Antiquity , showing
Dionysus with actresses (possibly from
The Bacchae) carrying masks and drums The origins of choral music are found in
traditional music, as singing in big groups is extremely widely spread in traditional cultures (both singing in one part, or in
unison, like in Ancient Greece, as well as singing in parts, or in
harmony, like in contemporary European choral music). The oldest unambiguously choral repertory that survives is that of
ancient Greece, of which the 2nd century BC
Delphic hymns and the 2nd century AD. hymns of
Mesomedes are the most complete. The original
Greek chorus sang its part in
Greek drama, and fragments of works by
Euripides (
Orestes) and
Sophocles (
Ajax) are known from
papyri. The
Seikilos epitaph (2c BC) is a complete song (although possibly for solo voice). One of the latest examples,
Oxyrhynchus hymn (3c) is also of interest as the earliest
Christian music. Of the
Roman drama's music a single line of
Terence surfaced in the 18th century. However, musicologist
Thomas J. Mathiesen comments that it is no longer believed to be authentic.
Medieval music Casanatensis'' (14th century) The earliest notated music of western Europe is
Gregorian chant, along with a few other types of chant which were later subsumed (or sometimes suppressed) by the Catholic Church. This tradition of unison choir singing lasted from sometime between the times of
St. Ambrose (4th century) and
Gregory the Great (6th century) up to the present. During the later Middle Ages, a new type of singing involving multiple melodic parts, called
organum, became predominant for certain functions, but initially this
polyphony was only sung by soloists. Further developments of this technique included
clausulae,
conductus and the
motet (most notably the
isorhythmic motet), which, unlike the
Renaissance motet, describes a composition with different texts sung simultaneously in different voices. The first evidence of polyphony with more than one singer per part comes in the
Old Hall Manuscript (1420, though containing music from the late 14th century), in which there are apparent
divisi, one part dividing into two simultaneously sounding notes.
Renaissance music 's
Cantoria, ''
Museo dell'Opera del Duomo'', Florence During the
Renaissance, sacred choral music was the principal type of formally notated music in Western Europe. Throughout the era, hundreds of
masses and
motets (as well as various other forms) were composed for
a cappella choir, though there is some dispute over the role of instruments during certain periods and in certain areas. Some of the better-known composers of this time include
Guillaume Dufay,
Josquin des Prez,
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina,
John Dunstable, and
William Byrd; the glories of Renaissance
polyphony were choral, sung by choirs of great skill and distinction all over Europe. Choral music from this period continues to be popular with many choirs throughout the world today. The
madrigal, a
partsong conceived for amateurs to sing in a
chamber setting, originated at this period. Although madrigals were initially dramatic settings of unrequited-love poetry or mythological stories in Italy, they were imported into England and merged with the more dancelike
balletto, celebrating carefree songs of the seasons, or eating and drinking. To most English speakers, the word
madrigal now refers to the latter, rather than to madrigals proper, which refers to a poetic form of lines consisting of seven and eleven syllables each. The interaction of sung voices in Renaissance polyphony influenced Western music for centuries. Composers are routinely trained in the "Palestrina style" to this day, especially as codified by the 18th century music theorist
Johann Joseph Fux. Composers of the early 20th century also wrote in Renaissance-inspired styles.
Herbert Howells wrote a
Mass in the Dorian mode entirely in strict Renaissance style, and
Ralph Vaughan Williams's
Mass in G minor is an extension of this style.
Anton Webern wrote his dissertation on the
Choralis Constantinus of
Heinrich Isaac and the contrapuntal techniques of his
serial music may be informed by this study.
Baroque music The
Baroque period in music is associated with the development around 1600 of the
figured bass and the
basso continuo system. The figured bass part was performed by the basso continuo group, which at minimum included a chord-playing instrument (e.g.,
pipe organ,
harpsichord,
lute) and a bass instrument (e.g.,
violone). Baroque vocal music explored dramatic implications in the realm of solo vocal music such as the
monodies of the
Florentine Camerata and the development of early
opera. This innovation was in fact an extension of established practice of accompanying choral music at the organ, either from a skeletal reduced score (from which otherwise lost pieces can sometimes be reconstructed) or from a
basso seguente, a part on a single staff containing the lowest sounding part (the bass part). A new genre was the vocal
stile concertato, combining voices and instruments; its origins may be sought in the
polychoral music of the
Venetian school.
Claudio Monteverdi (1567–1643) brought it to perfection with his
Vespers and his Eighth Book of Madrigals, which call for great virtuosity on the part of singers and instruments alike. (His Fifth Book includes a
basso continuo "for harpsichord or lute".) His pupil
Heinrich Schütz (1585–1672) (who had earlier studied with
Giovanni Gabrieli) introduced the new style to Germany. Alongside the new music of the
seconda pratica, contrapuntal motets in the
stile antico or old style continued to be written well into the 19th century. Choirs at this time were usually quite small and that singers could be
classified as suited to church or to chamber singing. Monteverdi, himself a singer, is documented as taking part in performances of his Magnificat with one voice per part. Independent instrumental accompaniment opened up new possibilities for choral music.
Verse anthems alternated accompanied solos with choral sections; the best-known composers of this genre were
Orlando Gibbons and
Henry Purcell.
Grands motets (such as those of
Lully and
Delalande) separated these sections into separate movements.
