Achieving a historically informed performance of Renaissance polyphony: A qualitative study of the use of modernized partbooks

This qualitative research study aims to answer the following question: do modernized partbooks positively impact the conductor’s ability to teach the skills needed to achieve a historically informed performance of Renaissance polyphony? Additionally, this project queries participants’ rehearsal techniques, interpreting which are most valuable for successfully integrating partbook singing into a choir. The responses highlight four main benefits: improved listening skills, enhanced singer independence, deeper historical perspective, and more stylistically appropriate phrasing. Importantly, analyzing each participant's perceived benefits alongside their responses to other questions reveals distinct patterns. Some benefits are commonly shared among participants, while others are influenced by individual conductor goals and rehearsal methods. Furthermore, the data provides insights into identifying participants who are less likely to derive any benefits from using modernized partbooks. The participants who expressed that their ensembles benefitted from this exercise were, most consistently, those who articulated specific goals going into the exercise. The data shows that success was less dependent on the participant’s years of experience, but rather linked to their initial artistic goals being grounded in, or otherwise productively relating to, Renaissance performance practice principles and the methodology used in the rehearsal process.

Name thesis:degree_name

A.Mus.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Music

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2024

Author dc:creator

• Shepard, Matthew Christopher

Contributors dc:contributor

• Eagen-Jones, Megan
• Solya, Andrea
• Megill, Andrew
• Mattax Moersch, Charlotte

• Choral
• Polyphony
• Renaissance
• Music
• Partbooks

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2024 Matthew Shepard

Language dc:language

eng, en

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/124297

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/124297