Dear List Members,

Many thanks to all who sent ideas for Women's Chorus Christmas octavos!
What follows is a compilation of those who
generously shared their favorite titles, along with the original post.

Blessings to all,

Philip Kern
pskern(a)earthlink.net

********************
********************

ORIGINAL POST TO CHORALNET:

Dear List Members,

In preparing for the upcoming fall semester, I thought I would tap into
the inexhaustible supply of good ideas that exist on this list.
Specifically, I would love to hear about your favorite Christmas women's

chorus pieces, particularly those that fall into the "innovative and
tasteful Christmas carol arrangement" or "excellent arrangement of a
Christmas standard popular song." If you have any other kind of piece
you feel passionate about, by all means, include it!

I will post a list back to members.

Thank you!

Sincerely,

Philip Kern
Marian College Women's Chorus
Marian College
Indianapolis IN 46222
pskern(a)earthlink.net

************************
You might consider Roy Ringwald's arrangement of "The Christmas
Song" (aka "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire). Shawnee Press B-49.

John M. Crowell
Sacramento Master Singers
Music Librarian
jcrowell(a)mastersingers.org
************************
Try David Eddleman's arrangement of "A la nanita nana." Really simple,
and
really beautiful arrangement of a Mexican lullaby. For SA non-divisi.

Paul Meers
************************
I can tell you that my current best seller is Lana Walter's arrangement
of
"Gaudete, gaudete" SSA and piano, Treble Clef Music Press TC-176. (My
shipping guys have even commented on how it's a customer favorite.)

Best wishes,

Mary Lycan
Treble Clef Music Press
mlycanclef(a)aol.com
***********************
During the thirty plus years I directed treble choirs of all ages, by
far
the best and most-loved carol arrangements were found in _Carols for
Choirs
4: Fifty Carols for Sopranos and Altos_ by David Willcocks, John Rutter
(Contributor) and published by Oxford. It is available in paperback and

well worth the investment.

There is a hauntingly beautiful arrangement of "Silent Night" found in
_Sing Nowell_,
a mid-twentieth century collection of contemporary British carols edited
by
Louis Halsey and Basil Ramsey, published by Chester/Novello. Though the

arrangement is SATB the first verse, if memory serves, is for SA and I
used
it first with two solo voices and then the full treble chorus for the
2nd
and 3rd verse.

Finally, be sure to visit the Women's Chorus repertoire section of
ChoralNet at http://www.choralnet.org/music/lists.shtml and the Women's

Choir R&S pages on the ACDA Web site at
http://acdaonline.org/R&S/womens//projects.shtml#list . The women's
choir
resources on these two Web sites should be the first stop for any
conductor
seeking treble repertoire.

Best wishes,
Monica Hubbard
[former national ACDA R&S chair for women's choirs]

monica j hubbard
e-mail consulting(a)mjhubbard.com
internet http://www.mjhubbard.com
**************************
Britten's Ceremony of Carols! That's the best.

-George Holober
*************************
I teach high school chorus and have many students who
have not sung in a chorus before. One of my favorites
is "Stars Are For Those Who Lift Their Eyes."
Beautiful poetry and the music is nice too.
Unfortunately I can't remember who wrote it (possibly
Sherrie Porterfield?).
An all-time favorite is Gesu Bambino (Pietro Yon)-a
little more difficult, especially with the long
phrases, but beautiful if done well.

-Carolyn Dwyer
**************************
Look at the material from St. Olaf College---THE MANITOU SINGERS OF ST.
OLAF COLLEGE--a CD collection of Christmas music, Sigrid Johnson,
conductor. E-2049 cat. no. -Stan Wood
*************************
I can give you a favorite Christmas song, written and texted by meyself.

It´s called "Born In Nazareth" for 1 or 2 vocal soloists, SSAA and Piano
or
1 or 2 vocal soloists, SATB and Piano.

You can download the demo-score by selecting my company´s homepage (a
german
page, but I think you´ll find it) www.compovista.com under
"Chöre/Arrangement-Kompositionen/ Editionsliste".

Please send me your impression about the song.

Best regards

Compovista
Otmar Stangl
Chief director, conductor and composer
*****************************
Hi!!! Here are some Women's Choir Christmas pieces:

"Still, Still, Still" ~ SSA
"The Angel's Song" ~ SSA
"The First Snowfall" ~ SSA
"Let It Snow!" SSA


That is all I can remmeber that I sang in Women's Choir from 10-12
grades. It
was only two years ago.

:)
Melissa~
****************************
I love Elgar's "The Snow." My women's choir performed it this past year
with
our symphony, but there is also a nice piano accompaniment.

I hope you'll share your findings!

