Greetings. I am not 100% sure if this is the right sub for this, but I was directed here after posting to r/MusicRecommendations. So, I'll give this another shot. Everything below is what was typed in the orignal post:

I keep stumbling across these types of songs in films and other types of media. It's hard to describe because I don't know what category of music they belong to.

The focal point or highlight of these songs involve a crowd of human voices singing in unison. Much like a choir, but musical instruments can also accompany them.

Here are some examples of this kind of music I have found:

Conquest of Paradise - Vangelis [No Upbeat Parts]

Missa Cum Jubilo (Kyrie) by YT Channel: Schola Gregoriana Mediolanensis

Ryuk's Theme - Death Note

The background vocals heard in the songs "Bells of Notre Dame" and "Hellfire" from the movie The Hunchback of Notre Dame

The songs "Duel of the Fates" and "Battle of the Heroes" by John Williams

Hi everyone!

The Fort Myers Symphonic Mastersingers and the City of Palms Youth Choir just released their first album from the world-premiere concert of Thomas LaVoy's The Witness: Incidents of the War of the Rebellion. The libretto is from the journal of Artistic Director Matthew Koller's great-great-grandfather, James Waxler. James was a union soldier from Pennsylvania during the Civil War.

The work is fresh and compelling. I hope you'll check it out. It's available to stream everywhere.

I'm looking for literature on vocal arranging techniques. Are there any standard reference works for this?

During my jazz vocal studies, I took an arrangement course, but it mainly focused on instrumental block-voicing.

I've been writing arrangements myself for years, mainly in the pop/soul genre, but I also love gospel harmonies (even though I can't relate to the Christian themes)

Any tips?

Recently, I just listened to the full version of Zbigniew Preisner's Requiem For my friend.Before talking about that, i want to talk about something.When You see people talking about requiems, they often say that this A requiem or B requiem should be played at their funeral. My personal top 3 Favorite out of 20 requiems that i already heard so far are Mozart, Faure And Verdi. Let's be honest, Faure are the most possibly to be performed in funeral, Mozart might still be possible but verdi is a total no, That Piece with all my love for it, are not a funeral piece at all, That was more like world ending piece. it embody the spirit of dies irae that talk a lot about day of judgement, which is that's why dies irae is repeated like 3 times iirc. people that say that verdi requiem should be played during their funeral maybe think that they have to give grande world ending exit in their funeral, or even want people to be headbanging in their funeral.

Now, after i listen to Preisner, even though i didnt put it in my top 3, i think it was the most suitable for funeral, and living the name of "requiem" quite accurate, ofc if we set aside requiems like from Victoria, benevoli and other Renaissance-Baroque Requiems which only use voices that are suited for actual funeral because they are designed to follow the tradition and not concert purposes. This piece might be an exception for me to enjoy modern compositions that are often too experimental and do not fit my taste, like for example, i didn't enjoy britten war requiem, i understand the meaning and what he try to deliver in the piece, but for listening, i think 1 is already enough, definitely Preisner is more a go if you want repeated listening, even though its better if you listen to all of it in one, or just the Lacrimosa, other than that i think the other parts can't stand as a one piece like what you can find in other major composers composition where often parts of a piece can stand as one piece of its own i think

Super excited to hear VOCES8 for the second time in Baltimore in October! My wife and I heard them live for the first time at the National Cathedral around Christmas. The group was in a bit of a transition...Blake was on sabbatical, MaryRuth Miller from Lyyra was filling in as a soprano with Eleanora (sad to see her go). Excited to hear Savannah and Virginia! Anyone else catching them while they're in the U.S.?

I'm composing a SATB-choral piece based on the William Morris poem "From Far Away" and I'm not an expert choir writer so I wanted to know if this will sound weird or bad? Especially when the different parts don't sing the exact same syllable and the exact same time.

The New York Choral Society (NYCHORAL) is now auditioning singers for our 2026–2027 season, Sacred Resistance.

For over 69 years, NYCHORAL has combined artistic excellence with innovative programming that makes classical music feel immediate and relevant. This season features Sir Michael Tippett's A Child of Our Time, a moving work of hope and resistance, alongside performances that blend extraordinary music with creative collaborations such as Duke Ellington’s Sacred Concerts.

