A choir or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. A musical ensemble is a group of two or more musicians who gather to perform music. ... Ercole de Roberti: Concert, c. ...

Melbourne Chorale (back of stage)

A vocal ensemble which sings in a church, or sings exclusively sacred music, is called a choir, whereas an ensemble which performs the non-soloist parts of an opera or musical theatre production (or sometimes an oratorio) is called a chorus. For most other ensembles those two words may be used interchangeably. Other equivalent terms, often used in the names of choirs to provide variety, include chorale. There are also terms for more specific types of choir, such as glee club, show choir, barbershop quartet, and Madrigal group. Some other common names that can be used are; Chamber choir, and concert choir. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1600x1067, 381 KB) The 100-voice Melbourne Chorale featured in the 2005 Classical Spectacular, in the Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne Photo taken at ISO 1600 with no tripod File links The following pages link to this file: Choir Chorale ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1600x1067, 381 KB) The 100-voice Melbourne Chorale featured in the 2005 Classical Spectacular, in the Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne Photo taken at ISO 1600 with no tripod File links The following pages link to this file: Choir Chorale ... A church building (or simply church) is a building used in Christian worship. ... In music, solo means to play or sing alone. ... The Teatro alla Scala in Milan is one of the worlds most famous opera houses. ... The Fantasticks was the longest-running musical in history Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining music, songs, spoken dialogue and dance. ... An oratorio is a large musical composition for orchestra, vocal soloists and chorus. ... A Glee Club is a chorus, historically of men but also of just women or mixed voices, which traditionally specializes in singing short songs. ... A Show Choir is a group of people who preform for and audience or in competion. ... Barbershop harmony is a style of unaccompanied vocal music characterized by consonant four-part chords for every melody note in a predominantly homophonic texture. ... A madrigal is a setting for 3–6 voices of a secular text, often in Italian. ...

A choir usually has eight or more singers, typically with two or more singers on each part; a chorus is typically larger still, with many singers on each part. Smaller vocal ensembles are usually called trios, quartets, quintets, etc. (e.g., barbershop quartet), or a vocal group or singing group. Trio is generally used in any of the following ways: Three musicians playing the same or different musical instrument. ... A quartet is a group of four identical or similar objects, or a grouping of four persons for a common purpose. ... A quintet is a formation containing exactly five members. ...

Structure of choirs

Choirs are often led by a conductor or choirmaster. Most often choirs consist of four parts but there is no limit to the number of possible parts: Thomas Tallis wrote a 40-part motet entitled Spem in alium, for eight choirs of five parts each; Krzysztof Penderecki's Stabat Mater is for three choirs of 16 voices each, a total of 48 parts. Other than four, the most common number of parts are three, five, six and eight. A conductor conducting a band at a ceremony A conductors score and batons Conducting is the act of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. ... Thomas Tallis Thomas Tallis (c 1505–23 November 1585) was an English composer. ... In Western music, motet is a word that is applied to a number of highly varied choral musical compositions. ... Spem in Alium is a forty-part motet by Thomas Tallis, composed for eight choirs of five voices each. ... Krzysztof Penderecki. ...

Choirs can sing with or without instrumental accompaniment. Singing without accompaniment is typically called a cappella singing (although this usage of the phrase is discouraged by the American Choral Directors Association^[1]). When singing with instrumental accompaniment, the accompanying instruments can consist of practically any instruments, one, several, or a full orchestra. In Anglican church music the accompanying instrument is almost always an organ. A cappella music is vocal music or singing without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. ... The American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) is a non-profit organization aimed at improving the quality of education towards choral music. ... A philharmonic orchestra An orchestra is a musical ensemble used most often in classical music. ... Anglican church music is music that is performed in Anglican church services. ... Organ in Katharinenkirche, Frankfurt am Main, Germany Modern style pipe organ at the concert hall of Aletheia University in Matou, Taiwan The organ is a keyboard instrument with one or more manuals, and usually a pedalboard. ...

For rehearsals, a piano accompaniment is often used even if a different instrumentation is planned for performance, or for rehearsing a cappella music. A grand piano, with the lid up. ...

