Graduate Choral Conducting Recital Document

This research project explores three genres of choral music performed in recital. The first chapter discusses the practical challenges that occur when rehearsing and performing Renaissance music. Particular attention is paid to notational problems and how editors chose to resolve them. Excerpts from Palestrina’s Sicut cervus are used to illustrate these different solutions and detail their viability. The second chapter explores the history behind Franz Schubert’s Ständchen, and the circumstances that created two versions of the same piece. It then examines Schubert’s compositional style by comparing and analyzing these arrangements. The final chapter details the inner workings of the Venetian ospedali, as well as Nicola Porpora’s role within them. It ends with a look at Porpora’s Lauda Jerusalem. This analysis includes a detailed list of the factors that make the piece a learning tool for young female singers.