The Choral Contrarians

It is Season 2, folks!  Richard and Eric dig deep and cover the highly controversial and substantive topic of the yearly Choir Retreat, which is fraught with dangers, terror, and drama.  Oh the drama!  Besides telling a few stories, the guys talk a bit about the potential importance of a retreat at the beginning of the choral calendar.

Richard and Eric take a look at an article about the late Robert Shaw composed in 2006 by Peter Phillips (conductor of the Tallis Scholars) entitled "The Cult of the Conductor".  Phillips briefly analyzes the methodology of Shaw as well as the choral outcomes that arise from such (perceived) methods.  Though they discuss the article in full, the guys primarily focus on Phillips's title and premise.  Is there such a thing that can be seen as a "cult of the conductor," and what could that possibly look like?  A lot of wonderful choral insights here, woven around two preeminent, contemporary choral conductors.

Phillips, P. "The Cult of the Conductor." Sacred Music. Fall 2006, Volume 133, No. 3, pp. 6-9.

The Ensign Symphony and Chorus performs "And Then Shall Your Light Break Forth" from Mendelssohn's Elijah (October 2018); conductors Steve Danielson and Chase Chang.

Back after a short summer hiatus Richard and Eric take up the surprisingly controversial topic,"l’art pour l’art" (art for art’s sake), brought back into contemporary consciousness by Yo Yo Ma’s recent Harvard Gazette interview.  Made famous by author Théophile Gautier, and argued about in a variety of ways over many (many) years, this concept provides murky swimming waters indeed, particularly in nailing down what the often misrepresented philosophy is truly expressing.  What do the guys think of how this has been (and is currently) perceived?

Anon. “Art for Art’s Sake: Its Fallacy and Viciousness.” The Art World. Vol. 2, No. 2. (May, 1917), pp. 98-102.

J. Laidler. “I Want To Make It Felt.” The Harvard Gazette. (March 15, 2019).

Richard and Eric examine the prevalent human adaptive process called "hedonic adaptation" and its relevance to not only our daily life, but more specifically: choral conducting.  What is the hedonic treadmill, and once we understand what it is, is there a way to get off?  There must be something more and deeper than just this "pursuit of happiness" thing.

Frederick, S. and Loewenstein, G. (1999). Hedonic Adaptation. Wellbeing, The Foundations of Hedonic Psychology. New York: Russel Sage Foundation.
Lyubomirsky, S. (2010). Hedonic Adaptation to Positive and Negative Experiences. THe Oxford Handbook of Stress, Health, and Coping. Oxford University Press.

Richard and Eric take a break from their recent heavy lifting to rank the top 5 choral Requiems of all time.  Some surprises are in store if you love the Office of the Dead!  Tomfoolery and skullduggery ensue as the guys go full Requiem.

Richard and Eric discuss the now famous Virtual Choir phenomenon and its varying ramifications on not only the choral community but on greater social society.  In their critique, they attempt the impossible by unifying seemingly disparate ideas of thinkers and philosophers such as Debord, Baudrillard, Eco, Kierkegaard, all in too short of a time.  Is the virtual choir actually a choir?  Does the virtual choir share aspects of previously seen social experiments in the recent past?  Are there claims the virtual choir makes that could be seen as problematic or illusory?  Trying to look deeply at this very popular social art-form proves to be not only challenging but enlightening.


Baudrillard, J. (1981). Simulacra et Simulation.  Éditions Galilée (French) and University of Michigan Press (English).
Curtis, A. (2011). Episode 2: The Use and Abuse of Vegetational Concepts. All Watched Over By Machines of Loving Grace.
Debord, G. (1967). The Society of the Spectacle.  Buchet-Chastel (French) and Black & Red (English).
Eco, U. (1973). The Fortresses of Solitude. Travels in Hyperreality. Mariner Books.
Kierkegaard, S. (1846). This Present Age. 

Richard and Eric take a brief look back at their year and find its a little harder to do than it would seem.  What can be learned from the many surprises and disappointments the season or school year annually present?  The guys also answer a listener email and reference the inimitable Gordan MacRae.

'musica obscura' looks at Communist composer Hanns Eisler's (1898-1962)  “Woodbury Songbook” (1941). 

'Readings and Writings' is a short acrostic obituary poem published at the death of composer George Friederic Handel (1685-1759).

Richard and Eric discuss a recent article from The Spectator by Andrew Mahon, who was critical of Peter Sellars's staging of the St. John Passion of J.S. Bach.  The article forms a jumping-off point to examine the role context plays in performance, performance practice,  and artistic interpretation.  There are a number of relevant issues surrounding the notion of context that play out in the work of the choral musician, with some that are worthy of deep consideration.


Mahon, A. (Apr., 2019).  Why Peter Sellars's staging of the St. John Passion - which I sang in - was deeply flawed.  The Spectator.

In what amounts to a double episode, Richard and Eric are joined by special guest Dr. Jeremiah Cawley, and plunge into the deep end of the pool to discuss the state of criticism and its usefulness in the choral world.  What is a critic and what is good criticism?  Do we as a culture have a growing distaste, distrust, or maybe misunderstanding of what criticism is?  Are there sources of good, impactful criticism that can be relied upon in the choral community?  What is the future of this increasingly rare form of art?

Adorno, T.W. (1995).  Bach Defended Against His Devotees.  Prisms (pp. 135-146)  Massachusetts: MIT Press Cambridge.
Allison, J. (Aug., 2015).  Prom 32: Eric Whitacre, review: ‘overstayed its welcome.’  The Telegraph.
Ebert, R. (Sept., 2008).  “Critic” Is A Four-Letter Word. Roger Ebert’s Journal Online.
Hewett, I. (Sept., 2012).  Religious music for the commitment-phobe. The Telegraph.
Maritain, J. (1935). Art and Scholasticism.  University of Notre Dame.
Mendelsohn, D. (Aug., 2012)  A Critic’s Manifesto. The New Yorker.

Richard and Eric try a new mode of discussion and ramble on in attempting to tip over a perceived 'sacred cow' of the current choral scene: closing concerts with 'crowd-pleasing' pieces.  This seemingly simple idea has a surprisingly large number of factors and variables to ruminate on, and the boys end up perhaps having more questions than when they started.

'musica obscura' looks at Lou Harrison's (1917-2003) obscure “La Koro Sutro.”

'Readings and Writings' is a short description of the dire state of Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881) in the 1870s by his friend Ilya Repin.