Tina Bull
Coordinator of Music Education
Oregon State University
****************************
Here are few Christmas pieces for treble that I recommend:

Gloria movement from Mass No. 6 by Gyorgy Orban - Hinshaw HMB-223 (SA,
piano)

Gloria from Kyrie/Gloria by Agneta Skold - Walton WSK-119 (SSAA, piano)

There is no rose by Z. Randall Stroope - Alliance AMP-0392 (SSA, piano)

There is no rose by Eleanor Daley - Alliance - SSAA acapella

Go where I send thee! arr. by Paul Caldwell and Sean Ivroy - earthsongs
(SSAA or SAT, piano

Oh, the Savior's comin', Hallelu! by Uzee Brown Jr. - Roger Dean
10/1683R
(SSAA acapella)

Adam lay I-bounden by Katherine Dienes - Treble Clef Music TC-123 (SA,
organ)

Carol arrangements:

Silent Night - arr. by Katherine Dienes - Treble Clef Music TC-155
(SSSAA,
S solo, 3 descants, acapella)

All my heart this night rejoices - arr. Ralph M. Johnson - Neil Kjos Ed.

6299 (SSA, piano, 2 clarinets, percussion, string bass)

Deck the Halls (in 7/8) - arr. James McKelvy - Mark Foster MF 953 (SSA,
perc.)

Past three o'clock - arr. Matthew Culloton - Mark Foster MF 0931 - SSA,
piano, flute)

In the bleak midwinter - arr. Harold Darke - Stainer & Bell W107 (SSA,
optional organ)

Mary's little boy child - arr. Valerie Shields - Bourne Co. 420408 (SSA,

keyboard, 2 trumpets or flutes, optional string bass)

Ma Navu - J. Spivak, arr. Valerie Shields - Mark Foster MF 0820 (SA,
piano,
violin)

A la nanita nana - arr. Valerie Shields - Mark Foster YS 307 (SA, piano,

cello, 2 trumpets (or flutes or violins)

Come, thou long expected Jesus - arr. Jackson Berkey - SDG press (SSAA,
harp)

The holly and the ivy - arr. Ron Jeffers - earthsongs (SSA acapella)

GOOD LUCK!!

Take care,

Sandra Peter
Luther College
Decorah, Iowa
****************************
Natalie Sleeth "O Come, O Come, Immanuel) new tune for SA with descant
on
final stanza

Pat Maimone
Post Chapel
West Point, NY
yp6867(a)usma.edu
*****************************
You might try Chadwicks' "Mary's Lullaby" published by Walton Music as
part of the Library of Congress Choral Series. It might be appropriate
given the name of your institution.

See http://www.waltonmusic.com/congress.html

Robert Saladini
Library of Congress
*****************************
You might want to take a look at my arrangement of "The Angel
Gabriel," Boosey & Hawkes, Mary Goetze series. It was originally
arranged
for children's choir, and has been very well received, but there's no
reason it shouldn't work well as a change-of-pace for a women's chorus.

John


John & Susie Howell
Virginia Tech Department of Music
Blacksburg, Virginia, U.S.A. 24061-0240
Vox (540) 231-8411 Fax (540) 231-5034
(mailto:John.Howell(a)vt.edu)
http://www.music.vt.edu/faculty/howell/howell.html

********************
I would recommend arr/works by Stephen Paulus.

Specifically,
Hallelu! 2 part, keyboard
("Mary had a baby, sing hallelu!..."

In the Moon of Wintertime SSA, harp

I think the first one is published by European
American, but you can get a perusal copy from Paulus
Publications (along with multiples of the second).

information(a)stephenpaulus.com
www.stephenpaulus.com
651-647-9612

Melissa Bergstrom
*********************
My "passions" about women's Christmas choral literature--based on my 29
years of music education are:

Each of these pieces is exquisite and shimmers.

Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day - by John Rutter
Touro-louro-louro! - Nicolas Saboly/arr. A.T.D.
How far is it to Bethlehem - arr. David Willcocks
Ave Maria - by David McIntyre
Nova, Nova, Ave fit Ex Eva - by Williametta Spencer

Please publish the results of your inquiry.

-Denise Baccadutre
Moriarty High School Choral Director
Moriarty, New Mexico
************************
In response to your request for Christmas women’s chorus pieces we would
like to submit the following titles. They are all
published by our own independent company, Red Castle Publishing. They
are original titles and arrangements that we have
been singing for the past 6 years and we are very excited to be able to
offer them as printed, published octavos.

All titles and arrangements are by Canadian composer, Donna Rhodenizer

Deo (a seasonal celebration of light, hope, peace and love) SSA
One Small Voice (2-part) (not originally written as a Christmas piece
but the words work
amazingly well as a Christmas context)
The Huron Carol (arr. by Donna Rhodenizer) SAB
The Peace of Christmas (currently SAB with an SSA arrangement possibly
coming soon)

Thank you for adding these titles to the list you are compiling.

To contact Red Castle Publishing go to the website
www.redcastlepublishing.com
or by mail 9064 Commercial Street,
PO Box 10001, New Minas
Nova Scotia, Canada
B4N 5K1

Andy Duinker
for Donna Rhodenizer
Andy Duinker
Red Castle Publishing
************************
END OF CHRISTMAS WOMEN'S CHOIR COMPILATION
************************