Romantik a cappella 1 – Secular Part Songs

This first volume of ROMANTIK a cappella marks the start of a joint project between Helbling and the European Choral Association (ECA). Its aim is to present, in this form, unique, high-quality, edited collections of 19th century secular and sacred choral music from all parts of Europe. For this initial volume, with secular songs for mixed voices, the two editors, Dr Michael Aschauer and Prof. Jan Schumacher have collected choral material from representative sources (first editions, autographic manuscripts and complete editions) and from this they have made a careful selection. Leaving all false modesty aside, this extensive compilation of choral music of the so-called “long nineteenth century” from 1789 to 1914 can be branded a new international standard work for this genre.

A rich choice of choral music from the Romantic period, ranging from the easy to the demanding This new book of choral music offers a rich and extensive repertoire to both dedicated amateur choirs and chamber and concert choirs who regularly perform music from the Romantic period in their concerts. The mixture of well-known “highlights” and numerous gems awaiting discovery make this book an indispensible companion for every choir director as they make their programme choices. The compositions for mixed voice choirs are, for the most part, for four voices, and range in their technical standard from easy, through intermediate up to a quite demanding level.

Choral works from more than 25 European countries Alongside well-known works from Germany, Austria, France and Britain, which form, without question, an essential part of any collection of this kind, it is important to discover new treasures from a whole range of European countries. This musical journey takes us from Bulgaria, Armenia and Russia via Norway, Finland and Estonia, to countries as far apart as Spain, Belgium and the Czech Republic.

Over 100 composers That the Romantic age is, without question, a period in which choral music blossomed, is also reflected in the huge number of composers, both male and female, who dedicated themselves to this form of the art. Many of their names remain famous to this day, while others, often quite unjustly, have been forgotten by posterity. The names below represent but a few of the over 100 composers of this period: Anton Bruckner, Robert Fuchs, Franz Schubert, Antonín Dvořák, Hermann Goetz, Leoš Janáček, Max Bruch, Hans Koessler, Johannes Brahms, Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Peter Cornelius, Robert Schumann, Friedrich Silcher, Emilie Zumsteeg, Niels Wilhelm Gade, Toivo Kuula, Jules Massenet, Camille Saint-Saëns, Frederick Delius, Edward Elgar, Robert Lucas Pearsall, Blagoje Bersa, Sigfús Einarsson, Giovanni Pagella, Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis, Alphons Diepenbrock, Agathe Backer Grøndahl, Sergei Ivanovich Taneyev, Pjotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Wilhelm Peterson-Berger, Wilhelm Stenhammar and many others.

Over 125 choral pieces in four chapters The editors have divided the more than 125 choral pieces into four chapters, thus providing choirs with further helpful support, in addition to the title, composer and country indexes, in making their programme choices. For the chapter headings, they have chosen quotations from 19th century poems. These provide content support for the great arch that spans the course of the day and of the year.

• Schon weckest du wieder mir Frühlingslieder (Already, you recall to mind songs of spring) – morning, springtime
• Da fliegt ein Sommerfaden über Land (A strand of summer flies o’er land) – midday, summer
• Verfließet, vielgeliebte Lieder (Flow on, oh well beloved songs) – evening, autumn, parting
• Nacht ist schon hereingesunken (Night has already fallen) – night, winter, death

Many of the themes that play an important role in the choral music of the Romantic age, among them love and reflections on nature, are addressed repeatedly across all of the chapters.

Practical support for the choir The most important idea that gave rise to ROMANTIK a cappella was to create a book of choral works that could restore the treasures of this great period of choral music to the current concert programmes of modern choirs. With this in mind, the book contains direct practical support for choirs.