The choral works published by Carus offer a wide range of styles and levels of difficulty. The challenging compositions from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries presented here demand vocal precision, a deep understanding of polyphony and musical structures, and an intensive engagement with language and text. With these works, ambitious choirs can develop and expand their musical potential.
Dum medium silentium, based on a text from the Book of Wisdom, addresses silence as a prerequisite for the birth of the Word of God in the world and in the soul. Buchenberg creates a finely nuanced interplay of quiet passages, expressive climaxes, and harmonious transitions that transport the listener into a meditative sphere. The double choir is lifted into a realm where the word of God becomes accessible.
Damijan Mocnik's work, originally composed for SSAA choir, is also published in versions for mixed choir (SSAATTBB) and male choir. The piece begins with a musically effective invocation of Christ, develops rhythmically and dynamically with rich contrasts, and concludes with a colorful and heartfelt final sequence.
Friede auf Erden (Peace on Earth), Op. 13, the last tonal composition by Arnold Schoenberg, is one of the few choral works of the Second Viennese School. The text is based on a Nativity poem by Conrad Ferdinand Meyer and expresses a vision of “pure harmony among people,” a view from which Schoenberg later distanced himself. What remains is a composition of great artistic power and depth – a showpiece for accomplished choirs!
Clytus Gottwald's challenging transcriptions for a cappella choir have thrilled choirs around the world. His 16-part arrangement of Ravel's La vallée des cloches, inspired by Paul Verlaine's poem Nevermore, shows how skilfully music and text can merge as one.
John Hoybye's Psalm 151 for eight-part choir and solo violin presents a dialogue between the voice of God (violin) and humanity (choir), inspired by the poetry of Edward Broadbridge. The three movements and themes range from calm Dorian melodies through narrative passages to jazz-inflected harmonies that make God's love and creation come to life in music.
Sven-David Sandström's Messiah is based on the English libretto by Charles Jennens and combines modern tone colors with traditional form. The work features four soloists with a six-part choir and orchestra, and it employs an expressive musical language and unusual sound effects, including differentiated percussion and specific performance instructions.
Gonzalo Grau's oratorio Aqua, commissioned by the International Bach Academy Stuttgart, explores the global theme of water and its ambivalent role as both a source and a destroyer of life. This multicultural work for narrator, soloists, choir, orchestra, synthesizer and computer combines various musical styles, from Gregorian chant to Indian and African sounds, to reflect diverse cultural perspectives on water.
This composition for three voices (with divisions), based on Remy de Gourmont’s poetic text, combines impressionistic soundscapes with rich musical expressiveness. Changing tempi and sophisticated rhythms along with creative tone-painting effects, such as bouche fermée, demand the utmost precision and sensitivity in performance.
Hugo Distler's Weihnachtsgeschichte, Op. 10, is a striking a cappella work which intertwines the Christmas story with seven variations on Es ist ein Ros entsprungen (Lo, How A Rose E’er Blooming). Based on the Gospels of Luke and Matthew, the piece depicts the events surrounding the birth of Jesus and the visit of the Magi, employing both solo and choral singing. It is scored for four-part choir, from which all the solos (Evangelist, Mary, Elizabeth, Herod, Simeon) can be drawn, and it is proof that the Christmas message can be expressed just as brilliantly in modern compositions as in the works of the old masters.
Hans Schanderl's two-part composition Zarathustra I and II is a sonically complex exploration of Zoroastrianism, combining archaic spirituality with a contemporary soundworld. The first part, Ahura Mazdah, is striking with its meditative passages alongside the deliberate use of expressive tone colors, while in the second part, Asha, additional effects, including glissando octave leaps and precise articulation with the tongue, create a delicately balanced soundscape.
The lullaby Sofdu unga ástin mín is based on a true story from the eighteenth century, adapted by Johann Sigurjonsson in his 1911 drama Berg-Eyvind and His Wife. Composer Elisabeth Fußeder powerfully interprets the material, experimenting with various techniques of vocal expression.
Martín Letelier's setting of Edgar Allan Poe's The Tell-Tale Heart focusses on the text, bringing it to life through a narrator and a commenting choir. A choral melodrama.
Marc L. Vogler's composition Clockwork transforms singers, speaking in rhythms, into ticking clocks that disturb the night’s sleep. Polyphonic metrical conflicts and precisely executed rhythms create a captivating groove, occasionally interrupted by sonic planes.
Lucia Birzer's composition Afterwards is based on Sara Teasdale's poem There Will Come Soft Rains, which depicts a world after the end of humanity. While Teasdale was inspired by World War I, Birzer sets the text in the context of the climate crisis. Musically, the piece begins with soloists singing in a recitative style, then builds to a dramatic climax and ends in contemplative silence.
In her work Shàng Shàn Ruò Shui, composer Rosita Piritore creates an atmospheric sound world that is repeatedly interrupted by whispered syllables. Due to its short length and clear structure, the work is well suited for rehearsals. The text is based on the Daodejing, using an easily singable transliteration of the Chinese, and it promotes the idea of harmonious coexistence and world peace.
