Attention Conductors! We know how it is when you put off planning your winter concerts—we’ve all been there. But don’t worry, because we’ve got you. Here are some great new pieces for the choral conductor on the go.
Treble Choir
Blow, Blow, thou Winter Wind
Jennifer Lucy Cook (Compose Like A Girl)
for SSA choir, tambourine & hand drum
Difficulty:
“Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind” is filled with delightful surprises, including percussion, some aleatoric passages, rapidly changing dance-like meters, and an unsentimental conclusion that “pops.” Treble choirs of all ages will love singing it, due in large part to expert writing for the voice and repeated patterns.
How to Survive Winter
Jocelyn Hagen (JH Music)
for SSAA choir & string quartet
Difficulty:
“How to Survive Winter” asks the questions: how do we get through this, how do we deal with grief, loss, and sadness? These four movements with poetry by Julia Klatt Singer tackle this issue with beauty and clarity. Hagen enfolds the beautiful poetry with grace and emotional depth. Passages such as this invite sublime contemplation:
“Nothing, not even winter,
can tame your wild bird of a heart.”
Tenor/Bass Choir
‘Twas in the Moon of Wintertime
Timothy C. Takach (Graphite Publishing)
for TTBB a cappella, also available for in SATB
Difficulty:
A haunting arrangement of the Huron Carol, “‘Twas in the Moon of Wintertime” evokes the warmth of the Jesus’ birth despite the coldness of winter.
Takach has paired the original carol tune with a newly composed melody to great effect, supporting the joyful proclamation in the third verse. This arrangement is accessible to a good high school choir, and yet has enough musical nuance to satisfy a more accomplished professional choir.
Completing the Circle
for TTBB a cappella
Also available for SATB a cappella
and SSAA a cappella.
Difficulty:
Though Barbara Crooker describes a modern Christmas in her text for “Completing the Circle,” there is a timeless, even ancient sense of ritual in the way she depicts the season of Advent: “gathering branches / of green pine… / making rings of fire / in wax and wood.”
The memory of Christmases past can be bittersweet, too, and Crooker alludes to this in the darkness that winter brings: “days of grey / and iron nights.” Ultimately, fond memories offer us a link to the past as well as a comfort that can be felt even in the darkest nights of winter.
SATB Choir with Piano
In the Bleak Midwinter
SATB chorus, 2 soloists, piano or harp
Also available for SSAA, 2 soloists, and piano.
Difficulty:
This atmospheric setting of the traditional Christmas carol “In the Bleak Midwinter” swirls with the falling snow.
Over a sparkling accompaniment, Abbie Betinis arranges Holst’s hymn with both clarity and texture, offering opportunities for singers to develop skill in phrasing and expression. The final verse features two soloists over the choir humming, which creates an intimate, haunting beauty reflective of the text’s humility and reverence.
Pastores
Carlos Cordero (The Happy Choir)
For SATB, optional cuatro, and piano
Difficulty:
A gentle and beautiful setting for mixed voices, piano, and optional guitar, this “Pastores” enchants and delights. Latin-American rhythms, optional cuatro (or guitar), and the Spanish text provide a fresh perspective for the season. The message is one of a gentle Christmas lullaby for the Christ child.
SATB Choir Unaccompanied
Snow Toward Evening
Michael Fairbairn (NDSU Challey School of Music Choral Series)
For SATB a cappella
Difficulty:
“Snow Toward Evening” utilizes slowly layering chords and colorful tonality shifts to portray the serene beauty of a still winter’s night.
“A beautiful peace that my students LOVED singing. Definitely worth adding to your program.”
—Joe Osowski, Director of Choirs at St. Michael-Albertville, MN.
Meet Me for Noche Buena
For SATB div. a cappella
Difficulty:
Sung in Tagalog and English, “Meet Me for Noche Buena” is a celebration of shared traditions and heartwarming journeys. Commissioned by Pacific Chorale, this captivating piece premiered in December 2022. Join us as we embrace the beauty of Filipino culture, forging connections and bringing holiday traditions to new places.
In natali Domini
Rose Publications (The Rose Ensemble)
For ATB a cappella
Difficulty:
A selection in Latin from the famed Codex Speciálník, this piece will challenge your ensemble’s intonation with its open-fifth cadences. While the ATB work appears in its original key, it may be transposed to suit other voicings.
Art Song Corner
Peace with Me Now
For High voice and piano
(also available for low voice)
Difficulty:
“Peace With Me Now” evokes both the stark solitude of a winter evening, and the warmth that pours into the heart as it yearns for inner peace. The verse/chorus form seems simple, but has breadth and depth, allowing ample room for individual expression. Use the fully-notated score as an art song, or improvise on the chord symbols for a torch song or jazz ballad.
Our Contributing Editor
Jonathan Campbell, BA, MSM, DMA, currently serves as Director of Music at Zion Lutheran Church, Anoka, MN., and is a Contributing Editor for Graphite Publishing. His music publishers include Augsburg Fortress, Concordia, Morningstar, GIA, Sacred Music Press, and Falls House. He won first prize in the Morningside Choral Composition Contest and was also awarded a Faith Partner’s Residency with the American Composer’s Forum. Jonathan has served many churches, conducted the Chorale of the Honors Choirs S.E. MN for eight years, and has served on the faculties of Winona State University, Augsburg University, and Pomona College.
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