Seán Deibler Choral Legacy

Seán Matthew Deibler was a musician of outstanding competence. As a clarinetist, baritone vocalist and conductor few could equal his abilities. Perhaps the most striking among his many talents was his ability to teach. Above all of the gifts necessary for a fine conductor is the ability, even at the highest level, to communicate to the musicians her/his interpretation of the music being rehearsed, for singers and instrumentalists alike. Seán was a master communicator and could inspire in the musicians a love and a deep understanding of the music.

The sound of a great chorus is primarily the result of its intonation, and the key to fine intonation is ear training. To accomplish this Seán began every rehearsal with an intense ear training session using tonic solfeggio integrated with vocal exercises. Along with their intonation the singers’ ability to sight read new repertoire increased dramatically allowing more rehearsal time to be spent on shaping the music rather than on learning the notes. Although The Music Group of Philadelphia (Music Group) and Choral Arts Society of Philadelphia (Choral Arts) were technically amateur choruses, they both attracted singers of substantial talent, many of whom were professional musicians in their own right, who wanted to improve their musical abilities as well as sing great choral literature. These folks were ripe for the musical advancement and high-level performances for which these ensembles were noted.

Furthermore, Seán had an encyclopedic knowledge of musical literature, and it included many works that had slipped into obscurity, not because of lack of musical quality but, rather, due to their difficulty. Choral directors under pressure to produce concerts often choose repertoire with expediency as the foremost criterion, overlooking works of exceptional beauty that are less easily mastered. By constantly nourishing the talent of his singers Seán was able to tackle very challenging and beautiful works and to shape them into stunning performances.

The Seán Deibler Choral Legacy is a collection of recordings that resulted from his work with these two choruses. Each album is a complete concert. Although their repertoire differs to some extent, Music Group being a chamber chorus and Choral Arts being a symphonic chorus, both had works in common in their repertoires. Being the larger of the two, Choral Arts had the frequent privilege of performing with The Philadelphia Orchestra. Those recordings are part of the Orchestra’s archives and, of course, not available.

Please be aware that all of the recordings in the collection were made in
concert. Furthermore, the tapes on which they were preserved had been in storage for decades. As a result, there are occasional extraneous noises or a rare musical error that in a studio recording would have been eliminated. Some entire tapes had deteriorated beyond use, or in a few cases a work has been omitted from a concert because that length of tape was not salvageable. Nonetheless, the high quality and intense excitement of each performance make these recordings an unqualified pleasure to own and to hear.

That said, Sera Phi Studios has made every effort to “clean up” the recordings where ever possible. Applause has been omitted and audience noise (coughing, etc.) has been minimized. Because the acoustic in most of the recordings was rather dry, each album has been placed in the acoustic of a concert hall or church from around the world.