Solo soprano sacred repertoire
  • diminuendoduck
    Posts: 6
    Hello everyone,

    I am planning my senior recital for my degree in vocal performance, and I am looking for solo sacred vocal works from any musical era. These are the pieces I sang at my junior recital last year.

    Ave Generosa - Saint Hildegard of Bingen

    Stabat Mater - Giovanni Battista Pergolesi
    II. Cujus animam
    I. Stabat Mater
    VI. Vidit suum

    Ich folge dir gleichfalls - J.S. Bach

    Repentir - Charles Gounod

    Ave verum corpus - Camille Saint-Saëns


    So any suggestions other than the above would be so greatly appreciated. Although it is not required for me to choose sacred repertoire, I feel very strongly about programming as much of it as possible as it is what I am most passionate about.

    Thank you very much reading!
    Thanked by 1StimsonInRehab
  • GambaGamba
    Posts: 552
    Can you tell us your current fach (or whichever you’re closest to, if presently uncategorized)? God bless you in your studies.
  • irishtenoririshtenor
    Posts: 1,343
    JS Bach's Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen, BWV 51 is a classic of the sacred repertoire for soprano
    Thanked by 1diminuendoduck
  • CGM
    Posts: 711
    A handful of chestnuts:
    — Schubert, Ave Maria
    — Bach/Gounod, Ave Maria
    — Franck, Panis angelicus
    — Faure, Pie Jesu
    — Mozart, Alleluia (from his Exsultate, jubilate)
    Find free editions of all of them here. Of these, the acrobatic Mozart might be most suitable for a recital.

    There are also collections of sacred arias you might consider purchasing:
    1. 41 great sacred solos, edited by Rollin Smith
    2. 15 solos for the church soloist, edited by Lloyd Pfautsch
    There's no overlap at all between the two collections. I've attached a PDF with the table of contents of each volume (Smith p1 / Pfautsch p2); you could always search out interesting looking titles individually on IMSLP if you opt not to buy the books.

    The Pfautsch may not be suitable for recitals, since all the songs are presented exclusively with English lyrics by the editor. (With three exceptions, the pieces were not composed to English texts originally; the original-language texts are not provided, nor even indicated in the titles.) You might enjoy its contents nonetheless.

    Amazon will recommend numerous other similar collections when you click on these.
    TOC_2vol_SacredArias.pdf
    705K
    Thanked by 1diminuendoduck
  • diminuendoduck
    Posts: 6
    @Gamba, thank you! I'm not too sure as my voice has changed since I started by studies. I believe I'm a lyric soprano. Here's a video of my junior recital that might give some more context. https://youtu.be/HV4CXj4GTi4?si=ZQOG0dOVEurnmhKe&t=2853
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • CHGiffenCHGiffen
    Posts: 5,213
    Here are a couple (both have scores available at CPDL):
      Ombra mai fu (from Serse) - G.F. Handel
      Seufzer, Tränen (from Kantate BWV 21) - J.S. Bach

    I wasn't sure of your voice type or range, until I just read you're a lyric soprano. Does your upper range extend up to B-flat?

    Also, what instrument(s) might be available for your recital? Harp? Organ? Piano? Harpsichord? - or any wind instruments (eg. flute, oboe/English horn, French horn, trombone, etc.) - and strings?

    Thanked by 1diminuendoduck
  • davido
    Posts: 975
    Let the bright seraphim by Handel is a great recital selection. With trumpet.

    See if you can get this collection through your college library: https://www.areditions.com/motets-for-one-voice-by-franck-gounod-and-saint-saens-n036.html
    My doctoral document reviews some similar repertoire that might interest you: https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4820&context=etd
    All of the ones I reviewed are on IMSLP.
    Thanked by 1diminuendoduck
  • Jeffrey Quick
    Posts: 2,104
    The Deodat de Severac Salve Regina is lovely and unknown:
    https://s9.imslp.org/files/imglnks/usimg/0/0b/IMSLP312450-PMLP504577-Séverac_D_de_-_Salve_Regina.pdf

    Likewise Eugene Gigout's Tota Pulchra es Maria https://imslp.org/wiki/Tota_pulchra_es_(Gigout%2C_Eug%C3%A8ne)

    At my old job, there was a lovely 2-3 volume series of sacred songs by a German publisher with a lot of unknown gems, but I haven't been able to cough the details out of the library catalog.

