A Study of the Selection of Choral Repertoire at the Junior High School Level

• Main Authors: SHU, HUEI-CHUN, 徐惠君
• Other Authors: EI-LIN YIANG
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 1996
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/53418179338949894851

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.