Page 52 - CJOct23

Treble Repertoire for Soprano and Alto Choirs

…works well for beginning and intermedi- that this disparity remained consistent, given that our
ate choirs… The Lawson-Gould version is a analysis primarily concerned treble choir music. Only
minor third lower than E. C. Schirmer, thus five female-identifying composers made our frequently
making it a better choice for a less-experienced cited list: Ruth Watson Henderson, Emma Lou Diemer,
group. A more mature group may well prefer Nancy Telfer, Gwyneth Walker, and Libby Larsen. In-
the increased brilliance of the higher E. C. terestingly, Nancy Telfer was the only female composer
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Schirmer version. who was part of the highest frequency counts. Only
two composers of color appeared on our frequently cit-
It was also included in the recommended list for mature ed list: Spanish composer Emilio Solé and Venezuelan
two-year collegiate treble ensembles in Paul Laprade’s composer Alberto Grau. However, more composers of
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2010 article. This provides further evidence regard- color were cited in the full list of 763 compositions. Per-
ing the challenges of defining treble choirs and what haps more marginalized populations would have been
skill level or ensemble configuration would facilitate au- selected if publications were more recent.
thentic performance practice for certain pieces. It is our hope that analyses like ours will provide fur-
From a stylistic perspective, the majority of the piec- ther exposure for under-programmed people groups
es recommended five to ten times were from the Ro- and composers. Resources such as the Institute for
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mantic period (80%) followed by the Twentieth Cen- Composer Diversity, the Oxford Book of Choral Music
tury (20%). These results are not surprising, as much by Black Composers compiled by Marques L. A. Garrett,
of the traditional Western European canon for mature and the Orange County Women’s Chorus’ Women
treble voices was written by composers such as Brahms, Composers Database can be helpful guides. Addi-
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Schubert, and Mendelssohn due to their involvement tionally, we recommend repertoire lists provided by
with women’s choirs—both composing for and con- leading professional women’s choirs as another useful
ducting. Pieces selected three to four times provided resources for expanding treble repertoire offerings: Vox
different results, indicating slightly more compositions Femina, Elektra Women’s Choir, and Mirabai.
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from the Twentieth Century (41%), followed by the Ro-
mantic period (32%), Baroque period (15%), Modern
era (9%), and Classical period (3%). It is interesting to Implications and Conclusion
note more of an equal footing in stylistic periods, per- There are a number of quality treble choir works
haps indicating authors’ slight preference for more cur- and composers that were not discussed due to the con-
rent literature. Pieces written for the Baroque Venetian straints on article length. Our broader analysis revealed
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Ospedali are included but clearly not as frequently as that there is a wealth of treble choir repertoire avail-
compositions hailing from other periods. able, having identified and analyzed articles that in-
The majority of the repertoire identified is interme- cluded 763 works. Further reflection on the accessibil-
diate- to advanced-level literature. Calls to submit for ity, availability, and diversity of the repertoire featured
the CJ tend to attract seasoned scholars and conduc- in publications is warranted. It is of interest that no
tors. So, it makes sense that more advanced repertoire original articles regarding treble repertoire have been
has been heavily represented. Many of the composers published in CJ since 2013. There is also a need for
and repertoire featured in articles are chosen based more articles regarding pedagogy and pragmatic issues
on their layers of complexity needed for an in-depth related to repertoire relative to varying grade or skill
analysis—not necessarily for programming that is ac- level for treble choirs.
cessible or appealing to the readership at large. While articles about children’s choir and boy choir
A finding that emerged from this analysis is the lack repertoire may provide recommendations for more ac-
of diversity in composers. While it is well known that cessible or easier treble repertoire, the appropriateness
male-identifying choral composers outnumber female- of said repertoire (text, tessitura, range, timbre, style,
identifying composers, we were somewhat surprised etc..) for advanced soprano-alto choristers should be

50 CHORAL JOURNAL October 2023 Volume 64 Number 3