    One thing you might want to demonstrate on such a recital is the ability to explore repertoire on your own. There's a ton of continuo motets from the early 17th c. These can be pedestrian but aren't always, and the Italian things in particular have a suitable level of vocal derring-do. If you're a CMAA member (and why not?) you've probably read Janet Hunt's article In Sacred Music 151/2, which gives a nice introduction. If virtuoso is what you want, look at Hasse or Vivaldi; I might not want to do them at Mass, but this isn't Mass. Italian Baroque oratorios? Purcell? Telemann or Graupner? (and of course Bach...) How many languages do you need to demonstrate? How sacred do you want to be? Could it stretch to Hindemith's Das Marienleben? This guy has written some solo things which may be of interest. Good luck!
    Thanked by 1diminuendoduck
  • diminuendoduck
    Posts: 6
    @Jeffrey Quick I just looked at Gigout's Tota Pulchra es Maria.. Wow... I love his organ works but had no idea about his vocal works. Beautiful. And all the other composers you have mentioned - I will absolutely look into. I need to have pieces in Italian, German, French, English, and Latin. I am also allowed to have selections in other languages so long as I have the aforementioned ones included.

    Thank you so much!!!!
  • diminuendoduck
    Posts: 6
    @everyone, you all have been so incredibly helpful, you have no idea. Thank you O so much!!!!
  • francis
    Posts: 10,883
    I have a number of original works if you are interested to see them.
  • ServiamScores
    Posts: 2,929
    I just stumbled across Jehan Alain’s Ave Maria this evening and it a stunner:
    https://youtu.be/VL4wozn7PnI?si=NaWwasw87gJ1Wrc0
    Thanked by 1Richard Mix
  • Chaswjd
    Posts: 276
    Et Incarnatus Est from Mozart’s C-minor Mass k. 427.
  • m_r_taylor
    Posts: 330
    Serenity - James MacMillan. Not sure if there is an arrangement for solo voice for the choral sections, but perhaps you can take the soprano line and have the accompanist play the rest. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6IsBSeVlE8 Another version here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6cUDfqPNRs
  • stmichael_defendus
    Posts: 2
    You could do a set of Barber Hermit songs and include ‘The Crucifixion’ to satisfy the English requirement.
    Webbe’s Salve Regina
    Van-Lysebeth Ave Maria (not well known, but a nifty little piece: I attached it)…The Schubert and B/G are very over done. I’d be happy never singing them again. Although you could sing Schubert’s Ave Maria in the original German(different text from the Hail Mary)
    The Little Road to Bethlehem - Michael Head
    I know that my Redeemer Liveth - Handel
    Vidit Suum from Pergolesi’s ‘Stabat Mater’
    Agnus Dei from Mozart’s Coronation Mass
    Alec Rowley’s ‘Three Mystical Songs’

    My advice is to make sure you really love every piece you choose. I wish I could go back in time and switch out some of my own recital repertoire.


    Ave Maria - G. Reix-Van Lysebeth [print ready].pdf
    99K
    Thanked by 2Jeffrey Quick CHGiffen
  • Chaswjd
    Posts: 276
    Also, although written for a mezzo, you might try Jonathan Dove’s My Love is mine. It’s solo voice a cappella. The text is from the Song of Songs.

    https://youtu.be/WK-0iJLC1E8?feature=shared
  • Don9of11Don9of11
    Posts: 729
    There is a collection that is quite old, published by G. Fischer back in 1897 for Soprano and Alto voices. Lyra Sacra - A Collection of Motets, Offertories, Hymns for Benediction etc. For Female Voices. I attached the list of Contents. If you or anyone is interested in this collection PM.
    Pages from 1897 - Lyra Sacra.pdf
    33K
    Thanked by 2irishtenor CHGiffen
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