3-part sacred anthems

Discussions relating to performance, interpretation, score preparation, musica ficta etc.
Post Reply
zwielight
Posts: 2
Joined: 26 Jun 2011 15:15

3-part sacred anthems

Post by zwielight »

Hello! My Anglican church choir consists of 6 very amateurish but dedicated singers (2 sop, 2 alto, 1 ten, 1 bass). I'm running out of ideas on music to program; nothing in the New Church Anthem Book, Easy Anthem Book, or Oxford Anthem Book is very realistic for us. Language preference is English. I've tried using the voicing search function here, but there are either not many 3-part anthems uploaded, or there are simply not a lot of 3-part anthems in existence.

I found Gounod's Da Pacem, and that is exactly the type of piece we are looking for! More, more!

Can anyone give further suggestions? I'm not opposed to purchasing pieces, but I can't even find many 3-part anthem books from the RSCM. No remotely modern-sounding stuff. We're all frustrated -- they are losing confidence, and I am out of ideas!
DaveF
Site Admin
Posts: 146
Joined: 12 Jan 2006 21:11
Location: Abergavenny, Gwent, UK

Re: 3-part sacred anthems

Post by DaveF »

I'm sure there's a good reason for your wanting 3-part pieces, but you seem to have all 4 parts covered - could your singers not manage some of the easier 4-part anthems? That would extend your choice enormously.

DF
zwielight
Posts: 2
Joined: 26 Jun 2011 15:15

Re: 3-part sacred anthems

Post by zwielight »

The two gents have a hard time holding their own lines. When they sing one part together, intonation problems vanish!! Also (even though this directly contradicts what I just said) if either of the two are absent, we cannot perform our anthem, and that has been highly problematic in the past.

I know this must sound a bit fussy to someone who isn't familiar with this particular group of people and church community...
Cdalitz
Posts: 168
Joined: 24 Apr 2007 14:42

Re: 3-part sacred anthems

Post by Cdalitz »

If two part music is also ok, you can try some of my bicinia (for the English metrical psalm texts, see , e.g. the Canadian "Book of Praise" http://www.bookofpraise.ca/):

http://music.dalitio.de/choir/dalitz/psalter-bicinia/

There are many three part settings on my website (see "Vocal", "Index by voice number"), but few of them are based on English texts.

Another good source might be the Ulenberg Psalter by Rolandus and Orlandus Lassus. All settings are for three parts and cantus firmus and text are psalms in the metrical versions by Ulenberg. These are in German, but it should be easy to find matching english psalm poetry, though that requires some research...

If Latin is also ok for you, you should check out Kevin Allen's "Motectae trium vocum":

http://kevinallen.info/compositions/cho ... ium-vocum/

Hope this helps,

Chris
CHGiffen
Site Admin
Posts: 1781
Joined: 16 Sep 2005 21:22
Location: Hudson, Wisconsin, USA

Re: 3-part sacred anthems

Post by CHGiffen »

You might check Category:3 part choral music at the CPDL ChoralWiki - in particular scroll down to the SAT and SAB sections. Or, you could use the Multi-Category Search, selecting "Sacred" under Genre, "3 voices" under Number of voices, and either "SAB" or "SAT" under Voicing. As of this writing, this produces 231 SAB Sacred works and 70 SAT Sacred works. I hope this helps! :)
Charles H. Giffen
CPDL Board of Directors Chair
Admin at & Manager of ChoralWiki
Cdalitz
Posts: 168
Joined: 24 Apr 2007 14:42

Re: 3-part sacred anthems

Post by Cdalitz »

Even though it is a good deal of time until advent and chistmas, here is a piece under the CC-BY-SA that hopefully exactly matches your needs:

http://music.dalitio.de/choir/dalitz/tollite-portas/

There is both a "catholic" and an "anglican" edition.

Hope this helps,

Chris
ebykm
Posts: 44
Joined: 16 Oct 2005 14:31

Re: 3-part sacred anthems

Post by ebykm »

Stainer's How Beautiful upon the Mountains available in cpdl, is a simple arrangement that can be sung with men singing bass, even though the arrangement is for ATB.

Eby
Post Reply