Matthew Hoch | Auburn University (original) (raw)

Articles by Matthew Hoch

Journal of the Association of Anglican Musicians 33, no. 5 (September/October 2024)

Journal of Singing 81, no. 1 (September/October 2024)

Journal of the Association of Anglican Musicians 33, no. 3 (May/June 2024)

I first bEcamE familiar with the name Sydney Nicholson (1875-1947) in the early 2010s while under... more I first bEcamE familiar with the name Sydney Nicholson (1875-1947) in the early 2010s while undertaking research into the Anglican Passion. 1 Early into my exploration of the composer and his work, however, I realized I had been singing Nicholson for as long as I can remember. Lift High the Cross, hymn 473 in The Hymnal 1982, was a regularly sung favorite in my childhood parish; this text is, of course, sung to Nicholson's crucifEr, arguably his most frequently heard hymn tune. The Hymnal 1982 also features lytlington (hymn 694) as well as additional harmonizations and descants by this accomplished organist and church musician. 2 Nicholson also wrote several canticle and service settings (e.g., the Evening Service in D-flat and the Communion Service in G) that are still heard occasionally-as well as a seldom-sung motet, The Supreme Sacrifice (1920). Composition, however, occupied a relatively minor role over the course of Nicholson's long career. In England, he is primarily remembered as the founder of the School of English Church Music (SECM), known today as the Royal School of Church Music (RSCM). Administration of this organization became increasingly important to Nicholson, and he resigned from his enviable post at Westminster Abbey in 1927 to devote himself entirely to developing and shaping the SECM and its programs. In addition, he was also a somewhat prolific author of intriguing writings on church music. One of his published works-the longest and the most substantial-will serve as the topic of this month's column. Quires and Places Where They Sing was first published in 1932 by G. Bell and Sons, Ltd. It soon became Nicholson's most well-known book and was reprinted in 1950, 1954, and 1958, respectively. In 1958 the SPCK (Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge) acquired the publication rights, and soon thereafter the book assumed its current out-of-print status and faded from collective memory. This article seeks to dust off some of the metaphorical cobwebs that have gathered around this work. After providing a brief overview of Nicholson's career as a church musician and administrator, selected passages of Quires and Places Where They Sing will be explored and discussed within the context of the interwar period in which they were written. The article will conclude by considering the relevance of the book's content to current practice in music and worship.

Journal of Singing 80, no. 4 (March/April 2023)

Journal of the Association of Anglican Musicians 33, no. 1 (January/February 2024)

Journal of Singing 80, no. 3 (January/February 2024)

Journal of Singing 80, no. 1 (September/October 2023)

Associate editor Matthew Hoch revisits Walter C. Foster's 1998 book Singing Redefined, reconsider... more Associate editor Matthew Hoch revisits Walter C. Foster's 1998 book Singing Redefined, reconsidering its arguments within a twenty-first century context. Hoch uses Foster's compendium of historical writings on various aspects of voice pedagogy as a starting point for examining the challenging task of defining pedagogic terms and concepts. Hoch argues that published definitions are a product of their era and the endeavor of defining pedagogic concepts is a perpetually moving target that always involves the periodic redefining of terminology as new science emerges and society evolves, recontextualizing our knowledge of the singing voice. The author concludes by speculating on several emerging trends that may inform pedagogic discourse and expand our lexicon moving forward. O ver the past twenty-five years I have accumulated a large number of voice pedagogy books, enough to occupy their own shelf in my studio. Some of these-like those by William D. Vennard, Richard Miller, Barbara Doscher, and Scott McCoyare well-worn and have been opened, read, and taught from many times over the course of my career. 1 Others, however, show few if any signs of wear; I have never gotten around to reading them for one reason or another. One of these "like new" volumes was gifted to me several years ago by Glendower Jones: Singing Redefined by Walter C. Foster. The title alone intrigued me, as did its copyright date, 1998; Foster's book was published exactly a quarter century ago, when I was a senior undergraduate student at Ithaca College. As so much has changed in the world of voice pedagogy over the past twenty-five years, I was eager to read about how Foster "redefined" singing in 1998, and whether his definitions within this volume necessitated further revision. (My hypothesis was that they did.) Under the title, in finer print on the blue clothbound cover, was perhaps the longest subtitle I have ever encountered. The book's full title, including this subtitle, is as follows:

