Time to start caroling preparations!
  • E_A_FulhorstE_A_Fulhorst
    Posts: 381
    At least, if your choir can't sightread in parts, yet. The choir I'm in sure can't, (though we really have a handle on one-rehearsal preparation of Gregorian propers, given also a quicker one just before Mass.)

    The only thing we know so far, at my group, is that we want to do Coventry Carol.

    Any suggestions?
  • M. Jackson Osborn
    Posts: 8,391
    Lullay myn lyking

    A real easy one from the Hymnal 1940: Unto us a boy is born... children love it
    In the bleak mid-winture
    There is no rose of such virtu
    Resonent in laudibus (very easy)
  • E_A_FulhorstE_A_Fulhorst
    Posts: 381
    Funny thing --- we do know Puer Natus in Bethlehem and Resonet in Laudibus. We're always up for even more suggestions!

    Any tips on learning to sing in parts? Our schola comprises two legitimate musicians, two hacks --- of which I am one --- and two muggles.
  • hartleymartin
    Posts: 1,447
    "Gaudete, Gaudete, Christus est natus" is a good one if you want to put some Latin into the program. Another good suggestion is to learn the first verse of "O Come All Ye Faithful" in the original Latin text.

    And for heaven's sake, "Silent Night" is mean to be sung like a lullaby, not belted out like a football song!

    "It came upon a midnight clear" is another great carol which doesn't get used much these days. I'd like to see it used more at Christmas.
  • hartleymartin
    Posts: 1,447
    My theory is that Lent and Advent exist for us with simpler, more sombre music to allow choirs to rehearse the stuff for Easter and Christmas.
    Thanked by 1veromary
  • Jeffrey Quick
    Posts: 2,084
    Look at some of the Christmas tunes from the Sacred Harp, and make them sing the shapes first.
    Thanked by 2DougS E_A_Fulhorst
  • noel jones, aagonoel jones, aago
    Posts: 6,609
    See Amid the Winter Snow, solo or unison verses, big chorus choirs love to sing at end of each verse which is effective sung 1 part, 2, 3, or 4 parts...and when you sing the chorus, DO sing it like a football song. Or, as >•< would say, DO let the Sing It Like Catholics!

    It is in The Catholic Choirbook Anthology 1, which is free to download and inexpensive to purchase (cheaper to buy it than to run 400 pages through your printer or copier for the entire book) at www.thecatholicchoirbook,com. But you knew that.
    Thanked by 1canadash
  • aldrich
    Posts: 230
    I'm excited about this prospect! I can't wait to finish the hymnal I am preparing for my choir.
  • francis
    Posts: 10,761
    http://romancatholicsacredmusic.com/christmasCarolProject.html
    Thanked by 3E_A_Fulhorst CharlesW Earl_Grey
  • E_A_FulhorstE_A_Fulhorst
    Posts: 381
    I can't thank you enough. This is exactly what I was looking for!
  • SamuelDorlaque
    Posts: 318
    Look at Gustav Holst's "Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silent." I do hope Noel's "sing it like a
    football song" for "Hail! Thou ever-blessed morn ..." was "tongue-in-cheek". I never tire of the setting by Sir David Willcocks in "Carols for Choirs." But it does seem odd singing it by the San Francisco Bay in December.
  • edvieira
    Posts: 1
    Hello, have you ever tried using a tablet or an e-reader for reading music or caroling? Well, it's hard to find music score that fit well on their screens. I'm experimenting with creating sheet music especially formatted for these smaller screens. My first publications is Heartfelt Carols. Christmas Songs for Tablets and e-Readers. I'd appreciate your feedback on this project. Free samples are available at http://www.heartfeltsongs.com.
    Happy Caroling!
    Eduardo Vieira
    Thanked by 1canadash
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