General Resource for Catholic Choir music
  • JKWJKW
    Posts: 45
    I recently stepped in as Choir Director at our parish. The choir library is saturated with objectionable music, both in style and theology. (I am making friends with the recycle bin).

    Where can I find a comprehensive list or resource for Catholic sacred choral music? Also looking for selections to be intermediate level or below as we have members that can't yet read music.
    Thanked by 1MatthewRoth
  • CGM
    Posts: 745
    Unfortunately, there is no such comprehensive list, simply because the quantity of music is so enormous that such a list would fill a large book.

    However, there are a few useful resources in that vein:

    1. The CanticaNova liturgical planning pages are very helpful in that they suggest hymns, choral music, and organ repertory suitable for each Sunday and major feast. Their selections are weighted toward items that they publish, but that is only a modest percentage of the listed music. It's a very useful starting place.

    2. The Conference of Roman Catholic Cathedral Musicians offers a database of music listings recommended by its members. It's run by Marc Cerisier, a forum member, and is a bit more targeted in its options.

    3. I posted repertory lists from 1999-2012, available here (scroll down to the bottom of the page and click the year in question). These are lists solely of motets.

    4. The opposite of intermediate, but Westminster Cathedral in London posts its repertory lists (from 2002 to the present), and they're worth perusing just because of the astonishing quantity of music they go through in a week(!), much less an entire year.
  • irishtenoririshtenor
    Posts: 1,372
    St James Music Press is a great, affordable source for decent music of modest difficulty
    Thanked by 1JKW
  • Don9of11Don9of11
    Posts: 771
    @JKW,

    I recommend the Sacred Music Library not to mention A CATHOLIC BOOK OF HYMNS AND CHANTS also found at the Sacred Music Library.

    There are a number of Christmas and Easter Choral pieces that we sang at St. Mary's Choir in Akron, Ohio some are for SAT and a few for SATB, some Latin and English. Nearly all of them have passed into the public domain. If you are interested PM me and I can send you a link to my drop box.
    Thanked by 1JKW
  • davido
    Posts: 1,076
    Many two part anthems arranged by Hal Hopson are suitable and accessible.
    Thanked by 1JKW
  • CGM
    Posts: 745
    Further, here are a couple starter booklets of motets.

    1. A collection of three-voice motets, mostly in editions by Peter Kwasniewski.

    2. A collection I assembled of mostly four-voice motets, pieces I have used extensively with beginner choirs, that work well.
    Thanked by 1JKW
  • JKWJKW
    Posts: 45
    @Don9of11 and @CGM

    THANK YOU! I am continuously amazed and grateful for these resources. The generosity of many musicians is a gift to the whole church!
  • JKWJKW
    Posts: 45
    @irishtenor Is the St. James Musical Press subscription worth it?
  • irishtenoririshtenor
    Posts: 1,372
    It's pretty worth it because, for one flat fee, you can choose as many of their pieces as you want, copy them to your heart's desire and then never have to pay again if you don't want to
    Thanked by 1davido
  • Possibly a bit of a tangent from what you are looking for, but since the conversation has drifted in this direction: pretty much every liturgy planning guide I am aware of is terrible. Even when the song suggestions are theologically unobjectionable, I often have no idea what the listed songs are supposed to have to do with the liturgy for the given day. My solution for this is to read a wide selection of liturgy planning guides and just note the handful of good ideas.

    Here's a list of liturgy planning tools that at least sometimes have a good idea in them:
    Antiphon Renewal
    Cantinova Publications
    Diocese of Crookston
    GIA Planning
    Hymnary Catholic Lectionary
    Hymnary Scripture Index
    ICEL Roman Missal Chants
    Liturgical Press Planning
    OCP Planning (Liturgy.com)
    LiturgyTools
    Notre Dame - Newman Centre for Faith and Reason
  • CaleferinkCaleferink
    Posts: 448
    The Parish Book of Motets is worth a look for a curated selection of pieces, mostly of moderate difficulty and mostly in SATB (and available for free online, with an edition of keyboard reductions as well for ease of rehearsals). While not strictly Catholic, St. James Music Press is fantastic for the reasons mentioned above. You might also invest in the Oxford Book of Flexible Anthems and/or the Oxford Book of Easy Flexible Anthems if you have few men or their attendance is unreliable; I’ve found some real gems in those.
    Thanked by 1irishtenor
  • irishtenoririshtenor
    Posts: 1,372
    Agreed, @Caleferink ! I have used the Oxford books with choirs of modest size and/or ability to good effect. Not everything in them is a gem or even usable for a traditional Catholic choir, but there's a good chunk of decent music in there.