Estonian Boys Choir Rehearses Britten’s War Requiem

Hirvo Surva with Estonian Boys' Choir

After hearing a performance of Britten’s War Requiem at ACDA National last March, I was thrilled to be invited by Hirvo Surva, conductor of the Estonian National Opera Boys Choir, to sit in on a rehearsal for an upcoming performance of the Requiem on December 6, here in Tallinn.

The rehearsal featured 32 boys, ages 9 through 13, drawn from the soprano and alto section of the larger mixed group (reminder: this is an SATB group, males only, ages 9 – 18). Since much of the writing for the boys choir in the Requiem is in unison, all the boys are singing in their soprano range, even the altos, including a couple of voices that have begun to mutate. In some of the movements the tessitura lies rather high, the final In paradisum, for example.

The sound of their voices is incredible. It is much more robust than the traditional English choir-boy sound, using a mix of chest and head, rather than all head. The sound is not forced, yet very full, rich, clear, and centered in the middle of the pitch. Of course, this is a reflection of Hirvo Surva’s fine teaching!

The rehearsal environment is resonant and well-lit. The tone of the rehearsal is a nice mix of warmth, humor, good pacing, high musical standards, and boys just being boys. One can tell that Hirvo loves the boys and they love and trust him. They sing in seated position for the most part; the rehearsal lasted 90 minutes. They are at ease when not singing and, they are behaving like boys. One boy imitates flatulence precisely with a cut-off and the group dissolves in laughter, including the conductor. Yet, Mr. Surva demands their attention and focus, and keeps things moving. He sets very clear boundaries for their behavior. One boy is dismissed from rehearsal for not bringing his score to class. Hirvo informs me that Opera Boys Choir has a ‘three strikes’ rule; if any such undesirable behavior happens a fourth time, the singer is dismissed from membership in the choir. The culture of the group is strong as is the desire to be a team player in the group. So far, nobody has been dismissed. Yet there is never a sense of fear or feeling of strictness; Hirvo allows the boys to be normal kids (making incredible music). They barely display any fatigue. Naturally, they are very curious about the tall American in the room and eager to show their best behavior as young singers/musicians.

Soprano, age 9

Here are some observations about warm-ups:

Warm-ups using short and long sibilants [s] emphasizing expansion of ribs and relaxed shoulders.

Warm-ups on simple vocalises or held unisons emphasizing balanced resonance via alternating mixed and pure vowels

      [ö, o and ü, i]

Warm-ups using solfege syllables emphasizing vowel unification and legato (breath support and line)

Solfege /ear training using hands sign only to dictate pitches (sing what you see)

Interval training and tuning using two-part dictation with hands signs (soprano = r.h., alto = l.h.).

     Ever tried that as a teacher?  It is tricky!

Arpeggiated chord structures using number dictation and sung response, ex., 1-3-5-6-4-2-(7)-1

Soprano, age 12

Here are some observations about rehearsal on the War Requiem:

Specific work on legato line, proper diction, and beautiful vowel shapes

Work on text inflection, taking weight out of tops

Speaking the parts in rhythm – including rests

The boys are relaxed, funny and a little fidgety, but when called to task, they sit properly and sing beautifully

Hirvo calls the boys by name to bring them into focus

Gets the boys to keep tone focused and forward – not breathy or inefficient

Hirvo uses appropriate wait times when querying the boys and before giving a cue (says, “are you ready?” without

     speaking)

Getting the boys to be engaged musically by thinking about the textual meaning

Creating imagery to help them picture the text: “Have a visual image of the text in your mind!”

Hirvo drills boys on translation of the Latin

He says, “Tune the vowel”!

Has them speak the text to the get the right resonance and inflection by asking the boys to put resonance in the

       speaking voices and showing proper word stress/inflection in via lyrical recitation of the diction

Uses parallels in Estonian speech patterns to teach appropriate word stress in Latin.

Does random individual assessments:  “Please stand and sing this phrase demonstrating the concept being taught

     (word   stress, vowel, legato line, etc.)”

Praises boys frequently and reinforces good habits.

Estonians habitually vigorously aspirate the initial [h]; it sounds like [ς].  This is characteristic of Estonian diction

     but inappropriate for Latin. Hirvo gets the kids out of the habit when singing in Latin.

Hirvo talks to them about flipping [r] before the beat. When singing in Romance languages, the Estonians will never have a problem with the flipped or trilled [r].

In paradisum = high tessitura! He’s asking the boys to add space/modify, and to get the air moving before onset.

Informal assessment: “Rate your sound!  On a scale of 1 to 4, how beautiful is your forte?” They talk about great tenors:

     Caruso, Domingo, Pavarotti (make your tone fat, like Pavarotti!

 

Without speaking, I join the boys at the piano during the break. They are clumped around one boy who is playing a piano riff from an American pop tune that I happen to know. I reach around him and mirror his right hand one octave higher, adding a bass line with my left hand—thank goodness for root position major and minor triads. The boys marvel. I utter, “Do you all understand English?” Of course, they speak beautifully—practically without accent! This is the new generation of Estonians. One boy reports that he learned on his own by watching cartoons. They all chime in!  Another reports with great pride that he has studied it on his own!

Wow! What an inspiring evening. I love the sound of a healthy boy choir. I can’t wait to see the War Requiem, two weeks from tomorrow, featuring British conductor, Jan Latham Koenig, The State Choir Latvija, Samuel Boden (tenor), Gavin Carr )baritone), the Estonian National Opera Boys’ Choir and the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra!

For the arts, Tallinn rocks! Because the country is small, they are all concentrated here in the capital city!