Music for Classroom Use

Conducting Choirs

by David P. DeVenney

II: Music for Classroom Use
A Comprehensive Collection of Musical Examples Including Performance CD
for Practice and Study

The second volume of the series provides a variety of music for use in the classroom. Through exposure to works from all style periods, the student is able to build a gestural technique that is responsive to the expressive needs and nuances of a wide range of choral music. Each selection is provided a study guide, including a brief note on the composer and the work, a translation of the text, and a short discussion of conducting considerations. An enhanced CD included with the volume provides a recording of each work for students' practice, as well as orchestral scores for several selections.

Instrumental Parts
For those who may wish to use instruments with several of the examples, PDF files of parts for each are embedded below. They may be downloaded and printed by clicking on the appropriate link under each title.

Sing, Sing, Ye Muses (Mvt. 1)
     strings and continuo

And the Glory of the Lord (Messiah)
     score
    string parts

Scene from Messiah
     string parts

Kyrie (Haydn "Little Organ Mass")
     score
     string parts

Lacrimosa (Mozart Requiem)
     score
     wind parts
     brass and timpani parts
     string parts

From the book:

Conducting Choirs: Music for Class Use is a compilation of musical examples for use in a sequential two-semester undergraduate conducting class. While it has been designed as a companion tool to Conducting Choirs: A Practical Guide, it does not necessarily need to be used with that textbook. The examples chosen here have been selected to provide music for developing gestural fluency for emerging young conductors, and some general parameters guided my choices.

Knowing that conducting classes come in various sizes, I assumed a class size of between twelve to twenty students. Having everyone in classes this size conduct any given example required selections that were not too long. I also tried to choose literature from each style period, including easier examples and some more difficult. I also wanted to include both sacred and secular pieces and music from various genres (motet, madrigal, part song, mass movements). The selection was further dependent upon being culled largely from public domain pieces and from composers who gratefully allowed me to use their work gratis. Finally, I limited the size of the book in order to make it as affordable as possible without sacrificing its usefulness.

Music for Classroom Use
Table of Contents

Introduction
Chant and Unison Music
     Tantum ergo
     Veni Creator Spiritu
     Shenandoah
     I'm Goin' Away
     Alleluia (mixed meters)
Renaissance Music
     Tu pauperium refugium (Desprez)
     O magnum mysterium (Victoria)
     Regina coeli (Palestrina)
     Adoramus te (Lasso)
     Il bianco e dolce cigno (Arcadelt)
     Sing We and Chant It (Morley)
Baroque Music
     Ich dank' dir schon (Bach chorale)
     O Haupt voll Blut (Bach chorale)
     Sing, Sing, Ye Muses (Blow)
     And the Glory of the Lord (Handel)
         (orchestra score and piano score)
     Scene from Messiah (Handel)
     Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich (Bach)
Classical and Romantic Music
     A Virgin Unspotted (Billings)
     Ave verum corpus (Mozart)
     Lacrimosa (Mozart Requiem)
         (orchestra score and piano score)
     Kyrie (Haydn Little Organ Mass)
     Sancti Dei (Michael Haydn)
     Ach, arme Welt (Brahms)
     Auf dem See (Mendelssohn)
     He, Watching over Israel (Mendelssohn)
     O salutaris hostias (Rossini)
     Introit and Kyrie (Faure Requiem)
Contemporary Music
     Sussex Carol (uneven meter, arr.
         DeVenney)
     Salve Regina (Judd)
     Sweet Reminders (Kantor)
     Stitching Chorus (Maggio)
     Black is the Color (arr. DeVenney)
     Shenandoah (arr. DeVenney)
Enhanced CD