IMSLP Forums

Hey IMSLP,

I am currently a senior in high school and a bass in choir. coming for this spring concert we are going to do a collaboration with the choir and the orchestra and I want it to be HUGE! my teacher is taking suggestions for pieces and I was hoping for some recommendations. I really want something big and epic sort of like Orff's O Fortuna. (but not that one lol)

If you guys have any ideas I would love to hear it. Difficulty is not a question..we are an excellent music driven school and have plenty of time to rehearse.

If its on IMSLP that would be all the better so I could look at the score. But if you have other ideas that is fine too.

I figured you were the people to ask! Thanks in advanced.

How involved do the choir parts need to be? You could do Polovetsian Dances. There are some big gaps for you guys, which is why I ask...

Bernstein's Chichester Psalms is a really enjoyable piece to perform and play. It has some extremely difficult parts, and you would need a counter-tenor/treble to perform the second movement.

Another great piece is Prokofiev's cantata Alexander Nevsky. It has some cool parts for the choir that aren't too difficult, and a fantastic orchestral part.

And of course there's always Mahler's Eighth . . .

Of course, the Missa Solemnis is probably out of the question, but you could probably do the ending of Berlioz's Damnation of Faust.

I recommend one of the great Handel choruses, none of which require a huge, extremely capable orchestra, unlike the Orff or some of the other pieces mentioned. Aside the ones from Messiah, there are loads of great choruses to choose from, including the first Coronation Anthem Zadok the Priest . It makes a stupendous impression when the choir first comes in. The original scoring, however, won't provide work for everybody in a typical high-school orchestra (no parts for flutes or clarinets, for example, and the only percussion is timpani). The piece will require some really outstanding trumpets and real solid performances by the basses in the choir. On the other hand, the violins don't have to go above 3rd position. If your performance is in a church, you can use its organ for the continuo.

--Sixtus

http://imslp.org/wiki/Coronation_Anthem ... rideric%29

Are you looking for a single, short piece (your reference to the opening number of Orff's "Carmina Burana" was a clue) or some big work?

Haydn: Kyrie form Mass No. 9, "Heiligmesse"
Roy Harris: first movement form Symphony No. 4, "Folk Song Symphony"- It is in English.

Well, if you're looking for something EPIC, and if you have a decent solo soprano and baritono, then Brahm's requiem is what really jumps to my mind. The 2nd and 6th movements are enough to drive any music-loving crowd crazy.

I agree with 'sbeckmesser'. Handel's choruses are awesome.