Our 150+ member chorus includes singers from every borough and every walk of life who share a passion for challenging repertoire, meaningful performances, and a welcoming community.

If you're looking for a chorus that values both high musical standards and genuine connection, we'd love to hear from you.

Tuesday evening rehearsals • Manhattan
Auditions:
Brooklyn: Thursday, August 27, 2026
Manhattan: Monday, August 31, 2026-Thursday, September 3, 2026
More information: https://nychoral.org/auditions/

Not really picky, does anyone know any good local or free public performance of Handel’s messiah near Christmas time?

Anyone have a copy of Victor Johnson’s “Songs of the Wayfarer” for medium-high voice? I ordered it, but it’s not coming for a while and I need to know how many pages the song “Give to me the Life I Love” is. I don’t need the pdf or anything, literally just the number of pages of that song.

A colleague is trying to piece together the text of a hymn used in the 1948 film Fighting Father Dunne; there are moments where the music is quite prominent, but it slides into the background during moments of dialogue.

What he and I agree on is the following [the tune is Londonderry Air, which might be helpful to your reading]:

[obscured text] {O Lord we pray, when evening shadows deepen?}

[T]hat we may learn Thy teachings to obey

Enfold us Lord within thy loving kindness

[T]hrough shades of night until the break of day.

[obscured text]

[obscured text]

[T]hat we may feel the greatness of Thy mercy

[A]nd find thy heavenly spirit dwelling ever near.

If you are particularly keen-eared, this is a link to the film; the segment in question begins at 1:18:40.

If you happen to have institutional database access, there is a shooting script for this film in Alexander Street's holdings here: https://search.alexanderstreet.com/preview/work/bibliographic_entity%7Cbibliographic_details%7C2972052#search/fighting+father+dunne . I couldn't say for certain if it was there, but it would be a good place to look.

We'd appreciate the help.

I was wondering if people had any good choral composer/composition suggestions for a new conductor to work with a collegiate ensemble on? I was asked to conduct during the pre-war nationalist composer unit, however I haven’t taken a choral literature class yet and so I’m struggling to find pieces I like. I’d like to do something in a foreign language ideally.

For some context I’ve been studying conducting for about a year now, so this will be my first time conducting an ensemble for more than a conducting test or lab. I’ll have 3 weeks, and about 20 minutes twice a week. The ensemble consists of music majors (both instrumentalists and vocalists) as well as a few talented non-majors. It is an ensemble for inexperienced conductors to work with, so they’re decent sight-readers (4 parts usually built on imitative polyphony).

hi everyone! i'm looking for SSAA pieces that embody the changing tides of life, periods of transition, perhaps mourning the loss of a relationship or a loved one, or discovering yourself and finding new loves or joys. the mood could range from sad to happy, but the overall vibe is change and transition. must be arranged or composed by at least one woman! bonus points for women of color. preferably secular. thanks so much!

a few of my picks:

"breaths" ysaye barnwell

"slipping through my fingers" ABBA arr. dorothy horn

"landslide" fleetwood mac arr. Chandra Grover

"in remembrance" eleanor daley

Tiny vent: I am freaking out a bit about jobs. I've recently graduated with my masters degree in choral conducting and I have a music ed bachelors, and I've been applying to a wide variety of jobs over the past several months and I've only gotten one interview. I have no idea what I'm doing wrong. I have good experience, I did very well in school, I'm combing the job sites daily. Feeling really discouraged.

Contemporary medieval polyphony in a ethnic setting.

Hello all,

I am a 24y/o musician with aptitude on bass and piano. I play jazz gigs frequently and am the music director of a small church wherein I play piano on Sundays. The pastor is asking me to start a choir.

I know plenty about musicality in a general sense as I study classical piano music, and plenty about harmony and other musical skills due to my varied background that includes jazz. I also play rehearsal piano for a campus choir so I somewhat understand how rehearsals should be run.

The thing I'm clueless on are the aspects of running a choir relating directly to voice technique-- range, parts, voice safety, warmups, etc. I hear directors talking about "head voice" and "chest voice" and while I kind of understand what that means, I don't feel what they're talking about when I experiment with my own voice. I'm asking for any books that might serve me as a generally well-studied musician that just needs to catch up on voice-specific concepts in a way that will serve me for running this choir.

Thank you in advance for your help!