I'm full steam ahead at the new job, so far things are going well. Choir resumes in September, and here's a little about them: nice big group with 20-25 regularly attending members. Most of them read music, have some musical training, and/or are gifted with good ears and voices. They told me they want to start doing more challenging music, and they are tired of doing the same old things. The music library that I've been painstakingly organizing and putting back together lacks pretty much anything "classical" outside of a few bits from Handel's Messiah. On top of this, the previous director overspent on garbage and the music fund is in the red right now. But we are working on a solution and will likely be able to draw some funds elsewhere. So, I'm looking for any suggestions you have that would be good for this kind of choir. I have Lauridsen's O Magnum Mysterium planned for sometime in Advent or Christmas Eve, so I'm kind of looking along these lines for ideas.
If you're trying to save money, the answer's probably lots of public domain stuff for a bit? I've been recommending the Handl (Gallus) Duo seraphim a lot lately. Double choir, fairly easy to put together but rewarding.
Totally off topic but I LOVE LOVE LOVE your username here. Ha! I will have a better idea of what funds are available at next month's meeting. Free/public domain is also good, but gotta keep printing costs down as well. You've all had great ideas so far, keep em coming!
In case I haven't beaten Corinne to the punch: I recommend the collected works of Heinrich Isaac. It has the benefit of being directly connected to the chant melodies.
One of the pieces that helped my choir gain confidence in singing unaccompanied: E'en so, Lord Jesus, quickly come ... P. Manz (Love this choir!!) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zn7to9U_uT0
Something big for a special occasion—tough to lead from the console; actually this one's better if you can bring in another organist to accompany, but it's currently our favorite Britten: Festival Te Deum https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyIRqroOZR0
Good luck with your new choir!
Here's a routine reminder: Be patient about legitimate differences in personal taste.
This Advent, I am challenging my choirs to memorize the chant Ave Maria by listening to a recording. While they are proficient in reading chant, they could have a better awareness of line, specifically arsis/thesis.
Two other chants below are great for training ensemble awareness among women and men respectively (I personally prefer not to have them sing in unison)
Beautiful work, got to play violin for a performance last year. Unfortunately I don't think I'll have funds for the instrumental forces needed for something like that, but it's definitely a thought for the future. I can't wait to get started with this choir-wish they were coming back earlier lol! In addition to the main group, they also have a men's quartet and women's choir. During the summer, the choir members take over the special music for the service and take turns doing solos or duets. This has been great because it gives me an opportunity to hear individual voices. I found the high soprano yesterday, and her husband is a decent high tenor. Yay!! ;-D
Changing/challenging music style in a Methodist church is just as dangerous as in a Catholic church, unlike Episcopal/Presbyterian churches which can be open to change.
Latin may be like waving a red flag or tearing up a paycheck, based upon your description of the music library, but you know that.
Here's a routine reminder: Be principled not polemical.
Thanks for your advice. The group actually had a thing going for a while with chant believe it or not. Some folks were interested in it and they had meetings where they would practice it, more as a spiritual exercise rather than a musical one. So, it isn't quite the hostile environment one would imagine. Furthermore, it is the choir's own desire for different/more challenging music, and they expressed their wishes to me during hiring. They are tired of the rank and file anthems and cantatas and want to do better music. So it's not like I'm just coming in and totally flipping everything upside down. We will have to do some of the old stuff out of financial necessity and also practicality.
I would highly suggest that you get a subscription to St. James Music Press if you can scrape up $139 (I think) for the year. Their web address is www.sjmp.com. They have literally thousands of pieces on their site, and you can download and print as many copies as you want with the subscription, as well as use demo recordings. I believe they are Episcopalian, so much would work for a Methodist church. They have some easier pieces that can be learned in a short time as well as more difficult works, so you can pick how challenging you want a particular week to be. Their pieces are high-quality and many are quite beautiful.
To participate in the discussions on Catholic church music, sign in or register as a forum member, The forum is a project of the Church Music Association of America.
