Page 29 - CJOct23

Choral Pedagogical Tools and Vocal Exercises A Practical Guide to Teaching Handel's Messiah

To provide more guidance on how even eighth notes long/short pattern. The original rhythmic notation of
are altered, Tarling refers to Corrette’s 1738 violin trea- “And all flesh shall see it together” is shown in Figure 5
tise: “3/4 Quavers equal, semiquavers unequal....” 13 with its rhythmic alteration demonstrated in Figure 6.
The quarter notes (quavers), are notated equally, and
the eighth notes (semiquavers), are notated as unequal Consonant Placement and Rhythmic Alteration
long/short patterns. The original score of motive “b” In his text The Voices I Hear, Dr. Will Kesling argues:
is notated with even eighth notes as seen in Figure 3. “Good diction is dependent upon the correctness and
The alteration of straight eighth notes to notes inégales purity of the main vowel sound…[and] internal and
14
are demonstrated in Figure 4. final consonants.” In Study Guide B (Figure 7 on the
Rhythmic alteration is also indicated for motive “c,” next page), consonant placements and the resulting
as each group of even eighth notes are altered to the rhythmic alterations are demonstrated in measure 1 of

CHORAL JOURNAL October 2023 Volume 64 Number 3 27