students. The author briefly describes what he

believes to be a comprehensive choral program, placing emphasis on the aspects of

individualization and multicultural exposure. I wish the author had expanded this

section, for it seems that he would have more to share on the subject of choral

curriculum.

Chapter 10 concludes the book with a thoughtful perspective on the development

of a choral educator. The author writes about the importance of student teaching

opportunities, offering some suggestions to a perspective student teacher on how to

extract the most of his experience as well as advice on how to be effective. The author

also offers advice on obtaining the first job, at the conclusion of undergraduate studies.

He gives basic steps such as, developing a rsum and interview etiquette, and some

perspective on what to expect on a first job. He also emphasizes the need for

continuous growth in the profession, saying that one either grows or shrinks. Suggestions

are given on how to keep growing through reading, membership in ACDA and MENC,

graduate studies, etc. This chapter contains also, some discussion on issues such as ethics

in the choral profession, discipline in the classroom, research in choral music education

and some perspectives on the future of the profession. The book also contains

appendixes containing Latin texts in translation, multi-ethnical repertory, examples of

course policies, list of publishers and distributors and a sample cover letter to a

prospective employer.

I believe that Hyltons book is an excellent reference for both the aspiring choral

educator as well as the experienced choral educator. The author seems to build his text
on older choral texts, abstracting from them a basic format but incorporating his own

ideas that appear to be mostly extracted from practical personal experience, and as such,

prove to be a valuable reference work. The book contains a selected bibliography at the

end of each chapter that expands the reading and depth possibilities for each subject

discussed. Overall the book has a clear organization pattern and the text reads easily.