At the age of nine I sang in Bach’s St John Passion with the “Kiedricher Chorbuben”, the boys’ choir of my hometown.
I will never forget the enthusiasm of all the boys and the intensity of our singing in the concluding lines of the final chorale, “Herr Jesus Christ, erhöre mich, erhöre mich/Ich will dich preisen ewiglich” (Lord, grant me this and I will glorify you throughout eternity).
Somehow we all seemed to have been bound up with Bach’s great work. Is it possible for children to completely fathom all aspects of those compositions? Given the challenge posed by Bach’s arias even to experienced adult singers, let us doubt that.
But then again, what does “understanding” mean? In the German language we distinguish between “verstehen” (to understand) and “begreifen” (to grasp).
I believe that although a child may not be able to analyse a composition and gain access to it through its intellect or understanding, it may yet be able to “grasp” the intentions of a composition in its entirety through experience rather than analysis.
This is something that I call the “gnostic” side of singing. In gnosticism the individual’s very personal experiences, the “knowing”, means more than the “believing” of acquired teachings.
Ideally, a singer should, through his preparation and work, be able to create this experience for the listener. |
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