Crystal writes:
One argument that always comes up is when to cut off a sustained note at the end of a phrase when singing in a group. For example, if the chorus is sustaining a whole note in 4/4 time, I teach that they must sustain for four beats and begin silence on the first beat of the next measure. There is always one girl, always a girl, who argues that that is sustaining it for an extra beat because to her it *seems* like an extra beat. When the argument came up this year, I asked her to explain when she thought we *should* cut off, and she said "before".Dear Crystal,
You bring up a problem that all choral conductors and choristers face constantly. When composers do not offer rests for breathing places between phrases, the conductor is obliged to tell the chorus how much to shorten the last note of a phrase in order to accommodate the breathing - unless it is obvious that the composer meant there to be no break at all, in which case, staggered breathing is usually required. If the last note is followed by a rest, the note should be held for its full value until the rest (as you have said) if the syllable ends in a vowel. If it ends in a consonant such as 't' or 'd', the consonant is performed at the beginning of the rest. However, some composers, especially many British ones, tie the long note to an eighth. In most cases the eighth is taken as the cut-off. This can be very confusing, and I for one discourage its use since many conductors will try to sing through the tied note. Singers must be sure not to hold notes beyond their value since the harmony is likely to change at the rest.
Best regards,
Hal
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Harold Owen
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