The Use of Body Percussion in Contemporary Choral Music

Since the 20th century the body and the movement are at the center of music education thanks to the studies of pedagogists such as Dalcroze, Orff and to the philosopher Merleau-Ponty's study about perception, where music is no longer seen as a purely intellectual phenomenon, but a bodily experience. We see a growing interest in the body in composition as well: due to the timbre exploration that body percussion offers (as in VinkoGlobokar), and to a new ethnographic interest (as in Steve Reich). Aim of this research is to analyze the use of body percussion in contemporary classical choral music, and then to examine every composition in detail. The research compares different composers (TadejaVulc, Eric Whitacre, Ko Matsushita, LozjeLebič) relating to their place of birth, to the type of body percussion chosen, to the different expressive aim; considering the spreading interest in the moving body in choral live performances’ dramatization, the research shows the importance of body percussion in choral education, as well as in timbre exploration looking for more traditional sounds. The purpose of this study is also to give a foundation for future researches since this ground seems to be unexplored and in great development.