Musikalische und soziale Bedingungen des Singens: Eine Studie unter deutschsprachigen Chorsängern

Abstract

Choral singing is a common leisure activity in many countries. Amateur choirs are characterized by a high degree of social coherence. Obviously, common musical motivations and goals lead to long-term commitments between choirs and their individual members. In this study, amateur singers ( N = 3145) filled out a questionnaire (online or on paper) which included demographic and musical background information. The results reveal a long-term musical socialization of choral singers, about half of whom had experienced choral singing at school and have been members of one or more choral societies for 19.5 years on average. High levels of both general and musical education were observed. About 40 % of respondents had received formal vocal training at some point. Catalysts of later choral activities appeared to be other family members, especially parents, in addition to choral singing in school. Thus choral singing activates strong forces of social coherence, which foster long-term commitments. At the same time, the landscape of choral societies is subject to dynamic changes in response to individual musical needs and lifestyles. To what extent so-called project choirs, which often exist only for a few months for the purpose of specific productions or concerts, and choirs dedicated to particular musical genres (e.g. Popular/Jazz or Gospel) or lifestyles (e.g. sexual orientation) complement or instead replace traditional choral societies could be the subject of future research.