Usually I have a small choir to work with on Labor Day weekend, as many students return home. Any suggestions for a general choral piece that can be done with mixed forces either in a 2-pt setting or SAB?
I'm aware of the various bicinia floating around, but I'd also be interested in something accompanied by organ.
God of Mercy, We Implore Thee (Monteverdi) The Lord is My Shepherd (Bach/Gounod, arr. ?) Any number of arrs. of "Non nobis Domine" top o' head, not near the library or index, sorry Heath
Two choirs of my acquaintance here in Australia, with lots of Latin motets in their repertoires, have found a suggestion of mine to be a useful piece for SAB combination: namely, Giacomo Carissimi's O Felix Anima. I discovered it by accident years ago and have never regretted it. Not only is it readily downloadable at various websites (and if you enjoy the blessing of two competent tenors, it can be easily transposed into TTB form) but it's straightforward enough to sound quite impressive without the need for lots of rehearsal; it can be fittingly done with or without an organist doubling the vocal lines; and, mirabile dictu, it's apt for many different occasions of the church year.
Very joyful piece but I suspect our tenor section would have a coronary upon seeing the high As! (Especially for a Sunday at 10 a.m.) I'll have to see what it sounds like transposed down a third. I suspect it can handle the shock.
Somewhere on the Internet there is lurking a B minor version of the same piece for SAB. That always proved to be well within the capacity of sopranos, tenors, and basses of the Australian choirs that I've heard perform it (I occasionally accompanied one of these choirs in it; the other choir preferred it a cappella). Alternatively, with the version to which I linked above, one could presumably have altos instead of tenors on the top line: maybe even on the top two lines.
Bumping this thread . . . open to hearing more input, but I'm also interested in a piece or two with even more narrow parameters:
--accompanied (have a couple fine organists around here) --English text (though I would consider Latin . . . usually don't have a worship aide for the first weekend) --2-pt mixed --learned quickly!
Basically, during move-in weekend I like to have a pick-up choir meet 30-45 minutes before Mass and throw some stuff together in a hurry. Something easy-ish and of a fine quality would be nice to find!
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