OUR PROGRAMMING
requirements and choices
Our standards require us to sing in a variety of languages and styles. In three years, every choir will sing between 23 and 27 pieces. Those pieces will include text in English, French, German, Italian, and Latin. Additionally, choirs will choose a handful of pieces from several other languages.
We perform music from the following periods:
Medieval (500 - 1400)
Renaissance (1400-1600)
Baroque (1600 - 1750)
Classical (1750 - 1830)
Romantic (1815 - 1910)
Contemporary (1900 - Present)
Contemporary will include concert music and all popular styles.
We sing every style appropriately; so we will not pronounce English in a Renaissance piece the same way we would pronounce it in a pop or country song.
REPERTOIRE EXAMPLES
Here are samples of our repertoire:
MEDIEVAL
Cuncti Simus, Llibre Vermell/Soto, Unison, SBMP 306
Christmas Song (Personent Hodie), Piae Cantiones/ Arr. Holst, Unison, Pepper # 394650
Alle psallite cum luya, Anonymous, CPDL
Gregorian Chant (often paired with a piece of the same text from another time period).
RENAISSANCE
Angelus, Monteverdi/ Arr. Snyder, SAB, Hal Leonard, 08551264
My Heart Now Gives Itself To You, DiLasso/Arr.Rentz, 3 pt mxd, BriLee Music, BL258
Free I Am Once Again (Nun bin ich einmal frei), Regnart/Ed. Snyder/Trans.Good, SAB, Belwin, Inc, SV8615
Laudate Dominum, TL de Victoria, SAB, Belwin, Inc, SV9153
BAROQUE
Come, Live With Pleasure, George Frideric Handel/Liebergen, SAB, Belwin, SV9422
Der Herr Sengne Euch (May God Smile On You), J.S. Bach/Ed. Arthur Mendel, TB, Peters 6079
I Will Rejoice (Ich will den Herrn loben), Telemann/ arr. Perry and Perry, Three Part, BriLee Music, BL176
Sing for Joy! (from "Judas Maccabaeus"), Handel/ Arr. Spevacek, SA, Heritage Choral Series,15/1286H-1
Hallelujah, Amen, Handel/Arr. Taylor, 3 pt mixd, Cambiata Press, M17312
Domine Deus, Agnus Dei, Vivaldi/Galvan, Unison, Roger Dean, 15/1857R
CLASSICAL
Sanctus (from Mariazellermesse), Haydn/Liebergen, SAB, Alfred 4791
Regina Angelorum, Mozart/Bennett, 2-pt, Hal Leonard, 08551006
Sanctus, Schubert/Arr.Weck, SAT, Somerset Press, SP767
Laudate Dominum, Mozart/Rentz, 3 pt mxd, Heritage, 15/2394H
ROMANTIC
Ecce Fidelis Servus, Faure'/Proulx, SAB, GIA Publication G-4753
Ave Verum, Faure/Mansfield, SAB, Heritage Music Press, HV116
Tollite Hostias, Saint-Saens/Mulder, TTB, BriLee Music, BL193
Tantum Ergo (Op 65, No 2), Faure'/Ed. E. Harold Geer, SSA, ECS Publishing 861
CONTEMPORARY
This includes any "concert music" in neo-classical styles written by composers after 1900. This also includes choral arrangements of popular music like jazz, pop, R&B, country, etc., be it a single song or a medley arrangement. These pieces are usually performed at the end of the 7th grade and 8th grade years.
FOLK MUSIC
Folk music can come from any time period, from any part of of the world, and can be considered a part of any style. We will sing at least one African-American Spiritual and/or American Folk Song. Folk songs are often our opportunity to sing in various other languages as well.
HISTORY POSTERS: A VISUAL TIMELINE
See the history.
In our chorus room, we have a timeline for each grade level choir to allow students to visually recognize our repertoire in chronological order. On the timeline, we see "history posters", single page documents with all the pertinent information about each piece including title, composer, composer years, arrangers, information about the subject matter, historical significance, or composer biographical information, the language(s), time signature(s), keys and modes, tempo, time period, subgenres (i.e., folk music), and what concert the piece was performed.
HISTORY POSTER ARCHIVE
View the complete program of repertoire and corresponding set of history posters for each choir in their three years together.
WE VOTE!
Our students choose our music!
For every concert, our students are given a "menu" of pieces to choose from! Students often research pieces and add to the menu themselves. We take a few days to listen to recordings, view the scores, and learn about the pieces and composers before we vote and select our repertoire.