As Gerald Strang pointed out in his 1968 catalogue essay, music composition can be a lot like computer programming: "If I write a series of notes and I say this passage is to be played
mezzo forte by the oboe, with certain particular kinds of attacks and certain phrasing ...
And in this area, I think, the Singers could have brought more tonal variety and dynamic contrast to certain choruses, at least in the oratorio's first part: Too often in that half, the choral sound, movement-to-movement, was homogenous and dynamics rarely sounded less than
mezzo forte.
Sub-elements and common terms and instructional terminology may include: volume, dynamic terms (pianissimo, piano, mezzo piano,
mezzo forte, forte, fortissimo, etc.) balance, dynamic contour, crescendo and decrescendo (and the understanding of how to use this technique to shape phrases for the fundamentals of expression), tension/release, terrace dynamics, subito, fortepiano, pianoforte, sforando piano, intensity, nuances, calando, niente, dal niente, smorzando, sotto voce, rilievo, calando, morendo, perdendo, accent, marcato.