A cappella music is specifically group or solo singing without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It contrasts with cantata, which is usually accompanied singing. The term "a cappella" was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato style. In the 19th century a renewed interest in Renaissance polyphony coupled with an ignorance of the fact that vocal parts were often doubled by instrumentalists led to the term coming to mean unaccompanied vocal music. The term is also used, albeit rarely, as a synonym for alla breve.
A choir is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which spans from the medieval era to the present, or popular music repertoire. Most choirs are led by a conductor, who leads the performances with arm and face gestures.
Arvo Pärt is an Estonian composer of classical and religious music. Since the late 1970s, Pärt has worked in a minimalist style that employs his self-invented compositional technique, tintinnabuli. Pärt's music is in part inspired by Gregorian chant. His most performed works include Fratres (1977), Spiegel im Spiegel (1978), and Für Alina (1976). Since 2011 Pärt has been the most performed living composer in the world.
Dmitry Stepanovich Bortniansky was a Russian Imperial composer, harpsichordist and conductor of Rusyn origin.
The Dale Warland Singers (DWS) was a 40-voice professional chorus based in St. Paul, Minnesota, founded in 1972 by Dale Warland and disbanded in 2004. They performed a wide variety of choral repertoire but specialized in 20th-century music and commissioned American composers extensively. In terms of sound, the DWS was known for its purity of tone, intonation, legato sound and stylistic range. During their existence, the DWS performed roughly 400 concerts and recorded 29 CDs.
Daniel E. Gawthrop is an American composer, primarily of choral music. His output also includes a substantial body of works for the organ as well as orchestral and instrumental works. He has been the recipient of over one hundred commissions to write original music. His works have been published by Warner Brothers, Theodore Presser, Sacred Music Press, and others.
Magnum Chorum is a choral ensemble based in the Twin Cities of Minnesota. Magnum Chorum performs sacred choral music in cathedrals and sanctuaries throughout the Midwest. The 65 voice auditioned choir presents concerts, commissions new sacred works, makes recordings, and provides music for worship. Founded in 1991 in the choral tradition of St. Olaf College, membership was originally limited to St. Olaf graduates, but since 2005, auditions are open to singers devoted to excellence in choral music. Magnum Chorum’s name is intended to convey the importance of the choir in expressing the divine and infinite through voice, music, and text.
Gloriæ Dei Cantores is a 40 voice choir based in Orleans, Massachusetts, under the direction of Artistic Director and Principal Conductor Richard K. Pugsley.
Chicago a cappella is a non-profit organization devoted to furthering the art of ensemble singing without any instruments. The group of professional singers began in 1993 by Jonathan Miller and conduct a series of performances annually. The organization displays a yearly subscription series for Chicago residents, produces studio recordings as well as live and broadcast-media musical content, and performs on tour and in special arrangements. The ensemble is known for their outstanding vocal abilities, innovative programming, and have a reputation of being a leader within the choral field. Expanding from a collection of a Gregorian chants to the Beatles and beyond, the singers are known for their wide repertoire including early works, vocal jazz, and spirituals. The ensemble is also a champion of performing works by living composers.
The 35th Annual GMA Music Awards were held on April 28, 2004 recognizing accomplishments of musicians for the year 2003. The show was held at the Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee, and was hosted by Deion Sanders and Yolanda Adams.
The Lorenz Corporation, previously known as Lorenz Publishing Company, is a music publisher located in Dayton, Ohio. It is best known for its publication of church music for smaller congregations served by amateur musicians. It also publishes other varieties of music and general education materials.
The choirs at Brigham Young University (BYU) consist of four auditioned choirs: the BYU Singers, the Concert Choir, the Men's Chorus, and the Women's Chorus. Each choir is highly accomplished and performs from an extensive repertoire. Together, the choirs have recorded and released a total of 23 albums. The choirs perform throughout the academic year. Admission into each choir is by audition, carried out in the weeks leading up to the fall semester. Each ensemble requires a two-semester commitment.
Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit, BWV 106, also known as Actus tragicus, is an early sacred cantata composed by Johann Sebastian Bach in Mühlhausen, intended for a funeral.
John Ness Beck was a composer and arranger of choral music. He was best known for his very popular and accessible settings of traditional Sacred music. Beck was a conductor and arranger of international renown. His works are highly celebrated and performed by high school, college, church, community, and professional choirs across the globe today.
Joan Szymko is an American choral conductor, music educator and composer. She was born in Chicago and studied choral conducting and music education at the University of Illinois at Urbana, graduating in 1978. She settled in Seattle, Washington, and worked as a music teacher, composer and choral conductor.
Choirs and choruses based in Colorado
Der Herr denket an uns, BWV 196, is a cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. The early church cantata, possibly for a wedding, is difficult to date, but is generally considered to be an early work on stylistic grounds. The text is a passage from Psalm 115, assuring of God's blessing, especially for children. Scholars have suggested the work may have been written for the wedding of Johann Lorenz Stauber, the minister in Dornheim who had married Bach and his first wife there in 1707, and Regina Wedemann, an aunt of Bach's wife, on 5 June 1708.
Steven Sametz is active as both conductor and composer. He has been hailed as "one of the most respected choral composers in America." Since 1979, he has been on the faculty of Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, where he holds the Ronald J. Ulrich Chair in Music and is Director of Choral Activities and is founding director of the Lehigh University Choral Union. Since 1998, he has served as Artistic Director of the professional a cappella ensemble, The Princeton Singers. He is also the founding director of the Lehigh University Summer Choral Composers’ Forum. In 2012, he was named Chair of the American Choral Directors Association Composition Advisory Committee.
The Lord is my Shepherd is a sacred choral composition by John Rutter, a setting of Psalm 23. The work was published by Oxford University Press in 1978. Marked "Slow but flowing", the music is in C major and 2/4 time. Rutter composed it for Mel Olson and the Chancel Choir of the First United Methodist Church in Omaha, Nebraska. He later included the work as a movement in his Requiem of 1985, then with orchestra or chamber ensemble.. In 1993, Rutter also made it part of his Psalmfest, a collection of nine psalms written over 20 years. For that version, he used also soloists.
Lord, have mercy upon us, WoO. 12, MWV B 27, is the incipit of a motet for choir a cappella in both English and German composed by Felix Mendelssohn in 1833. It is also known in English as Responses to the Commandments, and in German as Zum Abensegen. It was published in 1942, both in English and German, and by Breitkopf & Härtel in 1875 in the complete edition of the composer's works.
