BCS Connections and Reflections no. 13: Sandy Dolby, IU Professor Emerita of Folklore and Ethnomusicology, reflects on her lifelong journey as an alto and on her time as a member of BCS from 2003–2016.
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Singing Stories
I am pleased to have this opportunity to share a blog document with BCS folks. I’ve enjoyed the posts so far. They are especially welcome now while so many things are unsettled.
My first choir-like experience was with my family. Picture a family of seven driving to visit relatives and singing Christmas carols all the way. We each had our favorites. I think I can still sing one or two verses of most carols yet today. It was fun.
I don’t consider myself particularly religious today, but most of my early musical experiences were connected in some way with religious traditions. And the most important of these was my introduction as a teenager to Handel’s Messiah. Every winter, in my hometown of Huntington, Indiana, the community would get together and perform Messiah, with the high school choir director, Cloyde Slater, as conductor, and soloists from somewhere nearby, maybe Fort Wayne. I was thrilled when someone decided I was old enough to sing with the chorus. I was very shy, but singing, especially with a group, was something I could do, and something I wanted to do. In high school I joined the concert choir, the swing choir, and the girls’ sextette, and Mr. Slater was the amazing person who made it all happen. I am grateful to this day for his instruction, skill and talent, and his dedication to music. He was one of my hometown’s true treasures.
I started college at Indiana University, intending to become a biochemist. For a fun activity, I joined the Singing Hoosiers. Robert Stoll was the director. I enjoyed the music we performed, and I was excited when the women of the Singing Hoosiers were asked to perform as the Knaben (boys) for Wagner’s Parsifal. But at the end of my freshman year, I decided that IU was too big, and I transferred to Manchester College, closer to my home and much smaller. I joined the concert choir there as well, and I’ve always sought out church choirs I could sing with. Somewhere along the way I taught myself guitar chords and learned to sing the kind of songs that were a part of the late sixties—songs from Joan Baez, Judy Collins, Bob Dylan, Peter, Paul and Mary. It was then that I realized how much I loved stories and songs that told stories and choirs that joined with soloists to tell stories that need both the narrative of solo parts and the expansion of choral parts—like Messiah. I was back to Handel—probably never really left him and all he stood for.
I’ve always found church choirs that needed altos. I’ve sung with many different church choirs in Bloomington. Even when I was on sabbatical in Norway, I sang with the Lutheran Church choir in Oslo. (It was the only one that sang in English, as it had many American ex-pats in the congregation). Today I sing with the Unitarian Universalist Choir in Bloomington, directed by Sue Swaney. However, one of the greatest pleasures in my choral journey has been my participation in the Bloomington Chamber Singers. I joined in the early 2000s, shortly after my return from Norway. Some of my favorite concerts have been Music of the Church of England, Orff’s Carmina Burana, Whitbourn’s Annelies, and Handel’s Coronation Anthem, Dixit Dominus, and Utrecht Jubilate. But the greatest delight was early on, in 2004, when BCS performed Handel’s Messiah on period instruments with the likes of Julie Grindle and Robert Samels as soloists.
I am grateful for the experience of singing with so many wonderful and talented people over the years I was in BCS. I am grateful for Gerry’s skill, talent, and guidance, and for the talents of so many musicians that joined us as accompanists, soloists, or orchestra members. I continue to be drawn to songs that tell a story. I am a folklorist, after all.
Musical Offering
As this time of COVID-19 has kept all face-to-face singing out of the picture, I have learned a new craft—setting visuals to musical background in YouTube videos. You can see examples on my website: sandradolby.com. So, as my musical selection for you, I have made a video with a few visual reminders of my time in BCS and other related musical activities. Many of you will likely know Child Ballad #54, The Cherry Tree Carol. That’s what I chose to include as background music. I hope you enjoy it. Thanks, friends. Stay safe and well.
