Sonda:

 

The Lauridsen "O Magnum Mysterium" was written for a choir of 60+ professional singers.  This would certainly not be appropriate literature for a small school choir with 15 members.  

 

I would love to recommend pieces for you, but I need some more information.  Is your choir mixed (SATB)?  How well do they read music?  What is their grade/age level?

 

Thanks,

Tammi Alderman

Director of Choral Music 

Crescenta Valley High School

Senior High Repertoire & Standards Chair - CA ACDA

Sonda:

I suggest you think of your group, not as a choir, but more as a vocal ensemble or a chamber choir. Actually, having 16 voices in a group is very cool.

Literature: My suggestions is to look at good SAB music. There are more selections available now that are challenging and full sounded with SAB. Remeber, it sound much better if you put sopranos on the tenor part rather than altos. Have a  few sopranos sing the tenor part but in their range. It will sound like the tenors are singing octaves.

If you need help with specific selections, let me know and I will send you list of selections I have performed.

 

Cheers,

Frank

 

 I agree with Frank!  Depending on your voicing and musicianship within your choir, I would certainly consider this group a chamber choir.  There are so many wonderful madrigals and other pieces for a small vocal ensemble in SAB, SSAB, SATB.  

 

-Denise

Sonda, I think it would be worth your while to mine the wonderful resource that is Choral Public Domain Library.  You are sure to fine pieces there that will suit.   It's a good idea to subscribe. It's totally free.

 

 

The Sibelius site also has a lot of material.  It's sorted according to type, so you should be able to find its choral section and trawl through for something suitable.  Some of the pieces here are free to download, orther come at a price.

 

 

I know that an accompaniment is a great support and gives confidence to the singers, but if/when vocal forces and circumstances allow, don't hesitate to take on an an occasional cappella piece. 

 

It is possible that you may also find choral material on You Tube, and then it's a case of hunting the printed music.

 

Good luck!

Also, think multi-culturally---quality is as quality does.  Lots of good African, Early American and Euro-Folk that is accessible and introduces kids to the world of the choral sound.  Check out Northern Harmony--fun stuff!  http://www.northernharmony.pair.com/

 

Don't get stuck in the trap of thinking that only collegiate/professional choirs are singing music of quality!  There is enough lesson material in "row row row your boat" to last you a few days at least!  You can find much music that is of "quality" if you broaden your view of quality to include music which is a)written/arranged for voices that love the art of singing (could be a LOT of things), b)music that you enjoy, can find passion for and would like to direct, and c)that you "sell" to the kids.   My first semester out teaching, I conducted Pinkham's Christmas Cantata with a very small group.  Was it "quality?"  Depends of whom the critic was.  Did the kids have a challenge?  Yes.  Did they love singing it?  Yes.  Did they find the brass to be "way cool?"  Yes.  Did it promote the idea that singing classical music and even modern classical music could be a lot of work but a lot of fun?  I think so.  Did I have a blast?  Yes.  Did they sing it "well?"  ehhhhh--maybe, maybe not.  there were certainly clunker notes and there were certainly glorious passages.  But hey, it was a high school chorus with an inexperienced director!  AND many of them are still singing two decades later. 

 

Quality is as quality does.  Make your own quality.  If you treat Quality as a process, not a product, you will find far more of i along the way.  The world may not beat a path to your door, record companies may not want you to sign, but kids will love singing quality music...  and isn't that what the goal is?  If it takes a while to get there, it makes the getting there more sweet.

 

Best of luck, and if you want to see a repertoire list of stuff my kids have done (to varying degrees of a quality performance) let me know: splouns(a)shaker.k12.nh.us  A colleague of mine has said to me recently, "You know what got my attention at your concert?  You don't do any s&*t!"  I took that with a great deal of pride.

 

Peace, & good singing!

 

Scott Lounsbury

 

 

Hello, Sondra -

 

Here are a couple of suggestions for you: 1. Dietrich Buxtehude "Now Sing We, Now Rejoice" for SAB, 2 treble instruments (the score specifies Violins, but Flutes work equally well) and Keyboard (preferably organ, but piano will work.) Published by Concordia.

 

2. My own "What Shall We Offer to Thee, O Christ" for SAB double choir a cappella plus a chanter (baritone.) This was originally written for a high school group, so should fit your needs. And don't be put off by the "double choir" part - it's designed so that both choir parts could be sung by a single choir. If you're interested in this piece, e-mail me.

 

Both of these are Christmas pieces, with sacred texts.

 

With all good wishes,

 

Richard Toensing

 There is much quality music available for your ensemble but you need to consider where your ensemble is now and how you will get your ensemble there.

 There is no where to hide when there are only fifteen singers. If these are 15 select singers, the sky can be the limit. If these are your only 15 singers, start recruiting!

  Your state should have a graded list of pieces for each level of performance. NY has a contest manual graded from 1-6 with 6 the most difficult.

  Your singers will probably want instant

gratification but that does not mean to head for level 1. Lutkin's, The Lord Bless You and Keep You has been a perennial favorite for many, many, many years. Larkin's arrangement of Early One Morning is very nice. The ladies carry the load while the men have nice parts with repeated refrains.

  These may be Level 3-4 of 6 but they are nice, high quality pieces which will help propell your singers forward.

  If you are in the Boonies, YOU may be the voice teacher. How is your technique? You must treat the warm-ups as the daily lesson if you don't have lessons in you schedule.

  By all means, perform as many styles of music as practical. My rule of thumb, however, was to ask myself if I could use this piece again in 5 yrs, 10yrs, my last year? If you can say yes, then you are spending precious money well and providing your sings a sound, musical education.

  Keep your aim high but consider how to give your singers resonable steps to get them to that height.

S

 

 Sondra - I work with a church youth choir of about 14 kids of varying musical experience, and none of them are tenors by any stretch. I highly recommend looking at the Kjos music series for smaller choirs. I think the quality of writing and arranging is exceptional.

 

I look far and wide for SATB pieces in which the "tenor" part is really baritone range, and not very high at that.  Praetorius' "Psallite Unigenito" works well and my kids enjoyed the counterpoint.

 

As far as SAB, do look at early composers on cpdl in SAB voicing (often with opportunities for additional instruments if you have them.

-Right now we're singing Telemann's "Dies ist der Tag". (from cpdl - I redid it in Finale in English, but you could easily do it in German.)

-The aforementioned Buxtehude is a great idea - I wonder if I can find a spot for it in Advent!

-Hal Hopson has an arrangement of "All the Earth Rejoice With A Gladsome Voice" that kids like (independent SAB with a brief SATB section)

 

Thanks to ALL for this thread ... I rushed out and got "A La Nanita Nina" for my kids based on this list, and it's going to be perfect!

 

Dan Wagner

Grace UMC

Naperville, IL

Worship R & S Chair, ILACDA