Choirs can be categorized by the voices they include:

• Mixed choirs (i.e., with male and female voices). This is perhaps the most common type, usually consisting of soprano, alto, tenor and bass voices, often abbreviated as SATB. Often one or more voices is divided into two, e.g., SSAATTBB, where each voice is divided into two parts, and SATBSATB, where the choir is divided into two semi-independent four-part choirs. Occasionally baritone voice is also used (e.g., SATBarB), often sung by the higher basses.
• Male choirs, with the same SATB voicing as mixed choirs, but with boys singing the upper part (often called treble or boy soprano) and men singing alto (in falsetto), also known as countertenor.
• Female choirs, usually consisting of soprano and alto voices, two parts in each, often abbreviated as SSAA, or as soprano, soprano II, and alto, abbreviated SSA
• Men's choirs, usually consisting of two tenors, baritone, and bass, often abbreviated as TTBB (or ATBB if the upper part sings falsetto in alto range, as is common in barbershop music).
• Children's choirs, often two-part SA or three-part SSA, sometimes more voices.

Choirs are also categorized by the institutions in which they operate: Look up soprano in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... In music, an alto or contralto is a singer with a vocal range somewhere between a tenor and a mezzo-soprano. ... In music, a tenor is a male singer with a high voice (although not as high as the modern countertenor). ... A basso (or bass) is a male singer who sings in the lowest vocal range of the human voice. ... Baritone (French: baryton; German: Bariton; Italian: baritono) is most commonly the type of male voice that lies between bass and tenor. ... Treble is a term applied in music to the high or acute part of the musical system, as opposed to the bass, the lower or grave part. ... Boy soprano (or treble in British English; see below) is a term applied in music to a young male singer with an unchanged voice in the soprano range. ... Falsetto (IPA: Italian , General American , RP ) is a singing technique that produces sounds that are pitched higher than the singers normal range. ... A countertenor is an adult male who sings in an alto or soprano range, often through use of falsetto. ... Falsetto (IPA: Italian , General American , RP ) is a singing technique that produces sounds that are pitched higher than the singers normal range. ... In music, an alto or contralto is a singer with a vocal range somewhere between a tenor and a mezzo-soprano. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

• Church choirs
• College choirs
• School choirs
• Community choirs (of children or adults)
• Professional choirs, either independent (e.g., Chanticleer) or state-supported (e.g., Netherlands Chamber Choir)

Finally, some choirs are categorized by the type of music they perform, such as A church building (or simply church) is a building used in Christian worship. ... The term college (Latin collegium) is most often used today to denote an educational institution. ... Chanticleer is the name of a rooster in the fable Chanticleer and the Fox, one version of which is told in Chaucers Canterbury Tales. ...

• Symphonic choirs
• Vocal jazz choirs
• Show choirs, in which the members sing and dance, often in performances somewhat like musicals

To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... A Show Choir is a group of people who preform for and audience or in competion. ... The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ... Musical theater (or theatre) is a form of theatre combining music, songs, dance, and spoken dialogue. ...

Layout on stage

One possible layout

There are various schools of thought regarding how the various sections should be arranged on stage. In symphonic choirs it is common (though by no means universal) to order the choir from highest to lowest voices from left to right, corresponding to the typical string layout. In a cappella or piano-accompanied situations it is not unusual for the men to be in the back and the women in front; some conductors prefer to place the basses behind the sopranos, arguing that the outer voices need to tune to each other. Image File history File links Choir-layout. ... Image File history File links Choir-layout. ...

More experienced choirs often sing with the voices all mixed together. Proponents of this method argue that it makes it easier for each individual singer to hear and tune to the other parts, but it requires more independence from each singer. Opponents argue that this method loses the spatial separation of individual voice lines, an otherwise valuable feature for the audience, and that it eliminates sectional resonance, which lessens the effective volume of the chorus.

For music with double (or multiple) choirs, usually the members of each choir are together, sometimes significantly separated, especially in performances of 16th-century music. Some composers actually specify that choirs should be separated, such as in Benjamin Britten's War Requiem. Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH (November 22, 1913 – December 4, 1976) was a British composer, conductor, and pianist. ... The War Requiem is a requiem composed by Benjamin Britten for the reconsecration of Coventry Cathedral on May 30, 1962 following its destruction during World War II. A mourning song for the victims of war, Britten’s War Requiem is considered one of the great heartrending choral-orchestral works of...

