Choral Music

Choir check-in

Mon, 05 Sep 2022 15:05:17 GMT

Posted by: hashiveinu

Hi choir folks!

Are you currently involved with a choir? If so, what is your choir doing?

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What are you singing?

Sat, 19 May 2018 09:52:45 GMT

Posted by: shewhostaples

How are things? Any summer concerts coming up? What are you singing at the moment? Do you like it?

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The song every choir sings

Sun, 07 Jan 2018 19:52:25 GMT

Posted by: mummimamma

Next Sunday is the annual New Year's concert in town (Bergen, Norway) where almost all of the choirs here join up in one of the churches in town. This year there is 66 choirs in 10 different churches, each choir singing a couple of songs each.

It's a fun way both to start the new singing year, and discover the width of choirs here. But there is one song that is always sung by at least one, if not two (or three) of the choirs, and that is And Irish Blessing (Text traditional, harmonization by James E. Moore jr.).

Now my questions are:
Is this song just this insanely popular here in Norway, or is it as commonly sung elsewhere as well?
And do know of other songs that "every choir" around you sing?

Here (for reference) is the song, (now hopefully available to see everywhere):

( And the text: )

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Two pieces...

Tue, 10 Oct 2017 07:47:18 GMT

Posted by: artsyhonker

I woke up this morning before 6am, somewhat inexplicably, with "There is a River in Judea" in my head.

I don't know if that's a thing in the UK, but growing up in North America it was pretty much inescapable; and the plethora of recordings online suggests that it still is.

Listening to it afresh, I was struck by the directness. There's an effficiency to it, almost, and it isn't afraid to repeat a good tune.

It wouldn't do, though, to have it stuck in my head all day. So I'm listening to Bainton's setting of "And I Saw A New Heaven" which is one of my all-time favourite pieces.

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Most Holy Night: Songs of Comfort and Refuge

Wed, 23 Aug 2017 06:38:53 GMT

Posted by: artsyhonker

I'm not sure if posting information about choral concerts is allowed here, but here goes:

Voces Inauditae have a concert in Edinburgh on 16th September. It will include a performance of my setting of "Round Me Falls the Night" so I am kindof excited about it! I think this is probably the premiere, though I can't be sure on account of putting my music on CPDL for anyone to download.

Anyway, if you're in Edinburgh or environs and interested in the concert, there are details over on the Book of Face.

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What are you singing at the moment?

Thu, 08 Jun 2017 18:24:02 GMT

Posted by: shewhostaples

Hello everybody! Sorry it's been quiet over here - I'll try and post things a bit more regularly now there seems to be more activity on Dreamwidth.

So, to return to an old, reliable question, what are you singing at the moment, and are you enjoying it? Any summer (or winter!) concerts coming up?

Personally, I'm having a slightly panicked look at the Langlais Messe Solennelle, which we are singing on Sunday...

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Disney songs arrangements for choir?

Sun, 29 Jan 2017 16:09:23 GMT

Posted by: schneefink

In this year's summer choir camp the theme will be film music, especially Disney, and our choir leader asked us to submit suggestions and arrangements we would like to sing. We already know we'll sing "Circle of Life" and "Under the Sea", I'm sure it'll be great.
Do you know of good choir arrangements of Disney songs?

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The Creation writeup

Sat, 12 Apr 2014 03:29:42 GMT

Posted by: silverflight8

My choir performed The Creation by Hadyn recently with a local orchestra and I finally finished writing my mega post about the piece and how much I love it (which is a lot.) Here's a link to my entry which preserves the cut tags. I also have youtube videos embedded of my favourite renditions, if you're interested!

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A world premiere performance this evening...

Sat, 02 Mar 2013 21:53:07 GMT

Posted by: proseac

I'm very excited to report that tonight Chorus Niagara will be presenting, for its inaugural performance, "A Mighty Cry" by Niagara Region composer Michael Kositsky. It's great music, all about the War of 1812, General Brock, the Battle of Queenston Heights, Lundy's Lane, Drummond, Laura Secord...good stuff. We received a grant from the Federal Government to commission this work, and it's very relevant to our local history here in Niagara. The government just finished the bicentennial celebrations of the war a couple of months ago, so it's timely, too.

