Looking for something to inspire your local choir or choral society? Our extensive range of choral repertoire includes works for Mixed Choir, Male Voice Choir, Female Voice Choir, Children’s & Youth Choirs, and Senior’s Choir, singing a Capella, with piano accompaniment, and with various other ensembles up to full orchestra.
Choral singing began to take form in the 9th & 10th Centuries, with the unison Gregorian Chant or Plain Chant. From the early Renaissance period, through composers like Palestrina , di Lasso and William Byrd true polyphonic choral music blossomed, and crescendo-ed through to a wonderful climax with Thomas Tallis’ Spem in alium for 40 parts, divided into 8 choirs.
As the form developed through the Renaissance into the Baroque period, composers such as Bach, Telemann and Händel gave the choir more and more autonomy, and through early operas and oratorios, married solo voices, choirs and orchestras together, to create these new musical forms, and inspired audiences with combinations of colours and sounds they had never before experienced.
Although there were many operas and oratorios written in the Classical period, sacred music also took a prominent role in shaping the development of choral music. While the chorus became a very useful tool on stage, Haydn, Mozart, Schubert and Beethoven composed many Masses, Requiems, Te Deums and Anthems to help brighten the world of church music, and uplift the hearts and souls of the congregation.
As opera continued to expand and stretch dramatic boundaries, choral music of the Romantic period was characterised by choral motets and anthems, and the oratorio grew into an even more varied and contrasting form. The oratorios Elijah and Paul are particularly noteworthy, since despite using Sacred themes, through the various musical facets at Mendelssohn’s disposal, they began to take on a much more operatic narrative. This can also be seen in the Requiems of Brahms and Verdi, where the choir itself, along with the orchestra, lead the dramatic storytelling.
Through the 20th Century, composers such as Ralf Vaughan Williams, Anton Webern, Arnold Schönberg, Benjamin Britten and Edward Elgar composed extensively for varying choral forces. Through these composers and many others, we begin to see choirs being tested and stretched, both technically and dramatically, and being pushed out of their comfort zone in order to inspire, shock and entice the audience. Works like Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius and Schönberg’s Friede auf Erden made a huge impact on the choral landscape.
In the modern era, new choral genres such as Gospel Choir, Pop Ensembles and Jazz & Swing emerged. Composers like John Rutter, Karl Jenkins, Bob Chilcott and Andrew Lloyd Webber have become very popular.
Alfred Choral Design
for: Choir (2 voices), piano
CD
Item no.: 847030
for: Choir
CD
Item no.: 1665517
SoundTrax CD
for: Choir
CD
Item no.: 928406
SoundTrax CD
for: Choir
CD
Item no.: 929701
Featuring: Oh Happy Day - Dancing in the Street - Ode to Joy
for: Choir
CD
Item no.: 898932
SoundTrax CD
for: Choir
CD
Item no.: 901387
SoundTrax CD
for: Choir
CD
Item no.: 930348
Acc. CD
for: Choir
CD
Item no.: 930206
SoundTrax CD
for: Choir
CD
Item no.: 904172
SoundTrax CD
for: Choir
CD
Item no.: 903544
SoundTrax CD
for: Choir
CD
Item no.: 903339
SoundTrax CD
for: Choir
CD
Item no.: 933461
SoundTrax CD
for: Choir
CD
Item no.: 932895
SoundTrax CD
for: Choir
CD
Item no.: 935699
InstruTrax CD
for: Choir
CD
Item no.: 935300
InstruTrax CD
for: Choir
CD
Item no.: 937283
SoundTrax CD
for: Choir
CD
Item no.: 936965
SoundTrax CD
for: Choir
CD
Item no.: 936939
SoundTrax CD
for: Choir
CD
Item no.: 934272
SoundTrax CD
for: Choir
CD
Item no.: 934006
InstruTrax CD
for: Choir
CD
Item no.: 933940
SoundTrax CD
for: Choir
CD
Item no.: 934590
Oratorium in 3 Akten HWV 61
Gekürzte Fassung
for: Solo voices, mixed choir, baroque orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 361038
Chor
CD
for: Choir
Item no.: 884095
SoundTrax CD
for: Choir
CD
Item no.: 937085
SoundTrax CD
for: Choir
CD
Item no.: 937019
SoundTrax CD
for: Choir
CD
Item no.: 936733
from How the Grinch Stole Christmas
for: Choir
CD
Item no.: 936697
SoundTrax CD
for: Choir
CD
Item no.: 936397
Acc. CD
for: Choir
CD
Item no.: 935684
InstruTrax CD
for: Choir
CD
Item no.: 935481
SoundTrax CD
for: Choir
CD
Item no.: 935460
SoundTrax CD
for: Choir
CD
Item no.: 935443
The First Noel-Infant Holy, Infant Lowly
for: Choir
CD
Item no.: 935378
from the musical Ain't Misbehavin'
for: Choir
CD
Item no.: 935341
SoundTrax CD
for: Choir
CD
Item no.: 933423
Hanukkah Is the Reason Why
for: Choir
CD
Item no.: 932627
SoundTrax CD
for: Choir
CD
Item no.: 899751
SoundTrax CD
for: Choir
CD
Item no.: 929928
Acc. CD
for: Choir
CD
Item no.: 929754
SoundTrax CD
for: Choir
CD
Item no.: 929424
SoundTrax CD
for: Choir
CD
Item no.: 934362
In McElligot's Pool
for: Choir
CD
Item no.: 934361
Acc. CD
for: Choir
CD
Item no.: 933663
SoundTrax CD
for: Choir
CD
Item no.: 911831
SoundTrax CD
for: Choir
CD
Item no.: 906330
SoundTrax CD
for: Choir
CD
Item no.: 907069
Acc. CD
for: Choir
CD
Item no.: 906901