Choir

A choir is a vocal ensemble that performs music for several voices, usually divided into soprano, alto, tenor, and bass parts. Choral singing has been central to church music, opera, folk traditions, and concert repertoire. Depending on size and function, a choir may sing unaccompanied or with piano, organ, chamber ensemble, or full orchestra.

23 articles related to Choir:

FILM

Ave Satani: diabolic essence of The Omen theme song

Ave Satani is a choral work written by the prolific American composer Jerry Goldsmith for the 1976 supernatural horror...
Choir

Ave verum corpus: influential Mozart score for the crucial Catholic chant

Ave verum corpus is one of the best-known sacramental chants that originated in the Medieval period and has since been...
Contemporary Composer

The meaningless song lyrics of Adiemus

Adiemus is a cross-genre project conceived by Welsh composer and multi-instrumentalist Karl Jenkins to refresh...
ORCHESTRA

Gabriel Faure's Pavane as the key to modern revival of early genre

The pavane—a slow processional dance of Italian origin—was quite common in Europe during the transition period from the...
Choir

Shosholoza: meaning and origin of the famous African work song

With its origins going back to the gold mines of South Africa, Shosholoza holds a firm place in the cultural...
Choir

The valiha as unifying element in the stylistic diversity of Madagascar music

Due to its geographical location, Madagascar displays diverse musical traditions laid down at different times by waves...
Nature Sounds

Crickets choir: musical examples imitating rhythmic patterns of chorusing insects

One of the most mesmerizing sounds in nature is the bizarre rhythmic patterns generated by chorusing insects. While... 1 comment
Music Theory

Lydian mode: famous examples throughout the music history

Major and minor modes are the most used diatonic scales in classical and popular music due to their versatile structure...
Choir

Traditional music of Gourara archipelago of oases features the poetry of endangered languages

Located in southwest Algeria, Gourara is one of the most picturesque areas of the Sahara desert. This unique region is...
Music Theory

Classic examples of the Phrygian mode through the music eras

From Middle Ages to modernity, Western music has been largely based on diatonic scales that organize seven notes into... 4 comments
Choir

Mass in B minor: how to separate original scores of J.S. Bach from his son's later edits?

The Mass in B minor is one of the latest works of J.S. Bach in which he set a liturgical Latin text to music. Clocking...
Choir

Gershwin's Summertime: the most recorded song draws inspiration from Ukrainian lullaby and African American spiritual

Written by the American composer George Gershwin in 1934, Summertime aria is now the most recorded song in the history... 3 comments
Nature Sounds

Why birds sing their songs: great maestros proving the musicality of nightingale, cuckoo, yellowhammer

It is no coincidence that the sounds emitted by birds are known in many languages as "songs", rather than simple animal... 1 comment
Choir

5 African states adopted the liberation song by Enoch Sontonga as the national anthem

Nkosi Sikelel 'iAfrika has been the most frequently sung tune throughout the African continent for over a hundred years...
Choir

Māori singing tradition arranged for Rotorua choir by Alfred Hill

The impressive vocal traditions of the Māori people were first reported by Captain James Cook who explored the coast of...
Game

The quiet adventure in the warm depths of Abzû game scored by Austin Wintory

American composer Austin Wintory made history after becoming the creator of the first-ever Grammy-nominated videogame...
TECHNOLOGIES

Quadraphonic vinyl reveals new Atom Heart Mother details

In the late 1960s, after the stereo sound almost completely replaced the mono format in the recording industry, the... 4 comments
Choir

Europe worshiped this 12th-century prophet for her visions rather than her music talent

Hildegard von Bingen—German abbess and visionary mystic—was one of the most enigmatic personalities of the Middle Ages....
Choir

The boundless Flemish heritage of Heinrich Isaac

Heinrich Isaac (1450—1517) was a versatile and prolific Flemish composer of both secular and church music. He was a...
FILM

Five tones of Spielberg's alien language

Close Encounters of the Third Kind—Steven Spielberg’s first and perhaps best attempt at sci-fi—was released in 1977 only...
Choir

Josquin des Prez: pioneer in the Franco-Flemish School of music

Josquin des Prez was the leading architect of the point of imitation style, in which a motif introduced in one voice is...
FOOTBALL

UEFA Champions League theme is an adaption of George Händel's royal coronation anthem

One of George Händel's best-known pieces, Zadok the Priest, has been traditionally performed during the anointing of the...
FILM

Man of Constant Sorrow revived in the Coen brothers' classic

Man of Constant Sorrow is a traditional American folk song first published by Dick Burnett, a partially blind fiddler...