Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Why Diction Matters

Yes, it's me, your friendly neighborhood YouTube addict for all things music-related.

This one was brought to my attention by FavoriteBoy's dad - it's positively hysterical.



It reminds me of singing Ride On, King Jesus with the Gordon College Choir three years ago. I remember a particular rehearsal in which I had a gruesome realization of just how bad our diction was - the phrase "King Jesus rides a milk white horse" was coming across as "King Jesus rides a milk white whore," as we painfully neglected to end the word "horse" with the proper consonant. And that was just wrong on so many levels that I finally got up the gumption to raise my hand and announce it, which was met with much laughter from the choir... and the director!

For those interested, the tune in the video is Westminster Abbey (the hymn 'Christ is made the sure foundation' is often sung to this tune). The words this choir is actually singing are below:

Blessèd city, heavenly Salem,
Vision dear of peace and love,
Who of living stones upbuilded,
Art the joy of heaven above,
And, with angel cohorts circled,
As a bride to earth dost move!

From celestial realms descending,
Bridal glory round her shed,
To his presence, decked with jewels,
By her Lord shall she be led;
All her streets and all her bulwarks
Of pure gold are fashionèd.

1 comment:

  1. Oh my goodness! That is horrible and hysterically funny! I wish I had something like that back when I was trying to teach my students diction. They never quite grasped how much it could matter, and I do think this might have helped! :)

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