Music for tenor, alto, and bass?
  • Anyone know any easy music for tenor, alto, and bass? In my little choir, to paraphrase Hirohito, the situation has not developed necessarily to our advantage. We are going to be limping along until we get a new director. I had thought to do just do the simpler polyphony we had learned, which comes to about six numbers. The problem is, our sopranos are greater in number and lesser in availability. There's always an appropriate hymn with particularly nice harmony or the Simple English Propers. Is there any polyphony that is Tenor, Alto, Bass that anyone knows of? That may be more than we can do, as we will be self-conducting and self-motivated. But I am just asking.

    Thanks.

    Kenneth
  • rich_enough
    Posts: 1,033
    A search on CPDL for ATB pieces in Latin yields 88 results. Some of the easier pieces include:

    Haec Dies -Thomas Morley
    Panis Angelicus - Casciolini
    Tantum Ergo - Faure (accompanied)
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  • I didn't know you could search that way! Thanks.

    Now comes the judgment part for me. See, part of the question was EASY, which is why it has to be CPDL and advice from the more experienced members here.

    So maybe that's the question: would you experienced hands mind doing that CPDL search and seeing if two or three pieces pop out at you? Trust me, this is the most relaxed, non-stressful choir situation we can make it, so it may be "just" the SEP, which would be fine.

    I at least play drums, so I can be the one to keep time. I think.

    Thanks.

    Kenneth
  • CHGiffenCHGiffen
    Posts: 5,151
    The same search also includes my (rather easy, because it is a 3-voice canon):

    Gustate et videte

    Although I didn't publish it at CPDL, yet, my Ave Maria a 3 (available there in SAB, SSA, and TTB editions) is also available in an ATB edition (attached herewith). By omitting the Tenor part, it may also be sung as a 2-part AB piece. It's also pretty easy, the A & B parts being largely in canon, with the T part acting as a kind of "inner descant".
  • I figured you would know something and what do you know, you wrote something.

    There was a Byrd piece that we can do or pull the Amen from. The Amen freestanding and at least when I sang it in my head sounded beautiful.
  • CHGiffenCHGiffen
    Posts: 5,151
    Kenneth, here are very short two 3-part ATB Amen settings. I'm not sure what you had in mind vis-a-vis Byrd, but the second one is more-or-less cribbed and adapted from his Ave verum corpus.
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  • Things have been falling apart according to the schedule as we discover more things that our departing MD didn't exactly "cover." So I am doing more. This is AWESOME. But a lot of work. Your prayers would be appreciated.

    Kenneth
  • David AndrewDavid Andrew
    Posts: 1,204
    I should think that anything TTB could work, assigning the higher tenor part to the altos. Of course you'd need to teach them how to read tenor clef, or re-typeset the score.
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