Sonare e Cantare: Music for Chorus and Winds
Often the full symphony orchestra, with its full complement of string instruments, is called upon to provide the accompaniment for large choral masterworks. Many woodwind, brass, and percussion players do not get the vital experience of performing with voices. Dr. Keith Kinder’s session on music composed for chorus and winds helped to illuminate unfamiliar works for chorus and winds, while also reminding us of the wealth of music available for these combined forces.
Kinder provided a historical survey of works composed for chorus (with or without soloists) and winds contained in his 2005 book Best Music for Chorus and Winds published by Manhattan Beach Music. With over 150 works listed, this book has become a much-needed resource. He freely admits that although there are hundreds of pieces by lesser-known composers for chorus and winds, he has chosen to concentrate on works by major composers. During the session, Kinder provided background information along with score and listening examples for approximately twenty works, ranging from Heinrich Schütz to Paul Hindemith. These compositions are listed below with a few words on specific notable pieces brought to our attention by Kinder.
Heinrich Schütz Psalm 150; J. S. Bach Cantata 118; Michael Haydn Missa Sancti Hieronymi; Franz Schubert Deutsch Messe and Hymnus an den Heiligen Geist; Charles Bochsa Requiem; Mendelssohn Ave Maria and An die Künstler; Liszt C Minor Mass; Bruckner Mass in E Minor, Germanenzug, and Das Deutsche Lied; Holst Two Festival Choruses: Turn Back O Man and A Festival Chime; Vaughan Williams O Clap your Hands and O How Amiable; Honneger King David; Stravinsky Mass, Symphonie des Psalms, and Canticum Sacrum; and Hindemith Apparebit Repentina Dies.
Franz Schubert’s Deutsch Messe, D. 872 was composed for mixed chorus and orchestral winds minus flutes and trumpets. The homophonic nature clearly suggests use for congregational singing, and therefore possible use for amateur choirs as well.
Felix Mendelssohn composed six works for chorus and winds (some with low strings), including his Ave Maria, Op. 23, No. 2 (1830). This sacred work is scored for eight solo voices, double mixed choir, two clarinets, two bassoons, low strings, organ, and continuo.
Franz Liszt’s C Minor Mass, one of 18 works for chorus and winds, was composed in 1848 for solo male quartet, male chorus, and organ. Ten years later Johann Herbeck orchestrated it for two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns, three trombones, timpani, and organ. Kinder lamented that this is a highly overlooked work having only been performed once (with Kinder himself conducting) since the premiere in 1859. It is clear that this piece is one of his favorites in the literature.
Kinder also tried to clear up some misconceptions concerning Anton Bruckner’s Mass in E Minor regarding Bruckner’s choice of scoring the piece for wind instruments instead of strings or full orchestra. It is often believed that Bruckner chose wind instruments because the first performance was to be outside. Although ultimately it was first performed outside due to the cathedral size, this was not his initial consideration. Kinder believes Bruckner made the aesthetic choice of writing for wind instruments to separate this mass from two other masses composed during the 1860s, the Mass in D Minor and the Mass in F Minor. Bruckner’s Mass in E Minor is most certainly a cornerstone in the repertoire for chorus and winds.
In addition to the many fine sacred works, Kinder also brought to our attention a few secular works. Anton Bruckner wrote 30 secular choral works, many with wind accompaniment. His Germanenzug, for solo male quartet, male chorus, and brass band is in three movements and contains many of the hallmarks of Bruckner’s compositional style, including cyclic forms and an abundance of dotted rhythms.
Both Gustav Holst and Ralph Vaughan Williams composed works for chorus and winds as well. Kinder pointed out two secular festival choruses composed by Holst intended for amateur performance: Turn Back O Man and A Festival Chime. Vaughan Williams composed O Clap your Hands for chorus and brass, and O How Aimiable for chorus and band.
Although Stravinsky’s Mass is often performed, Kinder also wanted to remind us of his Canticum Sacrum. Stravinsky composed this piece for use in St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice, Italy and took advantage of this fact in the piece’s planning. It is in five movements, representing the five domes of the basilica, and utilizes antiphonal writing so prominently heard in the works of Giovanni Gabrieli composed for the same space.
If asked to name works composed for chorus and winds, pieces such as Bruckner’s Mass in E Minor, Brahms’s Begräbnisgesang, and Honneger’s King David often come to mind. But as Kinder has shown, there is a wealth of quality literature waiting to be performed by choruses and wind bands/ensembles. During the session closing, Kinder mentioned the possibility of publishing a second volume of his Best Music for Chorus and Winds; we can only hope. [Editor’s Note: …or write Bob Margolis.]
©2007 WASBE and/or the contributing author/photographer