mj,

any particular text? ordinary? a particular verse? etc.

Many thanks. And of course, I've already downloaded the Ravanello.

Thanks, Richard. It looks beautiful - and with very workable range both at the top and bottom. (One of the problems with many women's vocal arrangements is reliance on having a super-low alto. Often when one of these does turn up, she's a "boomer" who can't blend to save her life, which is immediately at risk because she will incite the other altos to thoughts of homicide.)

Ah, the legendary Eastern European alto! We had one at the Russian Orthodox Cathedral where I sang years ago. She was amazing. Her nickname was Moosa - and she looked the part. However, when she sang her annual solo on "God is with us" (name in Slavonic now forgotten), there wasn't a dry eye in the house. She also wept copiously while singing it.

And you're right - the food was fantastic. After I became a Catholic, potlucks declined into store-bought stuff and occasional chicken.

Mary Jane,
Guerrero has a couple nice pieces that are SSSA, I did one for my senior recital last month called "Sancta et Immaculata". the third soprano part could easily be done by an alto/mezzo (I sang it), and the bottom part only goes to a low G, which should be fine for any alto. It's a beautiful piece about the Blessed Mother, You can find it through cpdl.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

Francis - right now, your Alleluia is happily looping on my computer. And when I have another 1st soprano with the right voice, we'll definitely bring it on board. Or I could replace that part with a recorder. It's really quite lovely as an electronic instrumental.

Kimberly and Michael - I shall pursue your suggestions as well. What a blessing the Internet can be!

I'm looking for accessible women's polyphony music too. It was helpful to find this thread, but just wondered if anyone has any more suggestions? Any more online gems, cpdl or other sources? That always helps, having no budget. :-) Thank you!

Beautiful. Is there permission to photocopy from the Moteca Trium Vocum? Can it be purchased as a pdf download?

CPDL - Sacred Motets in Latin

SSA:
Adoramus te (Oreste Ravanello)
Adoramus te, Christe a 3 (Orlando di Lasso)
Alle psallite cum luya (Anonymous)
Angelus ad pastores ait (Claudio Monteverdi)
Angelus ad pastores ait (Juan Blas de Castro)
Assumpta est Maria (Gregor Aichinger)
Ave maris stella (Edvard Grieg)
Ave Regina coelorum (Sigismund Ritter von Neukomm)
Benedictus (Jacob Handl)
Benedictus sit Deus (Oreste Ravanello)
Cantate Domino (Daniel Friderici)
Confitemini Domino (Alessandro Costantini)
Cor meum (Orlando di Lasso)
Da pacem (Charles Gounod)
Domine Jesu Christe (Melchor Robledo)
Ego flos campi a 3 (Jacobus Clemens non Papa)
Haec dies (Simone Stella)
Hodie apparuit in Israel (Orlando di Lasso)
Hodie Christus natus est (Claudio Monteverdi)
Hodie nobis de coelo pax vera descendit (Alessandro Grandi)
Improperium (Oreste Ravanello)
In monte Oliveti (Anonymous)
In quacumque die (Orlando di Lasso)
Jesu Rex admirabilis (Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina)
Laudate pueri (Felix Mendelssohn)
Laudate, pueri (Felix Mendelssohn)
Lux aeterna (Amy Dunker)
Magnificat (Marcos Castán)
Monstra te esse Matrem (Tomás Luis de Victoria)
O beatum virum (Giacomo Carissimi)
O esca viatorum (Anonymous)
O magnum mysterium (John J. Brackenborough)
O salutaris hostia (Giovanni Battista Martini)
O salutaris hostia (Pasquale Pisari)
O Virgo splendens (Anonymous)
O vos omnes (Giovanni Matteo Asola)
Panis angelicus (Giuseppe Baini)
Psallite Domino (Charles H. Giffen)
Recordare Domine (Elzear Genet)
Regina caeli (Anonymous)
Salve Regina (Sigismund Ritter von Neukomm)
Stabat Mater (Giuseppe Tartini)
Sub tuum praesidium (Marc-Antoine Charpentier)
Surgens Jesu (Claudio Monteverdi)
Surrexit Pastor bonus (Pietro Vinci)
Tanquam agnus (Tomás Luis de Victoria)
Tantum ergo (Giuseppe Tartini)
Tantum ergo, Op. 65, No. 2 (Gabriel Fauré)
Te Deum laudamus (Antonio Sacchini)
Tota pulchra (Angelina Figus)
Ubi duo (Claudio Monteverdi)
Veni Creator Spiritus (Juan Montes)
Veni Domine, Op. 39, No. 1 (Felix Mendelssohn)
Vere languores (Antonio Lotti)
Veritas mea (Oreste Ravanello)

Several High Renaissance composers have pieces for equal voices, Victoria, Morales, Guerrero, Palestrina. As you suggest, the alto voice is quite low for women's voices, this is not true of all of these pieces. I have used several of these from the collected works of these composers.

Conductus compositions from the thirteenth century are most often for three-part equal voices. Gordon Anderson's edition of Notre-Dame conductus has some wonderful pieces. If you would like me to send you photocopies of some of these, I can happily do it. Send me a note: mahrt@stanford.edu

It's funny how things work sometimes. Awhile ago, someone asked me to find some all-women polyphony, but I hadn't gotten around to it. Since I need to find some by mid-June, I decided the other day that I'd better start searching. What topic should jump to the top but this one on the same day I was thinking about it!

Many thanks to CHGiffen for that long list for me to work my way through.

Loving this thread! Thanks MJ, and all!