Journal of the Association of Anglican Musicians 32, no. 4 (July/August 2023)

everAl summers Ago, while studying for my choirmaster Ralph Brown Draughon Library at Auburn Univ... more everAl summers Ago, while studying for my choirmaster Ralph Brown Draughon Library at Auburn University while looking for another book. 1 Despite its striking red velvet cover intrigued. Although this title was not on checked it out, reading the entire book later that afternoon in one sitting, an easy feat given its modest length. Anglican Ways was published in 1954 by the H. W. Gray company in New York City, a North American arm of Novello. The subtitle, A Manual on Liturgical Music for Episcopal Choirmasters readership. This article will provide a accomplishments as a church musician, recount and dissect the content of Anglican Ways worship. About the Author 2 Everett Titcomb was born on June 30, 1884, in Salisbury Mills, Massachusetts. 3 His father, George Howard Titcomb, was a butcher, and and teenage years, became well-known within the local community for his musical talent. as a musician; from the age of nine, he was a member of the boy choir of St. James Episcopal Church in Amesbury and soon thereafter began playing the organ for Sunday school, fourteen. Other positions as a church musician soon followed. Baptist Church in Amesbury, and three years later, in 1902, he became the organist and choirmaster at the Church of the Messiah in Auburndale, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston. the church musicians of Boston. After a brief, one-year stint at Christ Church, Andover, which began in the fall of 1909, Titcomb was appointed organist and choirmaster of the Church of St. John the Evangelist on Bowdoin Street in Boston in 1910, a position he would hold for the next forty-nine years. music program that was known throughout the city of Boston for its comprising women alongside the on plainchant liturgy, and Anglo-Catholic leanings. Titcomb also began especially fertile decade of creativity of which are I Will Not Leave You Comfortless Eight Motets 4

Choral Journal 62. no. 7 (March/April 2022)

Journal of Singing 79, no. 4 (March/April 2023)

I n recent years it has been impossible to read the March/April issue of the Journal of Singing w... more I n recent years it has been impossible to read the March/April issue of the Journal of Singing without some reference to World Voice Day. This fact gave me pause before choosing to devote yet another column to the occasion, but-upon undertaking some initial research into World Voice Day-I reconsidered. While World Voice Day has become international in scope, there remains no single website or resource devoted to the occasion. The interdisciplinary nature of the day and its associated events also results in various professional organizations having their own "take" on World Voice Day; thus, information is not centralized, resulting in a plethora of websites and articles on the internet, sometimes with conflicting information. This article strives to unite these disparate strands, provide a brief history of World Voice Day in scholarship and practice, and offer some thoughts for voice pedagogues seeking to observe the occasion. WORLD VOICE DAY: A BRIEF HISTORY As I began researching the history of World Voice Day, it immediately became apparent that comprehensive information is not available at any one central ized resource. Various professional organizations construct and host their own web pages, and while the date is widely celebrated on social media, the very nature of these posts is ephemeral, emerging shortly before April 16 each year and then quickly rescinding into the background of cyberspace. The following timeline is constructed largely from two resources that, for reasons explained below, distinguish themselves as more authoritative than others: the website of the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery (AAO-HNS), 1 and worldvoiceday.org, a hub devoted to chronicling international activity related to World Voice Day. 2 Additional details and other invaluable insights emerged through direct correspondence with

Journal of Singing 79, no. 1 (September/October 2022)

Journal of Singing 78, no. 4 (March/April 2022)

American Organist 56, no. 7 (July 2022)

Australian Voice 21 (2020)

Voiceprints 17, no. 5 (May/June 2020)

Journal of Singing 76, no. 4 (March/April 2020)

Journal of the Association of Anglican Musicians 29, no. 4 (April 2020)

Voice and Speech Review 13, no. 1 (March 2019)

This article provides a brief overview of some of the most seminal and important events in the hi... more This article provides a brief overview of some of the most seminal and important events in the history of singing voice pedagogy, from the earliest historical writings through the most recent twenty-first century developments. Topics include primary sources from the Renaissance through the romantic eras; an exploration of bel canto concepts and methodologies; reflections on figures such as Manuel García II, William Vennard, Ralph Appelman, and Richard Miller; the history of professional organizations in the United States and their role in shaping scholarly discourse in voice pedagogy; the revelation and influence of acoustic theory, vocology, and contemporary commercial music (CCM) pedagogy in recent decades; and a look at the pedagogical horizon in the coming decades. Readers are provided with additional resources for further study.

Choral Journal 60, no. 10 (May 2020)

Choral Journal 59, no. 10 (May 2019)

An alternative version of this article appears as a chapter in the book So You Want to Sing Music... more An alternative version of this article appears as a chapter in the book So You Want to Sing Music by Women (Rowman & Littlefi eld, 2019). 1 Women Composers of Choral Music before 1800 Although there is evidence of compositional activity by women in the genres of plainchant and monophonic secular song during the Medieval era, the earliest known female composer of polyphonic choral music was the sixteenth-century madrigalist Maddalena Casulana (ca. 1544ca. 1590). Casulana, an Italian, was a lutenist and singer in addition to being a composer. She is best known for her three books of madrigals, all of which were published during her lifetime-in 1568, 1570, and 1583. This publication record was an extraordinary feat for a Renaissance woman composer. "Morir non può il mio core"-a four-voice madrigal from Il primo libro di magrigali (the fi rst collection)-is a work fi rmly rooted in the Italian madrigal style of the sixteenth century, and its counterpoint and text painting are representative of Casulana's mature compositional style.