Does anyone know of a good Christmas solo? I'm a mezzo and I need a song for my recital. It doesn't have to be Christmas, but I thought that might be fun to do. I'd really like a madrigal type piece, not your typical Christmas carol. If anyone has any ideas, I'd certainly appreciate them.

what's your comfortable range?

hmm.... from a low A to an E/F an octave above middle C is where I'm most comfortable.

hmm... something by Brahms maybe? an die nachtigall is gorgeous... more of a spring song than a winter one though... i'm not sure, i havent studied many mezzo songs... i usually go for the high notes... sorry, not being much help here!

anyone heard of "Dont be rude to a reindeer"?

What sort of thing do you like singing?

The little road to Bethlehem by Michael Head ?

I think the original is in Ab - going up to Ab in the last verse, but I'm sure I've heard it sung in F, so in this version the top note would be F on the top line.

He shall feed his flock from Handel's Messiah ?
(it's for alto I think but doesn't go very low- if I remember accurately (no copy to hand ..) it would fit your range ok.
The second part of the same number (Come unto him) is for soprano and might be a bit high for you.

Maggie

i'm going to sing The Queen of Heaven...or something one or the other....

QUOTE (Sotto Voce @ Nov 4 2004, 08:40 PM)

Does anyone know of a good Christmas solo? I'm a mezzo and I need a song for my recital. It doesn't have to be Christmas, but I thought that might be fun to do. I'd really like a madrigal type piece, not your typical Christmas carol. If anyone has any ideas, I'd certainly appreciate them.

You might also like to have a look at Michael Head's "Carol of the Field Mice", setting words from "The Wind in the Willows" (starts "Villagers all this frosty tide"). I think it's available in at least two keys. I like his "The Little Road to Bethlehem" too.

Michael Head was a singer himself as well as a composer, and I find a lot of his songs very attractive. Sadly some of the texts have dated rather badly but others haven't. Other non-Christmas favourites are "Sweet chance" and "The piper".

try something called "the rose"....i think it's an arrangement for the 3 part choir.....

Anne Sofie Von Otter sings a beautiful swedish Christmas Carol in her album Home for Christmas, in both an english and a swedish version. (The english version is the first track). You might be able to preview it on Amazon or HMV websites, to see what you think.

It's called Koppangen (Holy Night). Absolutely beautiful. Requires a lot of flexibility, but very satisfying to sing. I think it's by Pererik Moraeus?

I haven't tried to track down the score for it, but now having remembered it I'm very tempted to do so.

Good luck with the recital - when is it?



Amber
x

Thanks for all the suggestions!

I've decided to do Les Berceaux by Faure. Though its not a Christmas song, it is quite beautiful and my teacher thinks it would be good for me because it incorporates a lot of what we've been working on.

QUOTE

Good luck with the recital - when is it?

Thanks! Its on December 10th.