The video below is an excerpt from the second work we're also performing this evening, "The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace" by Karl Jenkins.

I hope everyone leaves the concert this evening with a fresh appreciation for what our men & women in uniform have done (and continue to do) to secure and maintain our freedom.

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plans for May

Wed, 16 Jan 2013 19:16:22 GMT

Posted by: northern

Yesterday at choir we found out we're singing four pieces by someone named Cyrillus Kreek in May. That is a ridiculously funny name to me, but the music is quite pretty. Seems like a mix between national romanticism and Middle Ages influence. It's Estonian, and written in 1923. Here's the second of those four pieces:

That sweet and pretty Hallelujah run really sticks in your brain.

In May, we'll also be performing parts of Poulenc's Mass in G. I AM EXCITE. I've never performed or rehearsed it, and it is awesome. This is the Kyrie, which we're starting with next week.

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Happy New Year!

Sun, 06 Jan 2013 20:31:33 GMT

Posted by: shewhostaples

Hope 2013 brings you lots of good music!

(We did this at the Epiphany Carol Service this evening, though not so beautifully as the choir of St Paul's, Harvard Square, do it here. It's so simple and beautiful, I love it - and the picturesque and slightly mysterious lyrics, too.)

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Concert writeup!

Mon, 26 Nov 2012 04:14:54 GMT

Posted by: silverflight8

My choir had our end-of-term concert today: a selection of baroque and Renaissance music, including Bach's Magnificat. Unfortunately, I don't have any recordings, but I do have pointers to youtube! The writeup's on my journal.

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That time of year again...

Thu, 22 Nov 2012 22:51:50 GMT

Posted by: shewhostaples

Our musical director, on the subject of 'Candlelight Carol', by John Rutter. As you'll see, he has a somewhat cynical sense of humour...

'It's very popular, and lots of people will say how lovely it is while completely ignoring everything else we do, and it's made him an awful lot of money, and so we must be sure to sing it very well.'

As the end of term approaches terrifyingly fast, what are you singing?

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Sunday singing

Wed, 17 Oct 2012 05:14:52 GMT

Posted by: northern

This Sunday we did a Thanksgiving Mass. The two main pieces we sang were Vaughan Williams' Te Deum and Paul Mealor's Ubi Caritas. The Ubi Caritas is from 2011 and so beautifully written that I'm sharing the recording of the way we did it. I enjoyed singing it so much. Please excuse the small crackling at the climax of the piece - I must have done something wrong in Audacity.

(crossposted from my journal)

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christmas texts?

Sat, 29 Sep 2012 16:06:52 GMT

Posted by: northern

My choir is commissioning a Christmas piece from composer Ad Wammes for Christmas next year, and our leader asked us to come up with Christmas poems, texts or passages we would like to have set to music. Do you guys have any suggestions?

The language of the texts should be English or Latin, and we were told to turn in our suggestions by Tuesday. Um, help?

ETA: They changed their minds, after we turned in our suggestions. Now they want a more general text to sing all year round.

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Weddings

Sun, 26 Aug 2012 07:42:04 GMT

Posted by: shewhostaples

In recent months I have been both flattered and delighted to be invited to join the choirs for the weddings of two separate sets of friends. I would stress that I am not alone in this honour; I think all the guests who can sightread have been so invited. Which, when you think about it, says rather a lot about my particular group of friends...

Anyway, the first of these two weddings is in a couple of weeks, and so, quite apart from the usual palaver of borrowing the car and picking some poor unsuspecting relative to stay with, I have been bashing through Walton's Set me as a seal. The other anthem is I was glad, which I don't need to notebash as we only did it in July, complete with vivats. (My partner has, though, having been bumped up to alto 1 for the occasion.)

And the hymns, of course. The bride writes: in case you'd like to know about hymns (it's always the first thing I want to know about other peoples' weddings!) we're having: Praise to the Lord, the Almighty; Come down O Love Divine; and God is Love, let Heaven adore him (to Abbot's Leigh).

The other wedding is next April. I have been told what the anthems are, but they mostly seemed to be by Rutter, so I have forgotten again.

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Greetings!