Skills involved in choral singing

Choral singers vary greatly in their ability and performance. The best choral singers possess (among others) the following abilities:

• to sing precisely in tune and with a pleasing vocal timbre which blends with the other singers;
• to sing at precisely controlled levels of volume, matching the dynamics and expression marked in the score or prescribed by the conductor, and not sing so loudly as to be markedly detectable as an individual voice within the section;
• to sight-read music fluently;
• to sing solo passages when required;
• to memorize or near-memorize the music, and thus be able to keep eyes on the conductor as much as possible;
• to read and pronounce the sounds of foreign languages accurately and in the pronunciation style specified by the leader;
• to remain completely alert for long periods, monitoring closely what is going on in a rehearsal or performance;
• to monitor one's own singing and detect errors. In British choirs, it is often the custom for a singer to raise a hand to indicate awareness of having made a mistake;
• to accept direction from others for the good of the group as a whole, even when the singer disagrees esthetically with the instructions;
• to arrive at rehearsals and performances consistently on time, mentally and physically prepared to sing.

Singers who have perfect pitch require yet another skill: In music, timbre, also timber (French, IPA /tæmbər/ as in the first two syllables of tambourine), is the quality of a musical note or sound which distinguishes different types of sound production or musical instruments. ... Sight reading is reading and performing a work of music without having seen it before. ... Absolute pitch (AP), widely referred to as perfect pitch, refers to the ability to identify a note by name without the benefit of a reference note, or to be able to produce a note (as in singing) that is the correct pitch without reference. ...

• to sing music in keys other than that in which it is written, since choirs often sing music in transposed form.

Historical overview of choral music

A great number of composers have written choral works. However, composing instrumental music is in many ways different from composing vocal music. The requirements of including text, making it intelligible, and catering to the special capabilities and limitations of the human voice makes composing vocal music in some ways more demanding than composing instrumental music. Due to this difficulty, many of the greatest composers have never composed choral music. Naturally, many composers have their favourite instruments and rarely compose for other types instruments or ensembles, and choral music is in this sense not a special case. On the other hand, many composers of all eras have specialized in choral music, and for the first thousand years of western music history choral music was one of the few types of music to have survived intact. A composer is a person who writes music. ...

Medieval music

Main article: Medieval music

The earliest notated music of western Europe is Gregorian Chant, along with a few other types of chant which were later subsumed (or sometimes suppressed) by the Catholic Church. This tradition of a cappella choir singing lasted from sometime between the times of St. Ambrose (4th century) and Gregory the Great (6th century) up to the present. During the later Middle Ages, a new type of singing involving multiple melodic parts, called organum became predominant for certain functions, but initially this polyphony was only sung by soloists. Further developments of this technique included clausulae, conductus and the motet (most notably the isorhythmic motet), which was to become a predominant Renaissance form. The first evidence of performance with more than one singer per part comes in the Old Hall Manuscript (1420, though containing music from the late 1300s), in which there is occasional divisi (where one part divides into two different notes, something a solo singer obviously couldn't handle). A musician plays the vielle in a 14th century medieval manuscript. ... Gregorian chant is also known as plainchant or plainsong and is a form of monophonic, unaccompanied singing, which was developed in the Catholic Church, mainly during the period 800-1000. ... Saint Ambrose, Latin Sanctus Ambrosius, Italian SantAmbrogio (circa 340 - April 4, 397), bishop of Milan, was one of the most eminent fathers of the Christian church in the 4th century. ... As a means of recording the passage of time, the 4th century was that century which lasted from 301 to 400. ... Saint Gregory I, or Gregory the Great (called the Dialogist in Eastern Orthodoxy) (circa 540 - March 12, 604) was pope of the Catholic Church from September 3, 590 until his death. ... This Buddhist stela from China, Northern Wei period, was built in the early 6th century. ... This article is about a style of music. ... Polyphony is a musical texture consisting of two or more independent melodic voices, as opposed to music with just one voice (monophony) or music with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords (homophony). ... In Western musical theory a cadence (Latin cadentia, a falling) is a particular series of intervals (a caesura) or chords that ends a phrase, section, or piece of music. ... In medieval music, conductus is a type of liturgical vocal composition for one or more voices. ... In Western music, motet is a word that is applied to a number of highly varied choral musical compositions. ... Renaissance music is European classical music written during the Renaissance, approximately 1400 to 1600. ... The Old Hall Manuscript (sometimes Old Hall MS) (British Library, Add. ...

