Splashy polyphony for a concert program
  • Ashleyadams
    Posts: 2
    Hello all,
    I am programming a series of concerts for a SATB (and sometimes SATBB) group, and I am hoping to find the splashiest, most climactic and/or accessible pieces out there for the program because for many of the audience members, this will be their first time. I greatly appreciate any and all suggestions. Thank you very much! Here is what I have so far. Some of these are not the best fit, but here are my notes basically:

    Christ
    O crux ave (2:54)
    Jesu dulcis memoria – Victoria (1:56)
    O nata lux (2:00)
    In manus tua

    The Eucharist
    Pan divino – Guerrero (3:40)
    Ave verum corpus – Byrd (4:32)
    O salutaris – Byrd (3:00)
    Panis angelicus – Casciolini (1:55)
    Panis Angelicus – Palestrina (2:20)
    Pange lingua - Victoria

    Mary
    Ave Maria – Arcadelt (2:24)
    Ave Maria – Victoria (1:57)
    Regina caeli – Palestrina (2:31)
    Salve regina – Guerreo
    Ave Maria stella
    Ave Maria – Guerrero
    Salve regina - Lassys

    Easter Joy
    If ye love me (2:39)
    Cantate Domino – Pitoni (2:00)
    In resurrectione Domine
    Sicut cervus – Palestrina (3:16)
    Exsultate Deo – Palestrina (2:16)
  • tomjaw
    Posts: 2,712
    If you are singing the Sicut Cervus, sing the 2nd and 3rd verses Sitivit etc.
    Others to look at,
    The Ave Maria, Parsons
    O Salutaris, and Ave Regina Caelorum by De la Rue
    Dextera Domine and Benedictus est, Palestrina
    Dominus Regnavit, Josquin
    O Sacrum Convivium, Pergolesi
  • rich_enough
    Posts: 1,033
    If you're looking for "splashy" (faster, more "virtuosic" sounding works) for SATB from the Renaissance, here are some - and they're fun to sing!

    General
    *Exsultate Justi - Viadana
    *Cantate Domino – Hasssler
    Jubilate Deo – Lassus
    Jubilate Deo a 4 - Hassler
    †Laudate Nomen Domini - Tye
    O quam gloriosum - Victoria (All Saints)

    Easter
    Regina caeli - Soriano (also †*Aichinger, Lotti, Lassus a 4)
    Surrexit Christus hodie - Scheidt

    Pentecost
    Factus est repente / Confirma hoc Deus – Aichinger

    I've marked the ones I think are perhaps most effective for a first-time listener of choral music (*). Also, I don't know the skill level of your group; the ones marked † are a little easier to sing.
  • DL
    Posts: 72
    To counteract your bias in favour of composers whose names ends in vowels, I suggest: Howells, O salutaris. MacMillan, O radiant dawn; Bairstow, Jesu the very though of thee.
    Thanked by 2Ashleyadams tomjaw
  • M. Jackson Osborn
    Posts: 8,369
    You said 'splashy' - here is one - - -
    Thos. Tomkins - Alleluia, I Heard a Voice

    Thanked by 1Ashleyadams
  • davido
    Posts: 884
    The Randall Thompson Alleluia would make a nice contrast with your current selections. Bieble Ave Maria. If you are limited to Renaissance, the Handl Duo Seraphim is very effective, but is for SATB.satb
    Ave Maria… Virgo Serena by Josquin would contrast nicely.
  • Drake
    Posts: 219
    Shameless plug here. I obviously cannot compete with your lineup of the great masters (excellent choices, BTW), but a group in my area recently sang my ~80min setting of St. Luke's Passion, and it has some pretty climactic movements (example). The choir parts are SATB, and much of it is a cappella. The score can be found at the bottom of the post here.
  • CGM
    Posts: 685
    If you can do five solid voices, you can't beat the spectacular "Dum transisset" of John Taverner, for SATBB. An absolutely remarkable Easter composition.
    — score
    — recording here or here
    The alleluias at the end are especially stunning!

    * * *

    Alternately, if you want to end with a piece in English, the SATBB "Blessed are those that be undefiled" by Tallis is sunny and wonderful. (The linked score reads SATTB, but the 2nd tenor part is really a baritone line.)
    — score
    — recording
  • ViolaViola
    Posts: 396
    A very exuberant Easter motet by Caspar Ett is this Haec Dies, early 19th century
    https://youtu.be/6ESGvhNQ76A
    Obtainable on cpdl. Our choir loved singing it.
    Thanked by 1Ashleyadams
  • ViolaViola
    Posts: 396
    And a comment on Jesu Dulcis, attrib. Victoria.
    There are very blatant consecutive 5ths between alto and tenor in bar 12 (another reason for supposing that Victoria didn't write this). I avoid them by delaying the tenor entry until the last beat of bar 12, and this bit of editing has also been advised by Patrick Russill at the last Conference of Catholic Directors of Music (UK)
    Thanked by 2Ashleyadams tomjaw
  • CHGiffenCHGiffen
    Posts: 5,155
    You haven't listed, except for one ("If ye love me" by Tallis), any English language works. I strongly suggest that including more English language polyphonic works will help to engage an audience which is largely unfamiliar with polyphonic music, as it helps with the understanding of the connection between music and text which might otherwise be lost on people unfamiliar with Latin.

    Although a few such works have been suggested above, I would also recommend Everett Titcomb's superb "I will not leave you comfortless". And ... if it were not scored for SATB-SATB double choir, I would enthusiastically recommend William Henry Harris's "Bring us, O Lord God" (text is adapted from a sermon by John Donne). It was sung at the funeral for Queen Elizabeth II, and eloquent performances have been recorded (e.g. by VOCES8, among others).

    But ... (shameless plug alert): My own 5-part (SATBarB) setting of "Bring us, O Lord God" is a worthy alternative to the Harris setting. I have recently revised the work in a few measures (and anticipate its being sung by a prominent professional choral ensemble in the near future). The previous version has already been posted here in the forum (and is quite singable, too), but I am attaching here the score for the new revised version together with an audio sound file (also a choral score with a reduction of the vocal parts for organ).

    In passing, I note that both Harris's and my works are contemporary polyphony that are rooted in centuries of polyphonic tradition. Indeed, well crafted, beautiful, sacred polyphony is no longer constrained to come from the Renaissance composers ... whether in Latin or the vernacular. Bruckner and Vaughan Williams come to mind from the romantic and early 20th century eras ... also, Michael Drake and Jacob Flaherty are contemporary examples, already known to people here.


  • Liam
    Posts: 4,960
    I would pair Palestrina's "Exsultate Deo" with Byrd's "Sing Joyfully Unto God" - two masters at the peak of their form handling the same text but in different languages.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6JfcFhs9Y8