If you have a soprano soloist whom you would like to feature, consider this stunning work. Mozart: Laudate Dominum (from Vesperae solennes de confessore) SATB Perform with keyboard alone (piano or organ), string quartet, or string orchestra. There is a great deal of expression, and is a great example of Mozart’s gift for linking text to music. This is a great choice for any choir, and can be an especially great choice for 9th-10th grade choruses and church choirs. The accompaniment works on either organ or piano. As with any Beethoven choral work, check the ranges of all parts carefully before programming this work to make sure it fits your chorus. You will need a fine accompanist, and tenors with heft in the upper register. This is also a fantastic choice for a festival, or for combined choirs. If you have the soloists to pull off “The Heavens Are Telling,” also from The Creation, that is also a wonderful excerpt.īeethoven: Hallelujah (from Christ on the Mount of Olives) SATBĪ joyous finale or opening to any concert. The composing is ingenious, and the overall effect spectacular, but it takes a chorus of some ability to pull it off. Here is a challenge for the above average high school choir. Haydn: Achieved is the Glorious Work (from The Creation) SATB The Benedictus has been re-scored for treble voices, and is available from Kjos. The Credo is the only choral movement that does not involve soloists. Then, the imitative section picks up tempo.Īll of the choral movements are good excerpts for individual performance. Make sure, however, to conduct the opening bars of this movement in a sub-divided 4-pattern they are often performed twice too fast! The piece begins nobly, as if royalty were entering the room during the introduction. Most movements are appropriate for high school voices, perhaps especially the Sanctus. Regardless, it is enjoyable to sing, and has plenty of teaching tools imbedded in the score. Robbins Landon has documented that this mass was actually composed by Wenzel Müller, a Viennese composer of light opera. This is a perfect choice for high school choirs. Mozart: Gloria In Excelsis Deo (from the Twelfth Mass) SATB
Singers love not only the beauty but also the drama of these movements.
Favorites include Dies Irae, and pairing Confutatis Lacrymosa. Several movements can be excerpted from this work for individual performance by the typical high school choir.
The original is lengthier, involves soloists, and, of course, is in Latin. It is scored for SATB chorus and organ, though the accompaniment is playable on piano. Cecelia Mass, edited and with an English text by Charles Manney and is available through Alfred publishing. It is a pared down version of the Gloria from the St. This is a terrific choice for high school choirs of any capability and size. The first section is enough to expose your singers to this work. The remaining 234 measures are certainly fantastic music, but can be prohibitive for the average high school choir in terms of difficulty, forces, and amount of rehearsal time required. This is perfect for church and school choirs. It is available in a variety of arrangements, most of which end after the first 66 measures of the movement. Perhaps the most popular is this movement from Heiligmesse. There are several movements from Haydn’s fourteen masses appropriate for the average high school choir. For purposes of this column, I have stuck to original voicings, however many titles are available in alternate scorings.
CHORAL REPERTOIRE LISTS FOR FREE
Many titles are available for free download from Quality of editions for any one piece can vary greatly, so be sure you order the one that best suits your needs. Most titles are available from at least one traditional publishing company. Space prohibits me from listing every masterwork, but this will serve as an introduction for the novice and reminder to the veteran. The pieces listed are certainly essentials of the choral canon, but the list is by no means complete. As students leave your program, have they experienced a least some of the core repertoire? In this issue, I discuss some standards of the Classical period. In the flurry of new releases, many of us tend to get caught up in “the latest thing.” After receiving mailings from publishers, attending reading sessions, and talking over new repertoire with colleagues, it is easy to lose sight of the pieces that have withstood the test of time.
CHORAL REPERTOIRE LISTS SERIES
This is the third installment in a limited series of columns regarding standard choral repertoire.
0 kommentar(er)
