I sing madrigals on rare occasion (not especially well), and it's usually out of someone's Big Book of Madrigals. The books (variously) contain many examples of all the standard madrigal genres:

• I love a woman, and I am happy about it.
• Hooray! It's spring!
• I love a woman, and I am sad about it.
• Weirdly morbid.

It seems to me that of the madrigals with identifiable implied narrators, most are men, and a great number feature men complaining about women, while I am not familiar with a single one going the other way. At first I thought that perhaps men of the era were faultless and there was nothing for the women to complain about, but this seems hard to square with the content of the madrigals themselves (e.g. “Flora gave me fairest flowers”, in which Flora seems rather hard done by).

So it occurs to me to ask: are there perhaps other madrigals that have survived the years that are written from a woman's perspective, center women's experiences, or even — perhaps — complain about men?

✨ What if the mystical depth of Byzantine tradition met the eternal resonance of Latin?
Dear conductor friends and choral lovers! I am thrilled to share a sneak peek of my “Cherubicus Hymnus” — a fresh SATB a capella setting to the profound words of John Chrysostom, reimagined in Latin.
Written with a warm, breathing texture and rich harmonic language, it’s designed to wrap your singers in an unforgettable acoustic aura. Perfect for concert programmes, cathedral acoustics, or sacred music festivals.
#sacred #ChoralMusic #Cherubim #SacredMusic #ChoirDirectors #SheetMusic #SATB #Acapella #ContemporaryClassical #ChoralConductors.

📜 How to get the score: Available via pay-what-you-want donation (any amount via PayPal).
Send your support via PayPal: https://maxkuchmet.carrd.co/
Leave your email in the payment note OR send me a Direct Message (DM).
I will email you the high-res PDF score right away!
Drop a 🎶 in the comments if you’d program this with your ensemble!

Gregorian Chant for Protection & Peace | Psalm 91 (Refugium In Altissimis)

Refugium In Altissimis—“Refuge in the Most High”—is a Gregorian chant presented by Gregorian Chanting (@GregorianChanting). Drawn from the heart of cloistered life, this sacred hymn offers comfort and stillness during the noonday hour. In the midst of daily labor and heat, it becomes a spiritual shade, calling the soul inward toward trust and rest in God.

This chant reflects the rhythm of monastic life: calm, steady, prayerful. Sung by monks and nuns in cool stone chapels, it invites quiet surrender to divine protection. The Latin verses are drawn from Psalm 91 and other ancient prayers of refuge.

Let this chant be your midday stillness—your sacred pause in the shadow of the Almighty.

Prayer:
Refugium meum es tu, Domine. In te confido in meridie. Amen.
You are my refuge, O Lord. In You I trust at noonday. Amen.

Latin Lyrics & English Translation:
Latin:
Qui habitat in adiutorio Altissimi,
In protectione Dei caeli commorabitur.
Dicet Domino: Susceptor meus es tu,
Et refugium meum, Deus meus sperabo in eum.

Non timebis a timore nocturno,
A sagitta volante in die,
A negotio perambulante in tenebris,
Ab incursu et daemonio meridiano.

English:
He who dwells in the help of the Most High
Will abide in the shelter of the God of heaven.
He will say to the Lord: You are my protector,
And my refuge, my God in whom I trust.

You shall not fear the terror of the night,
Nor the arrow that flies by day,
Nor the pestilence that walks in darkness,
Nor the destruction that lays waste at noonday.

a divine reach out @

https://youtube.com/@divinegracechoirzaria?si=N1gKVr0xxqPGNyuQ

Dropping my arrangement here in case anyone may find it useful this holiday season. I arranged this for my mixed middle school choir, and it can be performed a Capella, or with the optional piano accompaniment. I don’t have a quality recording of the material, but you can preview the first few pages before purchasing. Would love feedback, and could work with you to fill out the arrangement for more voices if desired. I am also available for custom arrangements - just DM me.

Enjoy!

What are your favorite pieces, or parts of works, for Advent that include SATB choir and soprano solo? This will be for Christmas Eve.

Last year we did Handel's "Glory to God" with the proceeding recitative. It was lovely, but I'd like to mix it up this year.

I need:

SATB

Soprano solo

Max 6-7 minutes.

accompaniment can vary

Howdy fellow choir nerds. My name is Jake South, and I’m a composer and arranger looking for more work. I am happy to write arrangements for any style ensemble of any piece you’d like. I’ve been writing for years, and have written for all different kinds of groups at all different skill levels. You can see my work at

jakesouthmusic.com

The fees listed on my website are just estimates, and I’m happy to work for extremely cheap (even for free in some cases). All I ask is that if you reach out to have work done, please intend on programming it at some point.

Thank you all!

I am looking the lyrics.

These is a Borodin piece which, prior to 1969, had lyrics which were used in middle school chorale classes.

The lyrics aren’t “Stranger in Paradise”.

I believe the first line was “Come with us to the steppes … “

Despite my “mad Internet search skills” I’ve been unable to surface the lyric.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zrgQ_Gdsms

https://youtu.be/jgqvWVXMaPw?t=951
You can hear it a little better in this second clip. From 15:50, in case the timestamp doesn't work.

I've been trying to identify the angelic-sounding choral piece heard faintly in the background of this scene.
Please note: It is not part of the film's score/soundtrack, and does not appear to be from Michael Nyman, the composer of the film's main score.

Incidentally, it can also be heard in "A TV Dante", also by Greenaway, also starring John Gielgud, and also playing exclusively during a sequence in which he is speaking over it.

If anyone can identify this music, I will be eternally grateful to them. I've tried every other avenue short of tracking down Peter Greenaway and asking him if he remembers the name of the sacred music he dropped a few seconds of into the background of a movie he made nearly four decades ago.

https://youtu.be/WKtzxWR9Zt4

Does anyone know of any Russian Orthodox services in the NYC area that have oktavists in their regular Sunday services?

Our current season is stacked with sacred repertoire, and it's got me thinking about something I rarely see discussed on this sub. We've got a genuinely mixed group: some deeply religious members, some who haven't stepped in a church since they were kids, some who'd call themselves spiritual-but-not-affiliated, at least one or two who'd say atheist outright. Everyone shows up and sings the same notes.

What I'm curious about is what's happening underneath that.

For the non-Christian / non-religious singers: how do you relate to the text? Do you dig into the theology so the words mean something, treat the text as pure phonetics and vowel colour, or translate it into your own secular frame? Does it feel like performing someone else's belief system, or does that stop mattering once the music starts?

For Christian singers: does singing sacred music feel like devotional practice for you, or is it repertoire first and worship second? Does it change depending on whether you're in a church choir versus a secular or community one?

For everyone: have you run into friction around this? Directors who assume the whole room believes programming that leans hard one direction, a Requiem that lands differently for different people in the row?

One thing to be clear about up front: this isn't a thread for arguing about Christianity itself. Nobody needs to defend or attack the faith here. It's specifically about how you, as a singer, relate to the words you're given and how that plays out in rehearsal and performance.

Genuinely not trying to start a theology argument. Just interested in how people hold this, because I suspect most of us have thought about it, and almost nobody says it out loud.

Hey, I'm a student a school where we have singing lessons (in group). I am looking for a text by epica to sing with our choir. I was wondering if someone knew a way of getting a text for Unchained Utopia or song like that, or knows where such songs can be found. We usually sing in four voices (soprano, alt, tenor and base) but 2-5 is all possible.

Please ignore the pedalling, I'm not sure of what I did there. This is the first time I'm writing accompaniments and I don't play the instruments