Renaissance music

Main article: Renaissance music

During the Renaissance, sacred choral music was the principal type of (formal or 'serious') music in Western Europe. Throughout the era, hundreds of masses and motets (as well as various other forms) were composed for a cappella choir, though there is some dispute over the role of instruments during certain periods and in certain areas. Some of the better-known composers of this time include Dufay, Josquin des Prez, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, and William Byrd; the glories of Renaissance polyphony were choral, sung by choirs of great skill and distinction all over Europe. Choral music from this period continues to be popular with many choirs throughout the world today. Renaissance music is European classical music written during the Renaissance, approximately 1400 to 1600. ... Renaissance music is European classical music written during the Renaissance, approximately 1400 to 1600. ... The Mass, a form of sacred musical composition, is a choral composition that sets the fixed portions of the Eucharistic liturgy (principally that of the Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican Church, generally known in the US as the Episcopal Church, and also the Lutheran Church) to music. ... In Western music, motet is a word that is applied to a number of highly varied choral musical compositions. ... A cappella music is vocal music or singing without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. ... Dufay (left), with Gilles Binchois Guillaume Dufay (c. ... Josquin des Prez Josquin Des Prez (French rendering of Dutch Josken, diminutive of Joseph; latinized Josquinus Pratensis, alternatively Jodocus Pratensis) (c. ... Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (born in Palestrina (Praeneste) near Rome, 1525, latest February 1, 1526 – February 2, 1594 in Rome) was an Italian composer of Renaissance music. ... William Byrd William Byrd (1540? – 4 July 1623) was one of the most celebrated English composers of the Renaissance. ... Polyphony is a musical texture consisting of two or more independent melodic voices, as opposed to music with just one voice (monophony) or music with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords (homophony). ...

Madrigals are another particularly popular form dating from this period. Although madrigals were initially dramatic settings of unrequited-love poetry or mythological stories in Italy, they were imported into England and merged with the more upbeat balletto, celebrating often silly songs of spring, or eating and drinking. To most English speakers, the word madrigal now refers to the latter, rather than to madrigals proper, which refers to a poetic form of lines consisting of seven and eleven syllables each. A madrigal is a setting for 3–6 voices of a secular text, often in Italian. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ...

The interaction of sung voices in Renaissance polyphony influenced Western music for centuries. Most of the secular forms of music of the Baroque period derive in some way from the flowering of music during this intensely creative time. Composers routinely studied the style of composition well into the 20th century, especially as codified by music theorist Johann Joseph Fux, and the language of music analysis (which describes instrumental parts as "voices" and their melodic motion as "voice-leading") has its roots in the Renaissance style. Baroque music describes an era and a set of styles of European classical music which were in widespread use between approximately 1600 to 1750 (see Dates of classical music eras for a discussion of the problems inherent in defining the beginning and end points). ... Johann Joseph Fux (1660 – February 13, 1741) was an Austrian composer, music theorist and pedagogue of the late Baroque era. ...

Composers of the early twentieth century also endeavored to extend and develop the Renaissance styles. Herbert Howells wrote a Mass in the Dorian mode entirely in strict Renaissance style, and Ralph Vaughan Williams's Mass in G minor is an extension of this style. Anton von Webern wrote his dissertation on the Choralis Constantinus of Heinrich Isaac and his development of serial music techniques was informed by this study. Herbert (Norman) Howells (17 October 1892—23 February 1983) was an English composer and teacher. ... Ralph Vaughan Williams, OM (October 12, 1872 – August 26, 1958) was an influential British composer. ... Anton Webern (December 3, 1883 – September 15, 1945) was a composer of classical music and a member of the so called Second Viennese School. ... Heinrich Isaac (also Henricus, Arrigo dUgo, and Arrigo il Tedesco) (around 1450 – March 26, 1517) was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance. ... Serialism is a rigorous system of composing music in which various elements of the piece are ordered according to a pre-determined ordered set or sets, and variations on them. ...

Baroque music

The sudden developments which mark the beginning of the Baroque period around 1600 (instrumental music, opera, chords) were only introduced gradually into choral music. Madrigals continued to be written for the first few decades of the 17th century. Contrapuntal motets continued to be written for the Catholic church in the Renaissance style well into the 18th century. Baroque music describes an era and a set of styles of European classical music which were in widespread use between approximately 1600 to 1750 (see Dates of classical music eras for a discussion of the problems inherent in defining the beginning and end points). ...

