Discover music for your choir from the Choral Review Service. Highlighting songs of varying difficulty, instrumentation and style, the Choral Review Service will introduce you to inspiring, seasonal choral works from respected liturgical composers three times per year. Below are just a few examples of the music within the Spring 2024 packet with titles for Advent, Christmas and general use, plus a detailed description and insight on how to use each piece.
Creator of the Stars
Victoria Davison and Rudy Lupinski
Difficulty level: Medium
Voicing: SAB Choir
Instrumentation: Piano
This lovely anthem is intended for small but skilled choirs, given the independence of the SAB parts—including occasional soprano divisi—and various a cappella choral moments. The flowing piano accompaniment provides texture for the choir without directly doubling the voice parts. The well-known chant Conditor alme siderum is used as a framing device in the piano to an otherwise original musical setting of this venerable text, with the familiar English translation by John Mason Neale.
Keep Me in Your Heart
Janèt Sullivan Whitaker
Difficulty level: Easy
Voicing: Choir
Instrumentation: Keyboard, Guitar, Assembly
Composed for use during times of grief, this octavo’s delicate simplicity allows the congregation to focus on the themes of courage and strength in the text. The composer’s note, to sing “simply and quietly” without embellishments, makes it appropriate to use for comfort and for a time of reflection in preparation for reconciliation services.
Gaudete!
Curtis Stephan
Difficulty level: Medium
Voicing: SATB Choir
Instrumentation: Keyboard, Guitar, Brass Quartet
This lively Introit for the Third Sunday of Advent invites your congregation to “Rejoice in the Lord always.” Scored for SATB choir, keyboard, guitar, two trumpets and two trombones, this arrangement will extend the call for all to come and worship on Gaudete Sunday.
Mary, Joseph, Pray for Us
Angela Birkhead-Flight
Difficulty level: Easy/Medium
Voicing: SATB or Two-part Choir
Instrumentation: Keyboard, Guitar, Solo Instrument in C
Fitting for the season of Christmas, especially the feast of the Holy Family, this song explores the example of Mary and Joseph: how they formed a family, caring for Jesus and for each other. The text expresses themes of the kind of protective love that provides strength and shelter during difficult times, and petitions Mary and Joseph for their prayers. The accessible melody and easy diatonic harmonies will enable your assembly to sing along with spirit.
In Christ
Casey McKinley and Sarah Hart
Difficulty level: Easy/Medium
Voicing: SATB Choir
Instrumentation: Piano, Guitar, Solo Instrument in C
With text taken from the OCP resource Unite our Hearts, this hymn of unity reminds us that there is no real division for those who believe in the Lord; we are sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, equally loved in the sight of God. It is well-suited for the feast of Christ the King and liturgies with themes of discipleship and ecumenism.
Rejoice in the Lord
Dan Schutte
Difficulty level: Easy/Medium
Voicing: SATB Choir, Descant
Instrumentation: Piano, Guitar, Flute, Oboe, Piccolo Trumpet in A
Drawing from Philippians 4:4–8, this composition is well-suited for liturgies with themes of comfort, love for God, God’s love for us, peace, prayer, praise and thanksgiving. The richly crafted score supports the joyful, simplistic melody and elevates the focus of expressing gratitude in worship. The piece’s adaptability makes it a valuable addition to groups of any size and skill level.
Word of God, Come Down on Earth
Edward Eicker and James Quinn SJ
Difficulty level: Easy/Medium
Voicing: SATB Choir
Instrumentation: Keyboard, Guitar, Solo Instrument I & II in C
This moving setting of Quinn’s text—itself a meditation on the Word of God made flesh, specifically the sacrificial, redemptive aspects of Jesus’ Incarnation—speaks to us about the love of God for us through his Crucifixion. Each verse is scored slightly different allowing for the piece to build towards the end.
Saints of God (A Song of Farewell)
Antonin Dvorák; arr. Kevin Keil
Difficulty level: Easy/Medium
Voicing: Two-part Choir
Instrumentation: Keyboard, Guitar, Solo Instrument in C, Cello
Keil has effectively married the widely known, wistful theme of the Larghetto from Dvořák’s New World Symphony to the verbatim text from the Order of Christian Funerals. This arrangement is meant to come together quickly with little rehearsal: a simple setting for two-part choir with keyboard and guitar accompaniments can be enhanced by the included, but optional, solo instrument in C and cello parts.
Litany of Peace/Letanía de la Paz
Barbara Bridge; Tr. Ana Victoria Demezas
Difficulty level: Easy/Medium
Voicing: SATB Choir
Instrumentation: Keyboard, Guitar, Cello
This edition features a new Spanish translation and bilingual presentation of this well-known title, whose contemplative eight-verse litany utilizes a refrain based on the prayer of St. Francis of Assisi, a text that will be immediately recognizable to any assembly. Ideal for use as a Communion song, it can also be used at penance services and retreats.
Explore more music from this season's edition
Choral Review Service
These songs can be found in Choral Packet 108 from the Choral Review Service. Offering music for traditional and contemporary choirs, children’s voices and intercultural ensembles, the Choral Review Service is the best way to find something new for your choir and community.