MASTERS IN MINIATURE REPERTOIRE BY GREAT COMPOSERS FOR SMALLER CHOIRS DAVID C. RAYL AND ZEBULON M. HIGHBEN David C. Rayl Professor of Music, Director of Choral Programs, and Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and Research, Michigan State University College of Music. [email protected] Zebulon M. Highben Assistant Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities, Muskingum University. [email protected] conductors, we are all aware of the canon of historical composers whose choral works are worthy As of performance. Yet many of us direct ensembles for whom the typical Renaissance madrigal or sacred Baroque concerto seems out of reach. The age of our singers, the size of our forces, the instrumentation available—all of these factors may lead us to believe that the rich repertoire by the great composers of the past is inaccessible to our singers (unless that repertoire has been rearranged or reduced in some fashion by a contemporary editor). The authors of this article contend that almost every great composer has written at least one piece that is achievable by choirs with fewer singers and limited resources but is still well crafted, worthy of performance, and typical of its genre and style period. This article highlights some of these authentic, little-known works by well-known composers. The repertoire discussed here includes both sacred and secular pieces, some available in published editions and others via the Choral Public Domain Library and IMSLP. Where appropriate, suggestions for performance and programming are included. Throughout this article, a single published edition or URL for each piece is typically referenced, though in many cases numerous editions are available. Performing editions should always be examined carefully for accuracy and editorial changes. Frequently cited in the following pages are: GIA’s Ars Antiqua Choralis1 octavo series and two Augsburg Fortress anthologies: the Chantry Choirbook: Sacred Music for All Seasons2 and the Augsburg Motet Book.3 These are well-edited sources of useful editions and are highly recommended for readers interested in this literature. M CHORAL JOURNAL Volume 55 Number 8 9 MASTERS IN MINIATURE Renaissance The vast trove of Renaissance music is a wonderful resource for choirs of all types. The conductor who wishes to in- troduce Renaissance polyphony should consider early Tudor anthems such as Richard Farrant’s Call to Remembrance4 and Thomas Tallis’s If Ye Love Me.5 These have the advantages of an English text, repeating sections, and eminently sing- able diatonic lines with appropriately (Figure 1). One should also consider the more lines from a thicker vocal texture. limited ranges. Hans Leo Hassler’s Dixit Kyrie from Hassler’s parody mass based Several readily accessible exceptions Maria is another motet with the same on this motet.7 can be found in the Ars Antiqua Series attributes but a simple Latin text.6 Its Tenors are sometimes in short published by GIA Publications. Jacob opening melodic motive, initially sung supply, making repertoire with a single Obrecht’s Parce, Domine is an evocative by the tenors, is directly echoed in the men’s part desirable. Yet most published SAB motet with challenging soprano succeeding voices, making it a perfect SAB works from the Renaissance are and alto lines but a simple cantus fi rmus piece for teaching points of imitation arrangements that eliminate one or in half notes for the baritones (the part Get Listed...Be Found! www.AllThingsMusical.com “The Music Director y” List Your Music Organization, Business, School, Media, Venue or Conference on the new ALL THINGS MUSICAL ONLINE (ATMO) now “live!” Join “The Nation’s #1 Music & Education Director y” ATMO connects and promotes you to thousands of musicians & educators! 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Email Sally Russell at: [email protected] Toll Free 1-888-803-6287 • 812-878-7800 10 CHORAL JOURNAL Volume 55 Number 8 WhatWhat isis thethe AmericanAmerican ChoralChoral DirectorsDirectors Association?Association? lies a bit high).8 Tenors can either double the uppermost part while instruments the baritones or sing the alto line in perform the other parts. a light head voice. Another authentic, Performing forces for many Renais- though much livelier, SAB work from sance works are quite fl exible both in this series is Thomas Morley’s Sound terms of voices and doubling instru- Forth the Trumpet in Zion.9 This music ments. Consider pieces like Dowland’s was originally a textless example from lute song Come Again, Sweet Love Doth Morley’s A Plaine and Easy Introduction to Now Invite, which can be sung by unac- Practicall Musicke; editor Richard Proulx companied SATB choir, like an English added