13 Frabjous Pieces for TB/TTBB Chorus
1.The Witching Hour | Braeden Ayres
1.The Witching Hour | Braeden Ayres
With the combination of the “Dies Irae” chant and a “double-double, toil and trouble” text that your students will certainly recognize, this would make a perfect piece for a fall (or Halloween) concert. Alternatively, there are plenty of “teachable moments” in here to make it a perfectly satisfying festival piece. The optional middle part makes this accessible even to changing voices, but fair warning: the piano part is fast and tricky. This piece is available for TTB and SSA choirs.
Originally written for the Arizona State University Men’s choir, this TTBB arrangement of ‘Gaudete’ has been performed by the Phoenix Chorale, Solis Camerata, and the Orpheus Male Chorus of Phoenix. This version is a vivacious and robust version of the carol, for male chorus.
A tender setting of Oscar Wilde’s “Requiescat” for TTBB Chorus.
4. Three Songs of Life | Christina Whitten Thomas
These three poems by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow each approach life from a different angle. The Sound of the Sea is a melancholy musing on the unpredictability of life. Longfellow’s beautiful sea imagery reflects the changing tides of the human soul. The music has a contemplative, searching quality that only finds resolution within the final measures
5. The Warrior | J. Reese Norris
The Warrior text is based on an anonymous quote of urban legend status.Fate whispers to the warrior, “You cannot withstand the storm.” And the warrior whispers back, “I am the storm.” The Warrior is a dramatic composition with a thunder sheet, percussion, spoken dialog, whispered text, sound effects and closes with a huge climax as the warrior displays his dominance over circumstance. The conductor should feel free to use creativity to make this piece come to life.
6. Ave Maria | Joshua B. Himes
First performed by the Ayala High School Women’s Ensemble and selected as the 2010 Golden State Competition piece in Southern California, this beautiful setting of the Ave Maria text has since been revised and made available exclusively from MusicSpoke. The music offers a lush sound through simple homophonic passages, making it quite suitable for small and larger ensembles. SATB, SSAA, and TTBB versions are all available.
7. To My Brother | Joseph Gregorio
Commissioned, premiered, and performed around the world by Cantus as part of their 2015–2016 “Four Loves” project, To My Brother sets portions of letters written by James Clementi to his deceased brother Tyler, a freshman at Rutgers University and a promising violinist who killed himself in 2010 after being outed as gay by cyberbullies. To My Brother features quotations of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto (op. 35), Mozart’s Violin Concerto №3 (K. 216), and David Conte’s Invocation and Dance. Text used by kind permission of James Clementi and adapted by Ilene Wong.
Esa Einai is a Hebrew setting of Ps. 121:1–4 for chorus and piano. The piece was featured on the World Choir Symposium in Seoul, South Korea by the University of Southern California Chamber Singers, Dr. Jo-Michael Scheibe, conductor. It is a lyrical piece with soaring, singable melodies, and a strong homophonic ending. The piece is available as an SATB or a TTBB arrangement. Even though the ending of the SATB version uses divisi, all the parts are doubled, so there are only 3 parts. The piece was originally written at the request of Dr. Pete Eklund for the men of the University Singers at the University of Nebraska — Lincoln.
9. Echo’s Histories | Dale Trumbore
History’s Stories is a musical puzzle. The first piece (Echo’s History’s for TTBB chorus) and the second piece (Echo’s Stories for SSAA chorus) combine to make up a third SSAATTBB work (History’s Stories), which layers the two previous pieces together without changing a note.
10. Seule O Abondante Fleur | Joshua Mazur
Seule O Abbondante Fleur is a colorful setting of the classic Rilke poem. Written for seven part men’s choir (with countertenor (alto)) but revised to suit SATB choirs (with divisi.)
11. The Green and Salty Days | Kathleen Allan
Commissioned by Newman Sound Men’s Choir. A setting of Al Pittman’s eerily beautiful poem about visiting his deserted childhood hometown.
12. The Seven Last Words of the Unarmed | Joel Thompson
Joel Thompson’s “Seven Last Words of the Unarmed” is a setting of the last words of unarmed black men before they were shot or killed by the authorities.
13. I See His Blood Upon the Rose | Timothy Tharaldson
I See His Blood Upon the Rose is a piece for unaccompanied TTBB choir with a baritone solo. This piece was commissioned by Dr. Lee Nelson and the Wartburg Ritterchor for the 2012 Christmas with Wartburg celebration. The piece explores the deep connection between the birth and Passion of Jesus Christ. Two chorales, “Lo, How a Rose er Blooming” and “O Sacred Head Now Wounded” weave in and out with newly composed material on a text by Joseph Mary Plunkett to make this a piece suitable for both Christmas and Lenten seasons.