Romantik a capella 2 – Sacred Part Songs

This second volume of ROMANTIK a cappella, containing 147 songs by more than 130 composers, male and female, from 31 European countries, is an outstanding collection of choral music for mixed voices from the “long nineteenth century”, the period from 1789 to 1914.

Numerous composers of renown have found a place in this collection with selected pieces from their sacred works; but at the same time, the book offers fascinating discoveries from the rich store of European choral music. Predominantly for four voices, the songs range in style from easy-to-sing sacred folk songs to complex motets. The great diversity of the contents of the book is reflected in, among other things, the fact that it contains not only choral works of all three of the major Christian churches, but also settings of psalms that were sung in the Jewish synagogues of the time. The book offers a rich and extensive repertoire for every occasion in the ecclesiastical year, for use in both religious services and concerts of sacred music, and is therefore an indispensable source of material for dedicated amateur choirs, chamber and concert choirs, and church and cantoral choirs.

Volume 2 of ROMANTIK a cappella continues on the same editorial principles that were used in its predecessor. English lyrics have been added in the case of non-Latin original lyrics, and English and German translations have been placed directly beneath the notes to make this choral repertoire as accessible as possible. In addition, audio pronunciation aids and numerous recordings are available online.

The editors Michael Aschauer and Jan Schumacher have succeeded, completely in the spirit of their cooperation partners, the “European Choral Association – Europa Cantat”, in demonstrating the impressive riches in choral music available across the whole of Europe. Together, Volume 1 (Secular part songs, Helbling C7980) and the present Volume 2 provide a representative selection of 19th century European a-cappella choral music.