Secular Choral Concert Music

This work uses five adapted sacred texts celebrating love, life and joy. The opening music sets the text from Isaiah, "The whole earth is at rest and is quiet," and the final music bursts forth with "For ye

With tongue firmly planted in cheek, the composer has set this 18th century text describing how children should behave in church. The music is light and allows lots of space to color this very funny and

This is the third in a series of works by the composer for chorus and marimba. While the others explore virtuostic capabilities or extroverted exuberance, this work is concerned instead with the narrative

Adapting the text from the James Whitcomb Riley poem A Song of Singing, here is a song for tenor/bass choirs that celebrates the joy and exuberance of singing. With a fast and jazzy feel

Exploring the sound world of Northern India while setting the words of Bengali poet Tagore, here is a stylistic work suitable for any advanced or community choir. The English translation is the poet's own

This a cappella setting of a traditional Irish blessing uses soft dissonances and free-flowing counterpoint to speak of those who give support in times of trial. The occasional divisi voicing creates a

Jointly commissioned by a consortium of choruses to benefit the programs and services of Chorus America, this socially conscience work merges a Christina Rossetti text with words from choir students in

This lyric gem, taken from a set of four solo songs composed in 1937, is a cornerstone of 20th century choral composition and is now available for TBB and SSA voices. Because of its accessibility, it is an

Opening with a lush, a cappella vocal jazz setting, this piece moves into an accompanied jazz ballad style with a truly reimagined harmony. The perfect setting for new beginnings, graduations and, of

The sensation of a young child looking up at the gently falling snow is captured beautifully in this new arrangement. Lush harmonic progressions and wonderful chord clusters at the cadence point anchor this

This beautiful Wendell Berry poem sets a mood of quiet and serenity and this piece captures this same mood through the music using lovely harmonic moments to draw both the singer and the listener in. The

The spirit of exuberance should be the guiding inspiration for the choir and the instrumentalists when performing this excerpt from Whitman's famous A Song of Joys. Here the cello expresses

Moved by the horrific Orlando nightclub mass shooting in June of 2016, Ellingboe set this poem to music as an outpouring of grief, yet also of hope, that all is not lost and that, indeed, "this is a good

With long sections of aleatoric sounds, a viola scordatura and a text filled with duality of imagery, this is an anthem for the advanced and adventurous choir. The viola (or cello) is not an accompaniment

Composer Shawn Crouch uses poet and Iraqi war veteran Brian Turner's visceral images of war, but emphasizes the lyrical qualities and changing colors of the poem to create long, emotional musical lines.

The simple beauty of a sunrise, a summer breeze, or evening stars can evoke memories of a loved one. Oh, Think of Me was inspired by a poem by Frances Anne Kemble to honor the life of a young man

This jaunty little work is based on a text from Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost, one of his earliest comedies, and is musically set using many different sounds, articulations and effects. The

"A sweet, free thought inside my head as I lay down upon my bed, and I think of how the world could be." The text for this piece was written by a former student of the composer. This hopeful and optimistic

This beautiful piece by Stuart Chapman Hill is thought provoking and perfect for women's choir in high school and up. The ranges are appropriate and the piano accompaniment is supportive but independent.

This setting of the Christina Rossetti poem is a wonderful teaching piece! The melodic line in the opening section evokes feelings of beauty, loss and remembrance; the middle section paints a picture of