| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立臺灣師範大學 === 音樂學系 === 84 === The purpose of this study is to investigate the selection
of choral repertoire at the junior high school level. A
comprehensive investigation was conducted through an analysis of
the literaturewritten by both domestic and foreign experts and
scholars on theselection of choral repertoire, through
interviews with domestic choral experts, through an analysis
of the choral repertoire in regional choir contests for the
last four years, as well as through a survey on how junior
high school choral teachers choosemusic works for their
choirs. It is hoped that this study canoffer some suggestions
and reference for both teachers and educational
organizations. Besides reviewing the literature written by
both domestic and foreign experts and scholars on choral
repertoire selection, the researcher interviewed ten
experienced choir directors who frequently served as judges in
choir contests. The analysis of the choral repertoire in
regional choir contests for the last fouryears was based on
the self-chosen works of finalists in thejunior high school
section of the Taiwan Provincial Music Contestsheld during the
academic years from 1991-1994. The analysis wasfurther
subdivided into the selection of repertoire by male and female
choruses, and the selection of frequent self-chosen pieces. The
survey purpose was to investigate the teachers'' views on the
importance, preparation, factors to be considered, sources, and
other issues concerning repertoire selection. The subjects of
the survey on how junior high school choral teachers select
repertoire for their choirs, the subjects consisted of 103
choir directors(18 interviews, and 85 questionnaires). They
came from 103 juniorhigh schools located in Taipei City and
Kaohsiung City, as well asin the northern (Hsinchu City and
Hsinchu County), central(Taichung City and Taichung County),
and southern (Tainan City and Tainan County) parts of Taiwan.
After interviews, questionnaires through mail, and telephone
follow-up, a 100% responding rate was achieved. The data
analysis was made through percentage frequencydistribution. The
chi-square test was also conducted to show the difference of the
choral directors'' responses with regard to the teacher''s age,
teacher''s major, school size, region, and number ofmusic
teachers in the school. Conclusions were described in the
following four aspects: (1)choral director, (2) school,
(3) music contest, and (4)educational administration. In
terms of choral directors, it is found that most teachers lacked
knowledge in vocal production and repertoire selection. They
also tended to be not very active in gathering choral musicand
enriching their knowledge. Most teachers did not have indices of
repertoire, nor did they analyze the repertoire to its fullest
extent. Few discussed with their colleagues. The teachers
who based their selection on music contests chose more
difficult and larger pieces of music, while those who based
their selection oneducation of value, considering whether the
students would learn something, tended to choose smaller pieces
of music. The teachers'' educational views, therefore,
influenced their music selection.The teachers who specialized
in vocal music were, in general, capable of singing songs in a
foreign language, and therefore were more likely to choose
songs in a foreign language. Slight differences were found
between teachers in various regions. Attending workshops
and seminars was found to be helpful in choir teaching. With
regard to schools, it is found that the smaller school was, the
more emphasis was on the preparation work to evaluate the
students'' competence, and the more likely the school was to
choose songs from the general music textbooks. It is also found
that lack of support of school administration impeded the
training and teaching of the choir. In terms of music
contests, it is found that music contests stimulated the growth
of choral education, and influenced a teacher''s view on the
importance of various aspects in training achoir. Music contests
actually decided the teachers'' selection of repertoire.
Because of the music contest, choral teaching activities
contained vocal exercise and annotation only. So far as the
system is concerned, it is found that there were few choices in
terms of the selection of designated songs, and the designated
songs of male and female choirs were the same. With regard
to educational administration, it is found thatvery few
resources were available to teachers. The contents of choral
workshops and seminars were not well-planned, and the choral
courses offered at the college level were
notcomprehensive. Based on the above findings, the
researcher makes thefollowing suggestions:The choral directors
should carefully plan their teaching and makea point of all-
around development of student''s musicality. Theyshould review
more literature, attend more workshops and seminars, or join
choirs themselves to expand their source of
repertoireselection. They should build their own repertoire
databank andindices to complete their preparatory work.
When selectingself-chosen works for contests, they should not
limit themselvesto a certain style, and should keep students in
mind. They shouldalso try to arrange songs to tailor student''
s need, enrich thecontents of their teaching, and give the
students more diversifiedand experience on different style
and culture. Schools should encourage choral activities more
and make the choir a formalextra-curricular organization.
They should also reduce the music teachers'' workload and offer
more leave to the teachers so that they can have time to prepare
their choral teaching and to observe performances of choirs
from other schools and counties. The schools should also
gather songs to provide the teachers with sources of
repertoire. In terms of music contests, the regulations for
the grouping of choirs and selection of self-chosen and
designated songs need to be revised. More judges those with
choir experiences should beappointed. More funds should be
allotted to pay for the fee of thejudges. Finally, a
dissuasion between judges and choirsafter-contest should be
held for choirs further approvement. As far as the
educational administration is concerned, a taskforce should be
designated to plan the contents of seminars andthere should
also be a choral library. Choral education atdifferent
levels should be planned, and the status of choral education
raised. Teachers should have more access to informationon
choral teaching. Arrangement and composition of choral
worksfor junior high schools should be encouraged and these
works should be gathered and published in different categories
according to the style and their difficulty level. This would
then serve asa basis on which teachers can select their
repertoire. As to the staff and curricula of choral
education at the college level, those with practical
experiences should be appointed and there should be more
multifaceted choral courses, including choral history, analysis
of choral works.
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