Matter of Choice: Interpreting Choral Music

"Dehning is part poet, part technician, part scholar..." - Maurice McCullen, Stockton Record "This book is about Artistry. Artistry is a matter of choosing what to do with the materials at hand. You make them your own. There's only one You ('...and he's so original and profound!'). You can do your utmost to get more or better materials but you still have to choose what to do with them. And see, there is no such thing as the 100% perfect choice, is there? Choice involves risk: Marriages, jobs, cars, houses, grad schools, cereals, you name it. Comes right down to it, you make your choices based on the evidence, pro-con lists, coin flips, planet alignment, the Book of Mormon, whatever. Robert Moon: 'Look if you like but you have to leap.' Aldous Huxley: 'You pays your money, you takes your choice.' Choice is everything; it is in the very title of this book. It is the key to Interpretation, which is what God put conductors on this planet to do." In a style somewhere between witty and profound, William Dehning walks us through his own interpretive choices of some of the world's greatest choral works, including the "how" and "why" he made those choices. His insights are invaluable to any choral director as they strive to bring music to life with authenticity, accuracy and artistry. William Dehning is Emeritus Professor of Choral Music, University of Southern California and the Past President and Founding Member of the National Collegiate Choral Organization. He is the author of Chorus Confidential: Decoding the Secrets of the Choral Art.