One of the first innovative choral composers of the Baroque was Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643), a master of counterpoint, who extended the new techniques pioneered by the Venetian School and the Florentine Camerata. Monteverdi, together with Heinrich Schütz (1585-1672), used the new harmonic techniques to support and reinforce the meaning of the text. They both composed a large amount of music for both a cappella choir as well as choirs accompanied by different ensembles. Portrait of Claudio Monteverdi in Venice, 1640, by Bernardo Strozzi. ... Counterpoint is a broad organisational feature of much music, involving the simultaneous sounding of separate musical lines. ... In music history, the Venetian School is a term used to describe the composers working in Venice from about 1550 to around 1610; it also describes the music they produced. ... The Florentine Camerata was a group of humanists, musicians, poets and intellectuals in late Renaissance Florence who gathered under the patronage of Count Giovanni de Bardi to discuss and guide trends in the arts, especially music and drama. ... Heinrich Schütz Heinrich Schütz (October 9, 1585 – November 6, 1672) was a German composer and organist, generally regarded as the most important German composer before Johann Sebastian Bach and is often considered to be one of the most important composers of the 17th century along with Claudio Monteverdi. ...

Independent instrumental accompaniment opened up new possibilities for choral music. Verse anthems alternated accompanied solos with choral sections; the best-known composers of this genre were Orlando Gibbons and Henry Purcell. Grand motets (such as those of Michel-Richard Delalande) separated these sections into separate movements. Oratorios extended this concept into concert-length works, usually loosely based on Biblical stories. Giacomo Carissimi was the principal early composer of oratorios, but most opera composers of the Baroque also wrote oratorios, generally in the same musical style as the operas. George Frideric Handel is the best-known composer of Baroque oratorios. An anthem is a choral composition to an English religious text sung in church services. ... Orlando Gibbons Orlando Gibbons (baptised December 25, 1583 – June 5, 1625) was an English composer and organist of the late Tudor and early Jacobean periods. ... Henry Purcell Henry Purcell (IPA: [1][2]; September 10, 1659–November 21, 1695), a Baroque composer, is generally considered to be one of Englands greatest composers — indeed, he has often been called Englands finest native composer. ... Michel Richard Delalande [de Lalande] (1657 - June 18, 1726) was a prolific French Baroque composer and organist who specialized in writing orchestral suites, known in their day as Simphonies pour les Soupers du Roy, or, in an alternative spelling of the time, simply as Symphonies. Delalande also composed ballets and... An oratorio is a large musical composition for orchestra, vocal soloists and chorus. ... Giacomo Carissimi (baptized April 18, 1605 – January 12, 1674, Rome), was an Italian composer, one of the most celebrated masters of the early Baroque, or, more accurately, the Roman School of music. ... George Frideric Handel, 1733 George Frideric Handel (February 23, 1685 – April 14, 1759) was a German/British Baroque composer who was a leading composer of concerti grossi, operas and oratorios. ...

Lutheran composers wrote instrumentally-accompanied cantatas, often based on chorales (hymns). While Dieterich Buxtehude was a significant composer of such works, Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) made the most prominent mark in this style, writing cantatas, motets, passions and other music. While Bach was little-known as a composer in his time, and for almost a century after his death, composers such as Mozart and Mendelssohn assiduously studied and learned from his contrapuntal and harmonic techniques, and his music is regularly performed and admired in the present day. Cantata (Italian for a song or story set to music), a vocal composition accompanied by instruments and generally containing more than one movement. ... A chorale was originally a hymn of the Lutheran church sung by the entire congregation. ... A hymn is a type of song, usually religious, specifically written for the purpose of praise, adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a god or other religiously significant figure. ... Buxtehude Dieterich Buxtehude (Dietrich, Diderich) (ca. ... Bach redirects here. ... Cantata (Italian for a song or story set to music), a vocal composition accompanied by instruments and generally containing more than one movement. ... In Western music, motet is a word that is applied to a number of highly varied choral musical compositions. ... The Passion is the technical term for the suffering and Agony of Jesus that led directly to the Crucifixion, a central Christian event. ... Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (baptized as Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart; January 27, 1756 – December 5, 1791) was a prolific and highly influential composer of Classical music. ... Felix Mendelssohn at the age of thirty Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, born and known generally as Felix Mendelssohn (February 3, 1809 – November 4, 1847) was a German composer and conductor of the early Romantic period. ...

Handel - messiah - 44 hallelujah. ... Software development stages Development stage terminology expresses how the development of a piece of software has progressed and how much further development it may require. ... George Frideric Handel, 1733 George Frideric Handel (February 23, 1685 – April 14, 1759) was a German/British Baroque composer who was a leading composer of concerti grossi, operas and oratorios. ... Messiah (HWV 56, 1741), is an oratorio by George Frideric Handel. ...

