TYPES OF CHORAL

SPEAKING ARRANGEMENT

Antonio Delgado, BSEd II

REFRAINThis type is used with poetry which

contains lines or verses which are repeated.

Originally, such poems are recited with a minstrel saying the verses and the audience reciting the refrains and choruses.

The narrative can be recited by a solo voice or a smaller group of voices and entire group responds by giving the refrain.

Ballads are suitable for this type of arrangement.

It is good for beginners.

“THE TURTLE AND THE FLAMINGO”

A lively young turtle lived down by the banks

Of a dark rolling stream called the Jingo;One summer day, as he went out to play,

Fell in love with a charming flamingo(All)

An enormously charming flamingo!An expansively crimson flamingo!A beautiful, bouncing flamingo!

EXAMPLES OF REFRAIN

FATHER WE THANK THEEFor flowers that bloom about our feet,

Father, we thank Thee. For tender grass so fresh, so sweet,

Father, we thank Thee. For the song of bird and hum of bee,

For all things fair we hear or see, Father in heaven, we thank Thee.

For blue of stream and blue of sky, Father, we thank Thee.

For pleasant shade of branches high, Father, we thank Thee.

For fragrant air and cooling breeze, For beauty of the blooming trees,Father in heaven, we thank Thee.

For this new morning with its light, Father, we thank Thee.

For rest and shelter of the night, Father, we thank Thee

For health and food, for love and friends, For everything Thy goodness sends,

Father in heaven, we thank Thee.

THE UMBRELLA BRIGADEBy Laura Richards

“ Pitter patter!” falls the rain On the schoolroom window pane. Such a splashing! such a dashing!

Will it e ’er be dry again? Down the gutter rolls a flood,

And the crossing ’s deep in mud; And the puddles! oh, the puddles Are a sight to stir one ’s blood!

But let it rain Tree-toads and frogs Muskets and pitchforks Kittens and dogs! Dash away! splash away! Who is afraid?

Here we go, The umbrella brigade! Pull the boots up the knee! Tie the hoods on merrily!

Such a hustling! such a jostling! Out of breath with fun are we,

Clatter, clatter down the street, Greeting everyone we meet,

With our laughing and our chaffing Which the laughing drops repeat.

Pitter patter! pitter patter! Pitter patter! pitter patter!

SEQUENCEThis type is best employed in poems

which develop its thought into a strong climax, or which two lines are cumulative in response.

The solo voices and the semi-choruses take turns saying the lines and then the entire chorus enters to build a climax and an impressive finale.

“This is the House that Jack built,”a Mother Goose rhyme

“The Creation” by James Weldon Johnson“Trees” by Joyce Kilmer“Sounds in the Morning” by Eleanor

Farjeon“Brotherhood” by Edwin Markham

EXAMPLES OF SEQUENCE

ANTIPHONALThe antiphon is a traditional form of

reciting Biblical verses; thus many of the Psalms such as “The Lord is My Shepherd” and passages like “The Beatitudes” are best interpreted by using the antiphonal or two-part response.

In this type of arrangement, one group responds to another – boys to girls, children in one row to another, with light voices to another group with dark voices, or children with high voices to another group with low voices.

This is the most dramatic arrangement because it makes use of contrasting voices. It is good for poems which have questions and answers.

“The Wind” by Robert Louis Stevenson“The Little Brook” by Lagrimas del Mundo“Little Boy Blue,” a Mother Goose rhyme

EXAMPLES OF ANTIPHONAL

ISAIAH 6:3And one called out to another and said,“Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of hosts, the

whole earth is full of His Glory.”

REVELATION 4:8And the four living creatures, each one of

them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to sat, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God, The Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come.

PSALM 22:22“I will tell of Your Name to my brethren; in

the midst of the assembly will I praise You.”

“I will HALAL You”. “I will sing Halal to Yah!”

- That is, HALLELUYAH!

UNISONPoems expressing strong and powerful

emotions are best interpreted by the whole speaking group rather than by part groupings or the semi-choruses.

This is the most difficult type since it requires the ability to speak together at the same time with perfect timing, proper control and volume of voice.

“The Mysterious Cat” by Vachel Lindsay“Sweet and Low” by Alfred Tennyson“The Owl and the Pussy Cat” by Edward

Lear

EXAMPLES OF UNISON

LINE-A-CHILDEach line of a poem is read by a different

child.

“Solomon Grundy”

EXAMPLE OF LINE-A-CHILD

GAARA LEE BRITANNIA

Prepared by:“Live to express, not to impress.”