Looking for something to inspire your local choir or choral society? Our extensive range of choral repertoire includes works for Mixed Choir, Male Voice Choir, Female Voice Choir, Children’s & Youth Choirs, and Senior’s Choir, singing a Capella, with piano accompaniment, and with various other ensembles up to full orchestra.
Choral singing began to take form in the 9th & 10th Centuries, with the unison Gregorian Chant or Plain Chant. From the early Renaissance period, through composers like Palestrina , di Lasso and William Byrd true polyphonic choral music blossomed, and crescendo-ed through to a wonderful climax with Thomas Tallis’ Spem in alium for 40 parts, divided into 8 choirs.
As the form developed through the Renaissance into the Baroque period, composers such as Bach, Telemann and Händel gave the choir more and more autonomy, and through early operas and oratorios, married solo voices, choirs and orchestras together, to create these new musical forms, and inspired audiences with combinations of colours and sounds they had never before experienced.
Although there were many operas and oratorios written in the Classical period, sacred music also took a prominent role in shaping the development of choral music. While the chorus became a very useful tool on stage, Haydn, Mozart, Schubert and Beethoven composed many Masses, Requiems, Te Deums and Anthems to help brighten the world of church music, and uplift the hearts and souls of the congregation.
As opera continued to expand and stretch dramatic boundaries, choral music of the Romantic period was characterised by choral motets and anthems, and the oratorio grew into an even more varied and contrasting form. The oratorios Elijah and Paul are particularly noteworthy, since despite using Sacred themes, through the various musical facets at Mendelssohn’s disposal, they began to take on a much more operatic narrative. This can also be seen in the Requiems of Brahms and Verdi, where the choir itself, along with the orchestra, lead the dramatic storytelling.
Through the 20th Century, composers such as Ralf Vaughan Williams, Anton Webern, Arnold Schönberg, Benjamin Britten and Edward Elgar composed extensively for varying choral forces. Through these composers and many others, we begin to see choirs being tested and stretched, both technically and dramatically, and being pushed out of their comfort zone in order to inspire, shock and entice the audience. Works like Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius and Schönberg’s Friede auf Erden made a huge impact on the choral landscape.
In the modern era, new choral genres such as Gospel Choir, Pop Ensembles and Jazz & Swing emerged. Composers like John Rutter, Karl Jenkins, Bob Chilcott and Andrew Lloyd Webber have become very popular.
for: Choral
Item no.: 1376050
for: Choral
Item no.: 1376016
Bosse Hits a cappella
for: Mixed choir (SMezATB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 649762
for: Women's choir (SSA), piano
Music score
Item no.: 759424
Aus der Oper „Die Zauberflöte“
for: Women's choir (SSA), piano
Music score
Item no.: 738467
for: Choral
Item no.: 1562413
for: Choral
Item no.: 1562384
for: Choral
Item no.: 1562344
for: Choral
Item no.: 1562341
for: Choral
Item no.: 1562290
for: Choral
Item no.: 1377714
for: Choral
Item no.: 1377707
for: Choral
Item no.: 1377637
for: Choral
Item no.: 1377614
for: Choral
Item no.: 1377612
for: Choral
Item no.: 1377609
for: Choral
Item no.: 1377548
for: Choral
Item no.: 1377498
for: Choral
Item no.: 1377336
for: Choral
Item no.: 1377323
for: Choral
Item no.: 1377257
for: Choral
Item no.: 1377256
for: Choral
Item no.: 1377204
for: Choral
Item no.: 1377122
for: Choral
Item no.: 1377120
for: Choral
Item no.: 1377044
for: Choral
Item no.: 1377040
for: Choral
Item no.: 1377039
for: Choral
Item no.: 1377037
for: Choral
Item no.: 1377034
for: Choral
Item no.: 1373936
for: Choral
Item no.: 1373849
for: Choral
Item no.: 1373846
for: Choral
Item no.: 1373823
for: Choral
Item no.: 1373662
for: Choral
Item no.: 1373658
for: Choral
Item no.: 1373648
for: Choral
Item no.: 1373622
for: Choral
Item no.: 1373618
for: Choral
Item no.: 1373611
for: Choral
Item no.: 1373559
for: Choral
Item no.: 1373558
for: Choral
Item no.: 1373554
for: Choral
Item no.: 1373450
for: Choral
Item no.: 1377006
for: Choral
Item no.: 1376985
for: Choral
Item no.: 1376916
for: Choral
Item no.: 1376799
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