Classical and Romantic music

Composers of the late 18th century became fascinated with the new possibilities of the symphony and other instrumental music, and generally neglected choral music. Mozart's choral music generally does not represent his best work, with a few exceptions (such as the Requiem). Haydn only became interested in choral music near the end of his life, writing a series of masses beginning in 1797. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (baptized as Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart; January 27, 1756 – December 5, 1791) was a prolific and highly influential composer of Classical music. ... It has been suggested that Papa Haydn be merged into this article or section. ...

In the 19th century, sacred music escaped from the church and leaped onto the concert stage, with large sacred works unsuitable for church use, such as Beethoven's Missa solemnis, Berlioz's Te Deum, and Brahms' Ein deutsches Requiem. Rossini's Stabat mater, Schubert's masses, and Verdi's Requiem also exploited the grandeur offered by instrumental accompaniment. 1820 portrait by Karl Stieler Ludwig van Beethoven (pronounced ) (baptized December 17, 1770[1] – March 26, 1827) was a German composer and pianist. ... Ludwig van Beethovens Missa Solemnis in D Major, Op. ... Louis Hector Berlioz (December 11, 1803 – March 8, 1869) was a French Romantic composer best known for the Symphonie fantastique, first performed in 1830, and for his Grande Messe des Morts (Requiem) of 1837, with its tremendous resources that include four antiphonal brass choirs. ... Johannes Brahms. ... Ein deutsches Requiem (A German Requiem) is a large-scale choral work written by Johannes Brahms in 1868; it is Brahms Op. ... Portrait Gioacchino Antonio Rossini (February 29, 1792 – November 13, 1868) was an Italian musical composer who wrote more than 30 operas as well as sacred music and chamber music. ... Franz Schubert. ... Giuseppe Verdi, by Giovanni Boldini, 1886 (National Gallery of Modern Art, Rome). ... The Requiem by Giuseppe Verdi is a musical setting of the Roman Catholic funeral Mass (called the Requiem for the first word of the text, which begins Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine, meaning, Grant them eternal rest, O Lord — see the entry at Dies Irae) that was completed to mark...

Oratorios also continued to be written, clearly influenced by Handel's models. Berlioz's L'Enfance du Christ and Mendelssohn's Elijah and St. Paul are in the category. Schubert, Mendelssohn, and Brahms also wrote secular cantatas, the best known of which are Brahms' Schicksalslied and Nänie. Felix Mendelssohn at the age of thirty Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, born and known generally as Felix Mendelssohn (February 3, 1809 – November 4, 1847) was a German composer and conductor of the early Romantic period. ... Elijah is an oratorio written by Felix Mendelssohn in 1846 for the Birmingham Festival. ... St. ...

A few composers developed a cappella music, especially Bruckner, whose masses and motets startlingly juxtapose Renaissance counterpoint with chromatic harmony. Mendelssohn and Brahms also wrote significant a cappella motets. Anton Bruckner (portrait by Josef Büche) Anton Bruckner (4 September 1824 – 11 October 1896) was an Austrian composer who wrote the majority of his mature music near the end of the Romantic era. ...

The amateur chorus (beginning chiefly as a social outlet) began to receive serious consideration as a compositional venue for the part-songs of Schubert, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Brahms, and others. These 'singing clubs' were often for women or men separately, and the music was typically in four-part (hence the name "part-song") and either a cappella or with simple instrumentation. At the same time, the Cecilian movement attempted a restoration of the pure Renaissance style in Catholic churches. Robert Schumann (June 8, 1810 – July 29, 1856) was a German composer and pianist. ...

20th and 21st centuries

As in other genres of music, choral music underwent a period of experimentation and development during the 20th century. While few well-known composers focused primarily on choral music, most significant composers of the early century wrote at least a small amount. 20th century classical music, the classical music of the 20th century, was extremely diverse, beginning with the late Romantic style of Sergei Rachmaninoff and the Impressionism of Claude Debussy, and ranging to such distant sound-worlds as the complete serialism of Pierre Boulez, the simple triadic harmonies of minimalist composers...

