Choosing Repertoire - Reflections

Composers, conductors, and educators constantly discuss the importance and significance of variety in programming and repertoire selection. Selecting literature of diverse style and origin provides something I find to be extremely important - a much-needed diversity for teacher and student alike. Though often underestimated, simple concepts like contrasting tempos, balancing different textures, and major, minor, and modal tonalities are ways in which variety in programming can easily be achieved. Other, more technical considerations when programming literature include having the required instrumentation and equipment, the available time to effectively teach the pieces efficiently, and the simple enjoyment that comes from rehearsing and performing the piece for the teacher, students, and the audience.

Further, because repertoire is also a source for long-term planning, I think it is very important that teachers at any level have a repertoire list he or she believes that all students should perform over a period of several years. This should not only focus on formal, rhythmic, harmonic, and melodic creativity, but also convey the composer’s imagination, be well-orchestrated, and most importantly, convey both emotional and expressive depth.

Finally, the process of repertoire selection should aim to give our students the opportunity to hear a range of emotion in the music they perform and rehearse. Through this process of recognizing and exploring emotional moments in music, students become aware of and reflect upon their own feelings, and can thus forge some type of connection between this and the music itself. Through this, we can ensure that our students begin to explore and understand what these emotions convey and how the composer expresses it in the music, allowing them to find a means of expressing their own personal emotions through performance and self-reflection within the ensemble.