Next semester I am teaching an introductory choir class for lower male voices. I am looking for 2 part baritone/bass or medium/low choral pieces. I know this is probably a rare category but one or two works should suffice. I am hoping liturgical Latin or English. The men I teach are seminarians and some of them are pretty decent musicians, all have nice voices but have difficulty singing above a middle C or D. It has been difficult for those men so I thought maybe a choir with no tenors. The men who are true basses with no choral experience have the hardest time. Most of the hymns are just too high for them, especially at 7 AM. Gregorian chant is of course an option but a little 2 or even 3 part motet would be nice. Thanks in advance for suggestions
Beautiful, Chuck! I suggest moving the first bass '-ly', of 'holy', to the second beat, away from the strong first beat which would inherit an extension of 'ho-'.
Thanks, Jackson!! I concur and have replaced the score with an amended one, moving the "-ly" syllable in the first bass part as you suggest.
N.B. Also, compare the (Latin) first bass part with Antiphon for the Transfer of the Blessed Sacrament on Good Friday, as found in the Liber Usualis. Except for changing the "-ra-" in "Adoramus" from a leap of a fifth to a scalewise ascending melisma, the two are the same.
Look at the German bicinia, which were designed for just such needs. The Rhau ones in Latin will be more useful that Othmayr's German chorales. Several in the Rhau print are canons at the unison. They're mostly too high as-is, but can be transposed downwards.
Here is a Compline I put together for a choir of baritones and basses in 2-parts. If they are seminarians, then this would be a fitting end of day office. if the 1st Ps. 134 is too high, pitch it down a minor 3rd. It will still work. I have a complete plainsong Compline in realized monody for basses, if you are desperate. jefe
1Psalm 134_2_part.pdf
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2AN ORDER FOR COMPLINE 2005 realization.pdf
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3Compline II_Langguth_2_2.pdf
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4Psalm 130_Hallock_unis.pdf
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5Lessons at Compline, set one.pdf
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6into thy hands-poster version.pdf
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7Nunc dimittis in plainsong tone IV, 2 part for men - Full Score.pdf
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8Apostles Creed Kyrie Lord s Prayer.pdf
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9separate Prayers at Compline.pdf
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10The Collects_basic.pdf
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11Ubi Caritas a due_men_in B.C..pdf
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11Ubi Caritas a due_men_in B.C..pdf
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12Simple Conclusion to Compline_2_2 - Full Score.pdf
Awfully nice, Jefe - beautifully done. I am confused about only two things :
1) In your setting of psalm 134 your use of the flex is eccentric. One normally descends the half-tone (or the minor-third) and stops there without returning to the reciting tone until the following half of the half-verse. Do you have a reason for your highly unusual usage?
2) Your use of 'Old Church English' for some of the office and psalmody and your use of '79 Prayer Book rite two language for others is jarring and presents a linguisitc and aesthetic pastiche. Do you have a valid excuse for this usage?
Otherwise, how could I fault the excellent wedding of music and text, and the overall beauty of your arrangement? I couldn't!
Osborn, I have no excuse. I was using some instrumental instinct here with Ps. 134 serving as an introit or fanfare with the imagery more important than the perfunctory Gregorian or strict Psalm Tone. The Old English Psalm was put in there optionally (there are 2 choices for Ps. 4) for some variety, unlike the Psalm Tones of old, which had stricter rules. I'm mentoring a start-up Compline Choir a couple hours away from our place, and am feeding them some easy, already packaged Complines, as above, with lots of chant to get their Compline ball rolling before moving to the more complex. My other compositional and arranging technique is to pump the Mystical. After about 100 Complines with our groups, one thing I've found is the singers and listeners who live in the now, weary of the same sound over and over again. Chant, well done, still sounds sweet to the ear, but pales to grey tones in the whiz-bang culture we live in. We've done many chant-only Complines and I love it, but the singers, who may be younger (Thanks be to God) and more connected with pop culture are there to get their fill from their perspective too. This is one of the true successes of St. Marks/Seattle: they keep it interesting. Folding harmonized pieces into stretches of chant, and wallowing through contrasting English and Latin has a great and other worldly effect, especially if you are a good seamstress. It's like going from black and white to technicolor in one pop. But, it's the contrast that keeps it up to date without bowing to the lowest common denominator. Our Compline program has grown to be the best local outreach in our small town. One wag called it, "The best non-alcoholic happy half hour in town." They don't know as much as you do, so what they don't know won't hurt them.
Ruth, here are the 4 assigned Psalms and Nunc dimittis in plainsong Psalter for Compline specifically for a high register challenged men's choir. This is my realized version for instrumentalist who can follow notes. You can stitch in the other parts from above.
1Psalm 134 Plainsong Psalter Tone I.1 - Full Score.pdf
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Ps. 4 Plain in Bb - Full Score.pdf
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Psalm 31 in plainsong tone VII.3 - Full Score.pdf
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Nunc dimittis Tone 5 - Full Score.pdf
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12Psalm 91 Plainsong Psalter tone IV.4 - Full Score.pdf
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