The early post-Romantic composers, such as Richard Strauss and Sergei Rachmaninoff, contributed to the genre, but it was Ralph Vaughan Williams who made the greatest contribution of this type, writing new motets in the Renaissance style with the new harmonic languages, and arranging English and Scottish folk songs. Arnold Schoenberg's Friede auf Erden represents the culmination of this style, a tonal kaleidoscope whose tonal centers are constantly shifting (similar to his Verklärte Nacht for strings from the same period). Richard Strauss Richard Strauss (June 11, 1864 – September 8, 1949) was a German composer of the late Romantic era, particularly noted for his tone poems and operas. ... Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff (Russian: , Sergej Vasilevič Rahmaninov, April 1, 1873 (N.S.) or March 20, 1873 (O.S.) – March 28, 1943) was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor. ... Ralph Vaughan Williams, OM (October 12, 1872 – August 26, 1958) was an influential British composer. ... In Western music, motet is a word that is applied to a number of highly varied choral musical compositions. ... Arnold Schoenberg, Los Angeles, 1938 Schoenberg redirects here. ... Verklärte Nacht, Op. ...

At around this time, in the tail end of the nineteenth century and the start of the twentieth, male voice choirs attained a particular popularity amongst the coal miners of South Wales, with numerous choirs being established at this time, such as the Treorchy Male Choir. Although the mining communities which birthed these choirs largely died out in the 1970s & 1980s with the decline of the Welsh coal industry, many of these choirs have gone from strength to strength and are seen as a 'traditional' part of Welsh culture. Motto: (Welsh for Wales for ever) Anthem: Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau Capital Cardiff Largest city Cardiff Official language(s) English, Welsh Government Constitutional monarchy  - Queen Queen Elizabeth II  - Prime Minister Tony Blair MP  - First Minister Rhodri Morgan AM Unification    - by Gruffudd ap Llywelyn 1056  Area    - Total 20,779 km² (3rd... The Treorchy Male Choir, based in Treorchy, Wales, is one of the most famous male voice choirs in the world. ...

As the century progressed, modernist techniques found their expression in choral music, including serial compositions by Schoenberg, Anton von Webern, and Stravinsky; eclectic compositions by Charles Ives; dissonant counterpoint by Olivier Messiaen (Cinq Rechants) and Paul Hindemith (When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd). Because of the difficulty of singing atonal music, these compositions are rarely performed today, although enjoyed by specialists. Arnold Schoenberg, Los Angeles, 1938 Schoenberg redirects here. ... Anton Webern (December 3, 1883 – September 15, 1945) was a composer of classical music and a member of the so called Second Viennese School. ... Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (Russian: И́горь Фёдорович Страви́нский Igor Fjodorovič Stravinskij) (June 17, 1882 – April 6, 1971) was a Russian-born composer of modern classical music. ... This photo from around 1913 shows Ives in his day job: he was the director of a successful insurance agency. ... Olivier Messiaen. ... Paul Hindemith (November 16, 1895 – December 28, 1963) was a German composer, violist, teacher, theorist and conductor. ...

More accessible styles found an enduring legacy in choral music. Benjamin Britten wrote a number of well-known choral works, including the War Requiem, Five Flower Songs, and Rejoice in the Lamb. Francis Poulenc's Motets pour le temps de noël, Gloria, and Mass in G are often performed. A primitivist approach is represented by Carl Orff's widely performed Carmina Burana. In the United States, Aaron Copland, Samuel Barber, and Randall Thompson wrote signature American pieces. In Eastern Europe, Béla Bartók and Zoltán Kodály wrote a small amount of choral music. Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH (November 22, 1913 – December 4, 1976) was a British composer, conductor, and pianist. ... Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc (January 7, 1899 - January 30, 1963) was a French composer. ... Carl Orff Carl Orff (July 10, 1895 – March 29, 1982) was a German composer, most famous for Carmina Burana (1937). ... The cover of the score to Carmina Burana showing the Wheel of Fortuna Carmina Burana is a scenic cantata composed by Carl Orff in 1935-1936. ... Aaron Copland (November 14, 1900 – December 2, 1990) was an American composer of concert and film music. ... Samuel Barber, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1944 Samuel Osborne Barber (March 9, 1910–January 23, 1981) was an American composer of classical music, best known for his Adagio for Strings. ... Randall Thompson (April 21, 1899 - July 9, 1984) was an American composer. ... Béla Bartók in 1927 For other uses, see Bartok (disambiguation). ... Zoltán Kodály Zoltán Kodály (IPA: /ˈzoltaːn ˈkodaːj/) (December 16, 1882 – March 6, 1967) was a Hungarian composer, ethnomusicologist, educator, linguist and philosopher. ...

