Guest post by Mark Lawson
Here is a quick quiz…..what are five choral pieces that every high school or college student should sing before they are conductors themselves? Is there a common set of pieces that make up the core repertoire? Most of us in the choral world can agree on many pieces that should be included in the canon, but where would someone relatively new go to find this authoritative list?
I remember as a new choral director fresh out of college, searching not only for new literature, but also wondering about what I had missed. A single class in choral literature did not prepare me for the challenges of picking pieces year after year, and I remember how difficult it was trying to find pieces that would work well for my choir and for this or that occasion, when I just didn’t have that mental list built up yet. When I did finally find an appropriate piece, it seemed like a hidden gem, and I couldn’t believe it had passed me by in all of my studies!
In September 2017, The Choral Journal published a listing of the most recommended choral music that appeared on state repertoire lists. This article helped us realize that many of those pieces have been a staple in the E. C. Schirmer and Galaxy catalogs for years. We decided to pull together over 60 choral pieces and group them together as a new series called Choral Essentials.
Personal favorites such as Randall Thompson’s Alleluia and Paul Manz’s E’en So, Lord Jesus, Quickly Come are grouped with Ave Maria by Victoria, and Ave verum Corpus by Byrd to create a wonderful compendium of great choral classics.
I hope you will take time to explore this part of the website and make some new discoveries. We think this will be a welcomed series for both new and experienced conductors.
Visit the Choral Essentials series page here.
Mark Lawson is the President of ECS Publishing Group, which represents E. C. Schirmer, Galaxy, and MorningStar.
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