Men's Choirs

Terry Walker, Men’s Choir

Love, Do You Hear Me Sing?

TTB

Glenda E. Franklin

Shawnee Press 35031174

This song is in three parts. It is beautifully written, but simple. A great piece for any level of secondary male chorus.

Do You Fear the Wind

TTTB

Leland Sateren

Alfred Publishing Co. SCHCH00410

This is a standard piece, and a challenge for a male choral group. It has been performed many times for good reason. It is powerful when executed properly.

Canto Del Agua

TTB

David Hill

Alliance Music Publications 0384

This piece is also written for three parts. It is a fun piece in the Spanish language, which offers an increasingly common alternative to Latin texts and African folk songs. it is appropriate for all secondary levels.

The Boy's Changing Voice 

by Henry Leck

Hal Leonard Corporation

Henry Leck offers a holistic approach to male choral singing in this DVD. He answers questions about the changing voice and provides tools to be implemented into the rehearsal process. This is a great resource for teachers who are seeking techniques to help guide young male singers through this crucial phase in their life as a singer.

Repertoire Specific Coordinator

Angie Rawls, Repertoire Specific Coordinator

All Creatures Praise Him

SATB with some divisi   accompanied

Mary McDonald

Medallion Music

Pearl Singers sing for the annual Community Thanksgiving Service.  Appropriate text.  This piece lends itself to easy sightreading for the beginning of the year.  It reads easy yet sounds involved and impressive.  Perfect for a community religious service.

Voice Dance

SSAA  a cappella

Greg Jasperse

Shawnee Press

I was looking for a lighter piece to program opposite several heavy pieces.  “Voice Dance” offers some challenging tuning issues, but is very enjoyable for both the singer and the listener.

Lux Aurumque

TTBB    a cappella

Eric Whitacre

Walton Music

The 1^st tenors soar and the low basses plummet. The all-male timbre is a refreshing twise for the harmonies that are indicative of Whitacre’s writing.  A challenging yet enjoyable piece.

Men's Choir

Terry Walker, Men’s Choir

Nine Hundred Miles

TTB

Philip Silvey

Santa Barbara Music Publising

This piece is immediately emotionally expressive. Also, it is melodically interesting without being difficult or detached. It also provides an opportunity to the division of the sixteenth note at a slow tempo.

My God Is A Rock

TTB

Ruth Morris Gray

Alfred Music Publishing

This selection will keep students engaged because of tempo and rhythmic quality. There are also opportunities for solos. Independent singing and counterpoint may be introduced in this piece. Lastly, it provides an opportunity to learn sol fege in a minor tonality.

Ubi Caritas

TTBB

Ola Gjeilo

Walton Music Publishing

This piece is a challenge for men’s choir, but the results are worth the challenge. This piece provides the opportunity to teach traditional latin text. Listening across the section and the entire choir is paramount to perform this piece successfully.

Repertoire Specific Coordinator

Angie Rawls, Repertoire Specific Coordinator

The Awakening

Joseph M. Martin

TTBB

Hal Leonard Corporation CO286   35001492

This piece was published in 1995, so it has been around for a few years.  The first time my choirs performed it, we sang the SATB version which I also recommend.  It is not very difficult, but it sounds impressive.  (You need a skilled accompanist and at least one bass with a low Db).  J  There is a lot of opportunity for expressiveness.  The pieces starts very soft and somber, then builds to a glorious triumphant ending – “let music live!”  The text speaks of the power of music to change the world. 

“IPA Made Easy; A Guidebook for the International Phonetic Alphabet” by Anna Wentlent

I did not study IPA in college, but I’ve come to recognize and appreciate the benefits the knowledge of IPA can have in a choral rehearsal.  I’ve basically learned IPA alongside my students. This book serves as a quick, easy reference guide whenever I have questions or doubt myself.  J

“Quick Fixes; Prescriptions for Every Choral Challenge” by Tim Seelig

This book provides very practical solutions for very real issues in choral rehearsals.  There are prescriptions for everything from breathing to syllabic stress to musical expression.

Men's Choir

Dr. Adam Potter, R&R Chair for Men’s Choirs

Sing Your Way Home

TTBB

Joseph M. Martin (quoting Antonín Dvořák)

Mark Foster/Shawnee Press/Hal Leonard #35027949

Your guys will love singing this beautiful text:

Sing your way home at the close of the day.

Sing your way home. Drive the shadows away.

Where’er you go, wherever you roam,

it will brighten your road; lighten your load

if you sing, sing your way home.

Martin’s harmonies are mostly diatonic with wonderful moments of dissonance (quickly resolved).

 “Stomp Your Foot!” from The Tender Land

TTBB

Aaron Copland

Boosey & Hawkes/Hal Leonard #M-051-45146-4

This classic has fallen somewhat out of fashion, but is great fun for advanced men’s choirs. Great to reinforce vocal production in high and low tessituri. Requires two talented pianists for the piano-duo accompaniment.

Ascendit Deus

TTTBB

Jacob Handl

CPDL #00833

This polyphonic Renaissance piece is a terrific choice for your advanced men’s choir. Predominantly in the Ionian mode, it is perfect to reinforce rhythmic and tonal reading concepts. Handl (also known as Gallus) demonstrates his mastery of text painting throughout.

Title of Resource: Teaching Music with Passion: Conducting, Rehearsing and Inspiring by Peter Loel Boonshaft

Description of Resource: If you’re in the “mid-semester blues,” this is a great read to invigorate and inspire your teaching again. Through a series of reflections on being a music educator, Boonshaft helps us rekindle the flame that drove us to become teachers in the first place.

Men's Choir

Dr. Adam Potter, R&R Chair

The Hands That First Held Mary’s Child

T(T)BB, piano, optional cello

Dan Forrest

Beckenhorst Press, Inc. BP1991

Dan Forrest’s abilities to write singable and tuneful yet original melodies is unparalleled. In this gorgeous setting of Thomas Troeger’s equally gorgeous Christmas poem, that ability is on full display. As is typical of Dan Forrest’s anthem-length pieces, this piece is structured to begin and end reverently with a glorious and dramatic climax in between. It is scored for piano and optional cello and a full orchestration is also available for purchase. 

Betelehemu

TTBB a cappella with ad lib percussion

Via Olatunji, arr. Wendell Whalum

Lawson-Gould 52647

In all likelihood, you’re already familiar with this Christmas classic from Nigeria, but if you haven’t performed it recently it’s worth revisiting! Teaching opportunities abound—it features both simple and compound meters and, because all pitches are diatonic, is perfect for practicing reading on solfège syllables in the key of B♭ major. And it’s sure to be a crowd-pleaser!

Kuimba!

TTB unaccompanied with optional percussion

Victor C. Johnson

Heritage Music Press 15/3058H

Students are captivated by multicultural and ethnic music, and Victor Johnson has written this piece as an accessible approximation for your middle school or beginning high school guys. The text is about the joys of music and will be at home in a concert with any theme.

Score & rehearsal preparation: A realistic approach for instrumental conductors. Stith, G. (2011) Galesville, MD: Meredith Music Publications.

I’m including this book as my recommended resource this month because, even if you’ve seen it, you’ve probably overlooked it. It’s aimed at instrumental conductors but is an invaluable text for choral conductors who are striving to approach their score study more methodically and comprehensively. Stith breaks the score study process into three phases encompassing a total of 23 steps that will ensure success on whatever music you’re preparing to teach. I’ve found it the perfect “refresher course” in score study as I’ve prepared my own rehearsals this semester!