Alton Peters

12/3/18
Presentation Handout

Early Years
 Choral music has always been important, but absence of recorded music leaves us only
general aspects.
 Many of the basic aspects come from the Renaissance period and have stood the test of
time.
o Things such as polyphony were perfected in this period.
 Other traditions came from the Baroque period.
o Main additions in this period were in the area of accompaniment.
 Both piano and other instrumental accompaniments were introduced
here.
o For the first time, we are seeing a break from sacred choral music and
exploration into secular music.
 Classical period saw another change in choral music, and that is the use of choral music
in larger works.
o Prime example is Beethoven’s 9th Symphony
 Singing schools started showing up at the turn of the 19th century in New England in
order to supply the churches with singers for their choirs.

The A Capella Movement
 The shift in interests went from simply “singing” to “choral music education”
 This shift was spurred by the emergence of touring a capella choirs as a means of
entertainment.
 Two major touring choirs emerged in the 19th and 20th centuries in this push for choral
music as entertainment
o St. Olaf Choir
o Westminster Choir
 A capella starts with the St. Olaf choir
o A capella translated to “in the chapel”
 That was where the music was intended to be performed, and without
instruments
 Eventually the “in the chapel” part of the definition was dropped and
today it generally means without accompaniment.

ACDA
 The American Choral Directors Association emerged in 1959 and heavily influenced the
way choral music has been viewed since then.