A Cappella Choral Concert Selections

Exploring themes of home, joy, love, and togetherness, this quaint text from "Going Home" by Marjorie Pickthall is set with a simple melody that is presented first in unison, then in canon. The

Set for soloist and a cappella mixed choir, this sparkling arrangement of the traditional spiritual stays in only four parts throughout, making it accessible to school, church, and university choirs.

From the Ewe people of southeast Ghana, bobobo are recreational songs performed at celebrations and festivals. Two such songs (Duma Nya Me and Joy Like a River) are combined in this a

Vocal percussion ("dum, doo") accompanies the melody as it weaves its way through the choral texture in this refreshingly different a cappella rendition of Robert Lowry's immortal hymn. Lightly rhythmic

Based upon a letter from a soldier to his wife prior to his death in battle, this very moving and emotional work was written to commemorate World War I. Scored for four-part mixed divisi a cappella voices

Opening quietly, almost as a soundscape, this four-part mixed divisi a cappella piece with high voice solo is part of a larger work, O Great Beyond, which was commissioned by the BBC Singers. Set

Based on a Renaissance piece by Franco-Flemish composer Pierre de Manchicourt, this lovely composition maintains the flavor of the original work while adding modern rhythmic elements and tonalities.

This text uses the metaphor of a red house buried in a snowy landscape to describe the perseverance of the human heart as the body ages, speaking to the resilience of humanity in the face of adversity. The

A contrapuntal setting of Veni Sancte Spiritus and Herr Jesu Christ, dich zu uns wend by a Romantic composer who was a contemporary of Johannes Brahms and taught composition to Jean

"All round the knoll, on days of quietest air, secrets are being told...." So begins the hauntingly beautiful poem Ryton Firs by Lascelles Abercrombie. This work aspires to capture a single moment,

The choral writing reflects the ebb and flow of life that this marvelous poem by Yeats depicts. With divisi throughout, this a cappella work is full of wonderful harmonic moments that leave the singer and

Composed in 1842 during Liszt's most active period of touring, the sweet tunefulness of the main melody contrasts with moments of solemnity and drama at other times. Plainchant is recalled in his frequent

The exquisite musical lines and vocal parts that are written in ideal tessiture make this not only a pleasure to sing but also a fantastic teaching piece. With many teaching and performing suggestions

With colors and textures influenced by the composers experience singing at Westminster, this solemn yet glorious work will bring out the true artistry of any choir. While the Sine paenitentia text

This work, one of Palestrina's later works, not only demonstrates his more familiar mellifluous polyphony, but also contains a wonderful mix of diverse styles, from gentle and reflective homophony through

This motet is considered by many as one of the great masterpieces in the choral canon, embodying both expanded choral sound and polyphony. This edition utilizes a Renaissance chant tradition of placing

The melodious individual lines paired with the musica ficta added to this edition by the editor bring out the haunting quality of this relatively simple setting woven around subtle hints of the original

Lush contrapuntal lines that maintain the sensibilities and lineage of the German Renaissance while using the sound pallete of the late Romantic era make this work by Albert Becker a true treat.

The second of six motets in Sechs Spruche, opus 79, is homophonic and stoic in nature. In this edition, the vowels of the words are placed directly below the written pitches, which agrees with Mendelssohn's

This is the sixth work in a series of seven O Antiphons which are traditionally sung in service in the final week of Advent. The text calls for unity and redemption of humanity through the arrival of the

Dedicated to the memory of those who died in the terrorist attacks of 9/11, this powerful work comprises three organically interconnected sections reflecting the themes of remembrance, destruction, and

This motet for the new year is written in the typical contrapuntal style utilized so well by Becker - maintaining the sensibilities and lineage of the German Renaissance cantus firmus motet while employing

Written for a service of Compline, this celebratory anthem uses fragments of plainchant to create imagery depicting the descending golden light of dawn; it ends with pleas for the despair of night to

In this work, a portion of the text from the Prayer of St. Francis ("Where there is darkness, let me show your light") is combined with the Latin Agnus Dei text from the Ordinary of the Mass. From the