Post-World War II music took experimentation to its logical extreme. Sinfonia by Luciano Berio includes a chorus. Krzysztof Penderecki's St. Luke Passion includes choral shouting, clusters, and aleatoric techniques. Richard Felciano wrote for chorus and electronic tape. Luciano Berio (October 24, 1925 – May 27, 2003) was an Italian composer. ... Krzysztof Penderecki. ...

Minimalism is represented by Arvo Pärt, whose Johannespassion and Magnificat have received regular performances. Minimalism describes movements in various forms of art and design, especially visual art and music, where the work is stripped down to its most fundamental features and core self expression. ... Arvo Pärt photographed by Tonu Tormis Arvo Pärt (born 11 September 1935) is an Estonian composer, often identified with the school of minimalism. ...

Avant-garde techniques:

• Shouting
• Fry tones (lowest possible note)
• Tone clusters
• Wordless chorus, spearheaded by Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker and Holst's The Planets, was expanded by Schoenberg, Darius Milhaud, and others.
• Multiple choirs (two or more choral works performed simultaneously, such as in works by Evgeni Kostitsyn.

Black Spirituals came into greater prominence and arrangements of such spirituals became part of the standard choral repertoire. Notable composers and arrangers of choral music in this tradition include André Thomas and Moses Hogan. A tone cluster, in music and in Western tuning, is a chord or simultaneity comprised of consecutive tones separated chromatically. ... A performance of The Nutcracker The story of The Nutcracker and the Mouse King was written by E. T. A. Hoffmann (1816). ... The Planets (also known as The Planets Suite), opus 32, is a seven-movement orchestral suite by the English composer Gustav Holst, written between 1914 and 1916. ... Arnold Schoenberg, Los Angeles, 1938 Schoenberg redirects here. ... Darius Milhaud Darius Milhaud (September 4, 1892 – June 22, 1974) was a French composer and teacher. ... Evgeni Kostitsyn (b. ... A spiritual is an African American song, usually with a Christian religious text. ... Dr. André Jerome Thomas (b. ... Moses Hogan (March 13, 1957 - February 11, 2003) was an African-American composer and arranger of choral music. ...

During the late 20th century, one of the major areas of growth in the choral movement has been in the areas of GLBT choruses. Starting around 1979, gay men's choruses were founded within a period of months in major U.S. cities such as New York, Los Angeles, Seattle and Dallas. Over the last quarter century the number of such groups, men's, women's and mixed, has exploded. GALA Choruses, an associative group, now has well-over 100 member choruses throughout the world. LGBT (or GLBT) is an acronym used as a collective term to refer to lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgender people. ... GALA Choruses is an international association of GLBT choruses. ...

At the turn of the century, Eric Whitacre has achieved considerable attention by combining tonal music with tone clusters and similar experimental techniques. Although it is too soon to discern trends in the 21st century, the spirit of more practical music which dominated the last decades of the 20th century seems to be continuing via the works of Karl Jenkins, John Rutter, Kentaro Sato and Morten Lauridsen amongst others. Eric Whitacre (born 1970) is an American composer of choral and wind band music and electronica. ... A tone cluster, in music and in Western tuning, is a chord or simultaneity comprised of consecutive tones separated chromatically. ... (Redirected from 21st century classical music) In the broadest sense, contemporary music is any music being written in the present day. ... Karl Jenkins (born February 17, 1944) is a Welsh musician and composer. ... John Rutter (born September 24, 1945) is an English composer, choral conductor, editor, arranger and record producer. ... Kentaro Sato (佐藤賢太郎; born May 12, 1981) is a Los Angeles-based composer of media music and concert symphonic and choral music. ... Morten Lauridsen (born February 27, 1943 in Colfax, Washington) is an American composer with Danish roots. ...

Choral competitions

• The Apollo Chorus of Chicago
• Choir Of The World
• Concorso Corale Internazionale Riva del Garda, Italy
• FESTIVAL OF SONGS OLOMOUC
• Choir Olympics
• International Festival of Advent and Christmas Music and Eben's Prize
• Grand Prix Europeen du Chant Choral
• Tampere Vocal Music Festival
• Festival of Choir Music in Arnhem
• Sligo International Choral Festival,
• Let the Peoples Sing

See also

• List of choral works
• List of choirs

This page is a list of musical works written for choir, sorted by composers birth date. ... This list of choirs contains choirs with entries in the Wikipedia plus other particularly noted choirs. ...

External links

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Category:Choirs

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