Hi all,

I wonder if anyone could suggest some good 2 or 3 part choir songs (girls only, so SA or SSA etc) that would be suitable for a Christmas concert.

I know it seems silly in July but I need to start ordering music!

Many thanks
Vicki1433

If you wanted to go towards something a little complicated you could get the original setting of Ceremony of Carols, which is for SSA. There are lots of movements that can be done on their own very successfully if you don't want to do the whole thing. For example: Deo Gracias
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7kRoqAsxQ4
or This Little Babe
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzI73MngRaw...feature=related

I think there is also a Carols for Choirs for SSA (book four?) which should provide lots of fodder!

Good luck. I love choosing Christmas music for choirs!

Perhaps a little more info will generate some more suggestions, Vicki. Is it for a school event, a church service, secular or sacred for example. Give us some more clues please.

Hi, I bought the Carols for Choirs book that was mentioned with a view to performing some three part stuff with a couple of friends, just one to a part. I was a bit disappointed as unfortunately loads of the stuff in it is actually split into four parts. I guess this is OK if you're working with a choir and have enough voices, but one thing I find with four part women's stuff is that inevitably one of the parts has to be really high and one has to be really low in order for them all to fit in. It has got just a few nice three part pieces, including a lovely setting of 'Past three o'clock'. Anyway, just thought you might like to know incase you're thinking of buying it.

x Bass Clef

Oooh, just remembered! There is an absolutely fabulous trio by Britten called 'A Wealden Trio: Christmas Song of the Women' It sounds quite tricky, but in my opinion its beautiful.

x Bass Clef

I'd concur with the suggestion about Carols for Choirs 4. Lots of useful stuff for ladies' voices.

*goes weak at the knees at the thought of Patrick Hadley's "I sing of a maiden" which also appears in CFC book II*

I sang this at university with two friends and if memory serves me you're right...it's lovely but hard! And we were all singing in cathedral type choirs at the time, so would have been good readers etc.

It's certainly not too early to be doing Christmas stuff! We spent 4 hours yesterday recording 4 pieces for our forthcoming (SATB a capella) Christmas compilation CD!

Thank you so much for everyones suggestions so far.

I will have a look at Carols for Choirs 4.

I wondered about some Bob Chilcott but I have not heard his Christmas stuff.

The choir is a youth choir of about 30. Youngest is 10 and oldest is 18 and there are no restictions on songs - i.e sacred, secular etc

Thanks again for your help

Vick1433

Never too early Vicki1433. My students have already started practicing for our Christmas concert. We are not a choir per se, but a collection of singing students who practice in lessons and have a couple of rehearsals before putting it all together on the night! Scary but it works!!

Here's what's in my collection apart from the obvious carol collections:

Ding dong merrily on high, arr. Geehl. 2 part
A Bach Merry Christmas, arr. Frackenpohl 2/3 part
The Christmas Song arr. Ringwald SSA with sop solo
A present Fur Elise, Beethoven, arr. Brownsey & Lantz SSA
Christmas is here! Desig 2 part
The Little Road to Bethlehem, Head. 2 part
Why not buy an extra present? Westmore SSA
Twelve days of Christmas arr. Geehl 2 part
The cradle in Bethlehem, Quilter. 2 part
Gloria in Excelsis Deo, Thiman 2 part
Rudolph the Red nosed reindeer arr. Wilson SSA
A Merry Christmas arr. Ireland SSA unaccompanied
Come to Bethlehem, Warlock, arr. Jacobson 2 part
Silent night arr. Foote 2 part
The First Noel/Pachebel's Canon arr, Clawson 2 part
Candlelight Silent Night arr. Snyder 2 part (opt 3 part treble)
Twelve days after Christmas, Silver S(S)A
The Best Christmas of all (Disney), arr. MacHuff 2 part
Christmas Jazz (3 separate songs - Carol of the Bells, Jingle Bells, We wish you a merry Christmas) arr. Shaw SSA
Novello Youth Choral book for SSA - All I want for Christmas is you, The Christmas song, The Christmas Waltz, Home for the holidays, Winter wonderland
Faber young voices for SA(B) - there are several of these. Mine contains Merry Christmas everybody, Do you hear what I hear? The Virgin Mary had a baby boy. There are others in the series. The ladies with the lowest voices sang a transposed version of the bass part.

Hope this helps. There is a wealth of Christmas part songs. I get most of mine from musicroom.com.

The Twelve days after Christmas is hilarious, and the audience really enjoyed it!

Have fun!

Ann

What a wonderfully mixed bag, Ann! I love "The Twelve Days after Christmas!" It used to be a party piece. Great fun!


I would add some more suggestion too:

The lovely carol, Es Ist Ein Rose which could be arranged easily in three parts.

Green Groweth the Holly, one of Henry V111's.

My all time favourite carol of our times: Elizabeth Poston, Jesus Christ The Apple Tree.

Gorgeous!!! We used to sing it as an introit coming up to Christmas...standing in the cold and hitting a G is not a larf!

it is wonderful - one of my favourites too. I did it with a children's choir way back.

I seem to remember it needs 4 parts to be really effective, but is much more so with close harmony upper voices (SSSA) than in the SATB version.

Not at all related, but it seems like only yesterday, it was christmas! This year is going by rather fast!


Carol of the bells perhaps?
I don't know of any arrangements im afraid.

Perhaps John Rutter's cycle of carol arrangements, 'Dancing Day'? Not too expensive, and the two I've sung in a SSA group ('Personent Hodie and 'Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day') worked well.

There is a very good Novello publication Merrily on High edited by Barry Rose. The music ranges from fairly straightforward to downright difficult, but I successfully used a number of these carols with my under-18 upper voice (non-auditioned) church choir.

My favourite (for ever and ever and ever) is O Holy Night.

The harmony i love is the upper in the chorus. If you dont know it i'll post it on youtube cos i dunno the notes (could prob work them out tho) The altos sing the tune and sopranos the harmony. its gorgeous

Thanks so much for all of your suggestions.

I have ordered a few items.

Vicki1433