Fri, 27 Jul 2012 00:18:25 GMT

Posted by: proseac

Just found this community via dw_community_promo. What a neat idea! I thought I should introduce myself.

( Pleased to meet you! )

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Greetings, choral music lovers!

Wed, 25 Jul 2012 20:30:45 GMT

Posted by: shewhostaples

How's it going? What are you singing at the moment? Or, if you're not singing, what was your favourite piece of the last few months? Heard anything good recently?

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Trying out Soundcloud some more

Thu, 31 May 2012 14:51:45 GMT

Posted by: northern

We got the recording we did of the concert Saturday.

( Sleep, Kung Liljekonvalje )

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Sleep

Sat, 12 May 2012 15:44:17 GMT

Posted by: northern

Rehearsal today went pretty well (we had an all day thing). We went through everything we're doing at the concert the 26th, but we spent extra time on Whitacre's Sleep.

It's so beautiful. The more I sing it, the more moved I feel by it. I have to pretend I'm singing about regular sleep and not death, because if I keep death in mind, I can't sing it.

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The Proms programme is out

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 19:12:55 GMT

Posted by: shewhostaples

Here, have a look.

Of particular interest to this community might be:

- Handel, Judas Maccabaeus (19 July)
- Tenebrae, with Gibbons and other stuff (23 July, lunchtime)
- Beethoven, Symphony no. 9 (27 July)
- Walton, Belshazzar's Feast (31 July)
- Tippett, A Child of our Time (1 August)
- Bernstein, Mass (6 August)
- Elgar, The Apostles (10 August)
- Berlioz, Requiem (11 August)
- Sullivan (and Gilbert), The Yeomen of the Guard (19 August)
- 1612 Italian Vespers (22 August)
- not to mention everything I've missed on this first skim-through.

Is it July yet?

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kung liljekonvalje

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 08:36:26 GMT

Posted by: northern

Choir last night was good, even if my vocal cords are still weak and I got really hoarse. We're taking a break with Bach and starting to prepare for our own concert later in the spring. Among other things we're doing Evening Hymn by Gardiner and Sleep by Whitacre. I understand that Gardiner's Evening Hymn is a very common piece in Britain, but no one in my choir had done it before. I'd listened to some Whitacre before, but this is the first piece I've sung - very pretty. This is a kind of concert where we try to appeal to the public a lot by asking them to send in suggestions on what to sing. We did the same thing last year, and if we're going on that it will probably be less suggestions from the public than from choir members. I won't say we did any songs that weren't accessible per se, but some were less than easy listening. Anyway, there is bound to be a lot of romantic nationalism - there's a lot of tradition for choirs that way, especially in Uppsala.

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John Blow

Sun, 26 Feb 2012 05:27:24 GMT

Posted by: cahn

The choir I'm singing in is learning "Be merciful unto me, O Lord" by John Blow for Lent. I'd never heard of Blow before, but I really like this piece. Has anyone sung other stuff by Blow? Are there any recordings that you'd recommend?

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Fri, 24 Feb 2012 19:01:09 GMT

Posted by: chaobell

( courtesy cut for images )

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fun Mass yesterday

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 09:33:56 GMT

Posted by: northern

Yesterday's Mass thing was fun, because it was part of a Theology festival and the cathedral was full. They had 13 stations for communion, heh. With that many actually devout people taking part, unusual things tend to happen. For example, we had some guests, and two of them did the sermon, and then afterwards people applauded. This does not happen. Ever. Concerts only. (Although I do understand why. The main speaker was a Christian Palestinian woman, and the sermon was about the oppression going on in Israel, with some biblical parallels.)

Another unusual thing that happened was that at the end of the communion, some people started singing a Taizé song. And then everyone joined in, and we sang it for a few rounds, and when we tried to stop the bishop kept singing, so we had to keep going. You have to understand, this is pretty strange for here. The people who come to our service are generally very... silent, respectful and concerned with how things are supposed to be. There is never spontaneous song.

So that was weird, but fun!

The main choir thing was a sequence of four pieces written especially for the festival by a member of a fellow cathedral choir. Both of our choirs sang the pieces together. I wish I had a recording of it, because it was good music - kind of Howells-y with a little Knut Nystedt thrown in.

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