Oratorios (of which
Giacomo Carissimi was a pioneer) extended this concept into concert-length works, usually based on Biblical or moral stories. A pinnacle of baroque choral music, (particularly oratorio), may be found in
George Frideric Handel's works, notably
Messiah and
Israel in Egypt. While the modern chorus of hundreds had to await the growth of Choral Societies and his centennial commemoration concert, we find Handel already using a variety of performing forces, from the soloists of the
Chandos Anthems to larger groups (whose proportions are still quite different from modern orchestra choruses): Lutheran composers wrote instrumentally accompanied
cantatas, often based on
chorale tunes. Substantial late 17th-century sacred choral works in the emerging German tradition exist (the cantatas of
Dietrich Buxtehude being a prime example), though the Lutheran church cantata did not assume its more codified, recognizable form until the early 18th century.
Georg Philipp Telemann (based in Frankfurt) wrote over 1000 cantatas, many of which were engraved and published (e.g. his
Harmonische Gottesdienst) and
Christoph Graupner (based in Darmstadt) over 1400. The cantatas of
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) are perhaps the most recognizable (and often-performed) contribution to this repertoire: his obituary mentions five complete cycles of
his cantatas, of which three, comprising some 200 works, are known today, in addition to
motets. Bach himself rarely used the term cantata. Motet refers to his church music without orchestra accompaniment, but instruments playing
colla parte with the voices. His works with accompaniment consists of his
Passions,
Masses, the
Magnificat and the cantatas. A point of hot controversy today is the so-called "Rifkin hypothesis," which re-examines the famous "
Entwurff" Bach's 1730 memo to the
Leipzig City Council (
A Short but Most Necessary Draft for a Well Appointed Church Music) calling for at least 12 singers. In light of Bach's responsibility to provide music to four churches and be able to perform double choir compositions with a substitute for each voice,
Joshua Rifkin concludes that Bach's music was normally written with
one voice per part in mind. A few sets of original performing parts include
ripieni who reinforce rather than slavishly double the vocal quartet.
Classical and Romantic music Composers of the late 18th century became fascinated with the new possibilities of the symphony and other instrumental music, and generally neglected choral music.
Mozart's mostly sacred choral works stand out as some of his greatest (such as the "Great" Mass in C minor and
Requiem in D minor, the latter of which is highly regarded).
Haydn became more interested in choral music near the end of his life following his visits to England in the 1790s, when he heard various Handel oratorios performed by large forces; he wrote a series of masses beginning in 1797 and his two great oratorios
The Creation and
The Seasons.
Beethoven wrote only two masses, both intended for liturgical use, although his
Missa solemnis is probably suitable only for the grandest ceremonies due to its length, difficulty and large-scale scoring. He also pioneered the use of chorus as part of symphonic texture with his
Ninth Symphony and
Choral Fantasia. In the 19th century, sacred music escaped from the church and leaped onto the concert stage, with large sacred works unsuitable for church use, such as
Berlioz's
Te Deum and
Requiem, and
Brahms's
Ein deutsches Requiem.
Rossini's
Stabat mater,
Schubert's masses, and
Verdi's
Requiem also exploited the grandeur offered by instrumental accompaniment. Oratorios also continued to be written, clearly influenced by Handel's models. Berlioz's ''
L'enfance du Christ'' and
Mendelssohn's Elijah and
St Paul are in the category. Schubert, Mendelssohn, and Brahms also wrote secular cantatas, the best known of which are Brahms's
Schicksalslied and
Nänie. A few composers developed a cappella music, especially
Bruckner, whose masses and motets startlingly juxtapose Renaissance counterpoint with chromatic harmony. Mendelssohn and Brahms also wrote significant a cappella motets. The amateur chorus (beginning chiefly as a social outlet) began to receive serious consideration as a compositional venue for the part-songs of Schubert,
Schumann, Mendelssohn, Brahms, and others. These 'singing clubs' were often for women or men separately, and the music was typically in four-part (hence the name "
part-song") and either a cappella or with simple instrumentation. At the same time, the
Cecilian movement attempted a restoration of the pure Renaissance style in Catholic churches.
20th and 21st centuries In the United States, development of mixed choirs was pioneered by groups such as
The St. Olaf Choir and
Westminster Choir College. These groups were characterized by arrangements of hymns and other sacred works of christian nature which helped define the choral sound of the United States for most of the 20th century. Secular choral music in the United States was popularized by groups such as the
Dale Warland Singers throughout the late 20th century. The Big Choral Census online survey was established to find out how many choirs there were in the UK, of what type, with how many members, singing what type of music and with what sort of funding. Results estimated that there were some 40,000 choral groups operating in the UK and over 2 million people singing regularly in a choir. Over 30 percent of the groups listed described themselves a community choirs, half of the choirs listed sing contemporary music although singing classical music is still popular. Most choirs are self funding. It is thought that the increase in popularity of singing together in groups has been fed to some extent in the UK by TV programmes such as
Gareth Malone's 'The Choir'. In 2017, the Purwa Caraka Music Studio Choir of Indonesia began the trend when they covered children's songs in a choral arrangement for the film
Surat Kecil untuk Tuhan. Apart from their roles in liturgy and entertainment, choirs and choruses may also have social-service functions, {{cite journal ==See also==