Maryland All State Honors Chorus 1988
| Song Title | Arrangement by |
|---|---|
Introduction |
N/A |
Hallelujah |
(Unknown) |
Ave Maria |
(Unknown) |
My Homeland* |
(Unknown) |
Rondes |
Folke Rabe |
Stopping By the Woods |
(Unknown) |
Choose Something Like a Star |
Randall Thompson |
Russian Picnic |
Harvey Enders |
Come Away |
James McCray |
Gershwin Medley |
(Unknown) |
Talk |
N/A |
Battle Hymn |
Peter J. Wilhousky* |
*Best Guess
Maryland All State Honors Choir
Unlike the Tri-Country Southern Maryland Honors choir, this Honors choir still exists to this day (Note: Sadly after writing this I have read that this year's 2020 concert has been cancelled due to coronavirus concerns. Hopefully they will be back next year).
For a recent example of the concert they have a wonderful video of their 2019 performance online here on YouTube
All State 2019
Maryland Music Educators Association
13 Counties in Maryland with about 900,000 students in 2020. I would estimate the choir size at 150 or so.
1988 Specifically
Ocean City Maryland.
Something that I remember in particular that made this concert a bit stressful was the small line in the "choir contract" that said "any student that shows up to the concert without being able to demonstrate a working knowledge of the music will not be invited to stay". Talk about stress. Since I was the only person I knew that was going, there was no way to be able to determine if I had really learned the music. Trying to learn choir music by yourself without having others to hear is rather difficult. I am very fortunate that my mother is an excellent piano player and was able to play all of the music to help me learn.
In watching the video of the 2019 choir, I was reminded that the 1988 choir also did a "mixed standing arrangement" (My term). What I mean is that the different voices of the choir (Soprano, Alto, Tenor, and Bass) do not stand grouped together, but the entire choir is mixed evenly.
This is an extremely difficult thing to pull off in a choir as it's far easier to sing your part when the people directly next to you are singing the exact same part. While I can think of some pro's and con's to this approach, I'm only guessing and would love to hear the viewpoint of some professionals.
Since I have mentioned in other pages how I was less than thrilled by the song selection of other honors choirs, I really should give a shout out to the phenomenal collection in this concert. Some slow, some fast, some quiet, and some loud. And simply about the best ending song possible.
Honors choirs are one shot deals. These are not a series of concerts over a year, where you as a conductor can have highly themed concerts. This one single concert needs to have an incredible dynamic range of songs from slow to fast, from quiet to loud, and everywhere in between.
And to go on a limb, the last part which I expect is the most difficult for "adult professional conductors" is that this is a case where "yes, sometimes you have to play to your audience". What I mean is that as the conductor you might have done a similar concert 20 times and you might be tired of the "big end number". What is hard to remember is that your singers most likely have never been in a choir like this, and most likely will never be in one again. Don't choose an Art Piece because you are looking for something "different". Choose a song where they can let loose a bit. A song that they will remember singing 30 years later. (/rant)
But back to the show.
There is no way to mention the music without mentioning the crazy piece titled "Rondes" by "Folke Rabe". To say it's strange is an understatement. I'll put a few of pages of the score here for you to get a feel.
And last but not least a wonderful shout out to the conductor Dr. Dennis Cox. Incredible.
Conductor Dr. Dennis Cox
Dennis K. Cox, DMA, Presented with the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award by Marquis Who's Who
Song Titles
Finding Song Titles
Hallelujah and Ave Maria
By this point I must have heard 30 versions of each. There must be hundreds and there is no end in sight. I'm not even going to try to find these.
Rondes by Folke Rabe
This was difficult to find. I did multiple searches before I stumbled on searching for this exactly
"Quickly whisper your telephone number"
My Homeland?
Very annoying, and I never found the song or the arrangement. It's particularly crazy because I have almost all of the lyrics transcribed, but zero hits on either Google or YouTube.
Wings of Old take my thoughts filled with longing far away to my home among the mountains
O my homeland shall I find thee never
Never more the clear Jordan standing
Once again let your song
Speak to me once a day I knew
For the sorrows that ever
Come, O come my sad heart to renew
Sing a song of my own native land
Here my dream I abide there forever
O my Homeland Shall I find the never
Stopping By the Woods
Again I thought this would be easy. The song title at least is simple, but I never would have believed how many arrangements of this poem exist. I listened to arrangements from the following people before I gave up.
Randall Thompson
Roger Emerson
Douglas E. Wagner
Ruth Artman
Bruce W. Tippette
Vera Kistler
Kenneth Riggs
Adam Paltrowitz
Russian Picnic
This could have been difficult as the song title is not in the lyrics, but it's also a rather popular song, so lots of hits after a simple search on the first lyric.
The Sun is high and bells are rings
Young lads and Maidens join in singing
Auditions
Strange, but I have no information on this. I don't remember the audition and have zero paperwork or documents. I remember the audition for All Eastern the next year very vividly, so I find this slightly bewildering.
History and Technical Specs
If you have read this far, why not take the red pill and go all the way?
March 2020