By Dave Babbitt – Special to the Sydenham Current
A couple of times in past columns, I’ve focused on the human voice, which I will go to my grave believing is the most difficult musical instrument to master. I’ve also written about how captivated I am by the spoken voice, how it can command attention, and how we are drawn to spoken voices as readily as a singing voice.
I’m always trying to analyze why certain voices resonate so deeply with me. When I think of great speaking voices, names like James Earl Jones, Morgan Freeman, David Attenborough, Larry King and Donald Sutherland immediately come to mind. I think of legendary newscasters such as Walter Cronkite, Lloyd Robertson and Mort Crim. And depending on one’s age, who wouldn’t recognize iconic radio voices like Wolfman Jack, Casey Kasem, or the voice of southwestern Ontario, our own Greg Hetherington.
These are all instantly recognizable voices for a variety of reasons. As remarkable as our favourite singing artists and speakers are, however, there is something even more special about massed voices that unite to speak or sing as one.
We have all heard choral groups sing countless times, but speak? That idea was new to me until a recent conversation with Sonya Louzon, an elementary school music teacher for many years. She mentioned that several years ago she suggested to Kiwanis Music Festival organizers that they establish a class for choral speaking, allowing many more students to participate.
I’ll admit my ignorance. I had never heard of the concept, and I immediately had questions. Once those questions were answered, I did what I usually do and turned to YouTube, watching several choral speaking competitions. Suddenly, the idea became much clearer, and the concept began to make sense.
In the arts, educational curricula are built around core elements. When I was teaching music, the Ontario Music Curriculum identified those elements as rhythm, melody, harmony, form, dynamics, timbre and texture. As I looked more closely at what judges in choral speaking competitions listen for, it became evident that many of those same musical elements apply. The value of choral speaking as a stepping stone to further musical study quickly became clear.
The one element that does not apply is harmony, since choral speaking is performed in unison. Still, competitors must pay close attention to tempo, rhythm, phrasing, dynamics, voice inflections and clarity of words. Just as in a band or choir, there is a conductor working to keep everything together.
I used to show my students a video of trumpet great Wynton Marsalis addressing young musicians. He spoke about how much of their musical life would be spent in group practice, and how many of their greatest moments would come from collective effort. He used the example of a church congregation, where hundreds of people may be reciting the same prayer or passage. They might not start perfectly together, but before long a shared rhythm emerges, voices rise and fall with the phrasing, and they end in unison. That, in essence, is choral speaking.
Choral singing can be just as powerful. Having worked in the funeral business in a past life, I’ve attended hundreds of services and heard countless congregations sing hymns. Recently, though, I attended a funeral where, during the final verse of a well-known closing hymn, the accompanist dropped out. The congregation continued a cappella. The dynamic contrast, phrasing and togetherness of those voices gave me goosebumps.
There is great beauty and satisfaction in order and togetherness. Is there anything more mesmerizing than watching a massive school of fish change direction in perfect unison, or a flock of birds turning as one? Another example can be heard at concerts when an artist initiates a call-and-response with the crowd. One of the most legendary moments of this kind came during the 1985 Live Aid concert, when Queen’s Freddie Mercury had 72,000 people responding to his calls in almost perfect time.
We’ve all seen large crowds in the United States recite the Pledge of Allegiance. While I’m not American, it is still an impressive example of collective voice. Some of my most meaningful moments have also involved groups speaking or singing together. I think of church services where congregations recite The Lord’s Prayer or the Apostle’s Creed, or respond in unison to a reading. Singing O Canada at public events is another powerful example. For years, I struggled to sing it because of the lump in my throat and the tears that welled up as voices joined together.
Voices united are powerful, empowering, moving and deeply human. To me, they are an art form I love both to hear and to take part in.