a text adapted from Joel 2:1. madrigal, or accompanied by a classical Any conductor who leads a program guitar.11 (Alternatively, but less desirable, with multiple ensembles should consider one might use the harpsichord stop on We are a nonprofit the various alternatim settings by Guil- an electronic keyboard.) Treble choirs, laume Dufay. Both Conditor alme siderum such as a seventh- or eighth-grade organization whose goal and Kyrie Orbis factor consist of verses of female ensemble, may sing only the is to promote unison Gregorian chant alternating with soprano line with this accompaniment. excellence in three-part (ATB) writing in Dufay’s faux- Because these lute songs are strophic, choral music. bourdon style (Figure 2).10 These works another performance option is the al- can be effectively performed with treble ternation of stanzas between an SATB voices (children, unchanged middle ensemble and treble voices with accom- school voices, adult sopranos, etc.) sing- paniment. These lute songs have another ing the chant and a small group of more advantage over the “typical” madrigal Membership information skilled singers on the ATB verses. Some by Morley and his contemporaries: the is available spatial separation of the choirs would poetry is much stronger. on our website be appropriate. The GIA edition of Kyrie Other works from the Renaissance Orbis Factor suggests doubling the ATB have similar fl exibility in terms of per- at <www.acda.org>. parts with solo strings or singing only forming forces. For example, chansons CHORAL JOURNAL Volume 55 Number 8 11 MASTERS IN MINIATURE such as Claudin de Sermisy’s Tant que works from this era are perfect for to most mixed choirs. Conductors may vivray or Heinrich Isaac’s famous setting introducing an ensemble to the signifi - choose to use voices alone on the fi rst of the folk song Innsbruck, ich muss dich cant style characteristics of the period. choir and instruments alone—organ or lassen can be presented in any of the Take, for example, Volckmar Leisring’s brass quartet—for the echoing second ways described above.12 O Filii et Filiae13 and Erstanden ist der choir. Such a choice would be practical heilig Christ by Melchior Vulpius (Figure and historically informed, since timbral 3).14 Both are written for double SATB and textural contrast were highly desir- Baroque chorus in the energetic, antiphonal able in Baroque music. The elements that typify Baroque style of the Venetian school, yet their Timbral and textural contrasts fea- choral music may seem daunting for lim- short, repetitive phrases and relatively ture heavily in the motets of Michael ited forces or novice singers, yet many compact ranges make them accessible Praetorius; his En Natus Est Emanuel and Psallite are prime exam- ples.15 These delightful SATB Christmas works alternate between imitative polyphony and homophony, and between sections scored for SA, TB, and SATB voices. Though specifi c dynamic changes are not indicated, the structure of these pieces suggests varying dynamic levels and contrasting articulations for the different sections. Note that the text of Psallite is macaronic, creating yet another layer of contrast between the Latin and Ger- man lyrics. Like the Obrecht motet cited in the preceding section, there are many three-voice Baroque works that juxtapose two active, polyphonic treble lines against an augmented cantus fi rmus in the bass voice. German Lutheran composers particularly employed this technique. Johann Hermann Schein set the famous chorale Christ lag in Todesbanden in this fashion, using vorimita- tion in the treble voices to foreshadow each phrase of the chorale melody before its corresponding entrance in the bass.16 Gedenke, Herr by Samuel Scheidt is struc- tured similarly but without a written-out continuo part.17 In both cases, a bass instrument 12 CHORAL JOURNAL Volume 55 Number 8 such as cello or bassoon can double Classical and Romantic nus Dei from Haydn’s Little Organ Mass or replace the cantus fi rmus, making come immediately to mind.25 A less these pieces feasible for treble groups There are a number of works that well-known but equally charming piece or choirs with few male voices. Treble provide smaller choirs with a musically in this same style is Mozart’s Kyrie, K. choirs should also investigate Schein’s satisfying introduction to the Viennese 33, for SATB choir and continuo.26 Like Eight Chorale Settings from Opella Nova Classical style. The Kyrie, Gloria, and Ag- the Haydn, it works well with younger (Part 1) edited by Ludwig Lenel.18 These settings break the chorale tunes into short motivic fragments that are then imitated, chromaticized, and rhythmically varied within the two voice parts over the framework of the continuo.