Chorus Confidential : (Decoding the Secrets of the Choral Art)

Rating:
Summary: Chorus Confidential is a triumph!!!
Review: This book is a must read for anybody interested in choral music. It is written by a chorus guru who knows and has experienced what he is talking about. Most importantly, it is a delightful book that is fun to read. It's sort of like the "Chicken Soup for the Soul," except it would be "Chicken Soup for the Choir Conductor."

Rating:
Summary: Great Book--Easy to read
Review: This is a great book for choral conductors and works well for both beginners and experts.

William Dehning teaches at the University of Southern California, and is an accomplished conductor. This book contains his wisdom, advice, and plenty of self-deprecating humor.

Dehning begins with a chapter entitled "Who," which focuses on what it takes to be a good choral conductor. He then breaks his book up into chapters such as The Score, The Craft, The Instrument, The Ensemble, The Process, Them, and Us.

Dehning makes good points about what we should be doing (namely, conducting and analyzing the score), including a foolproof method for score analysis. His chapters about the instrument and the choral ensemble are wonderful examples of sound voice pedagogy, aspects of choral blend, and even performance formations. Some of my favorite parts were tips on how to sing melismas and fugue sections better, and also issues about how to run a good rehearsal (most choral conductors talk WAY too much).

While some (and perhaps most) will love it, Dehning's valuable handbook is couched in a writing style which is unceremonious, too much so at times. Dehning's humor is indisputably successful at bringing the master down off the pedestal, but I found his jokes, mostly at his expense to be occasionally distracting from great advice. Beginners won't mind, but some conducting elitists might chaff a bit. Also, there are some great things in the appendix, but Dehning avoids adding a bibliography.

That's really all I could find wrong with the book. I think this book can be a great pedagogical tool to conducting students of all ages and backgrounds.