You don’t always have to perform a complete Passion setting in a Passiontide concert or service. For that reason you can find a compilation here of shorter compositions for different scorings, of between one and five minutes’ duration for Passiontide and Easter. All the works listed are available as printed or digital single editions, and also in our popular Carus choral collections.
This choral collection brings together beautiful-sounding choral works by the two composers Gottfried August Homilius and Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, both born in 1714. As shorter pieces for the Passion and Easter seasons, we recommend (also available in seoarate editions):
C.P.E. Bach, Amen, Lob und Preis, Carus 3.316/10 (Easter)
C.P.E. Bach, Herr, Stärke mich, dein Leiden zu bedenken, Carus 3.316/60 (Passion)
G.A. Homilius, Siehe, das ist Gottes Lamm, Carus 3.316/70 (Passion)
Another recommendation from the extensive output of motets by Gottfried August Homilius is Turbabor, a gradual for Passiontide. Homilius is now regarded as one of the most important composers in the ‘sensitive style’: the counterpoint is subordinated to the simple harmonies, the regularly-structured themes follow the ideal of the ‘unity of sentiment’ and of ‘pleasing, natural singing’.
Gottfried August Homilius, Turbabor, Carus 1.750
The Chorbuch Kirchenjahr (Choral collection for the church year) contains unaccompanied repertoire for worship, including many pieces for Passiontide and Easter. Here is a small selection:
Franz Schubert, Christ ist erstanden, Carus 40.294 (Easter)
Christoph Willibald von Gluck, De profundis, Carus 40.147/20 (Passion)
Kaspar Ett, Haec dies, Carus 3.055/70 (Easter)
Chorbuch Ostern provides choirs with plenty of material to plan this season. The editors have chosen a wide variety of hymn and other choral settings for worship from Easter Saturday to Whitsun, including:
Urban Loth, Surrexit Christus hodie, Carus 3.050/30 (Passion)
Andrea Gabrieli, Maria Magdalena, et altera Maria, Carus 3.049/10 (Easter)
The Freiburger Chorbuch is a collection of over 150 works, mainly for mixed choir, which can be used in a wide variety of liturgical-musical settings, naturally including Passiontide:
The sequel to the Freiburger Chorbuch also contains many works for Passiontide and Easter. These include Christus factus est by the Italian composer Felice Anerio (1560–1614), a two-minute piece setting the well-known Biblical verse in Latin.
Our recommendation from the English repertoire is the anthem God so loved the world by the composer and organist John Stainer. This setting from his Passion oratorio The Crucifixion is just four minutes in duration, so is very suitable for a short Passiontide church service. The text set is the well-known verses from St John’s Gospel, chapter 3, verses 16–17.
John Stainer, God so loved the world, Carus 3.311/30
The French Choral Collection is a real treasure trove for choirs who want to explore music from neighboring France. The collection contains 45 sacred compositions from the Renaissance to contemporary works for mixed choir. Anyone who is looking for Renaissance repertoire for Passiontide will find what they are looking for here:
Pierre de la Rue, O salutaris / Wir danken dir, o Gottes Lamm, Carus 3.352/90
Fans of Baltic choral music will also find what they are looking for at Carus. The choral collection Musica Sacra Baltica contains 44 sacred choral settings from the 20th century for mixed unaccompanied choir. As well as more familiar names, such as Urmas Sisask and Vytautas Miškinis, the collection also contains many pieces by less well-known composers – including Aleksandras Kacanauskas’s setting of the Passiontide gradual Christus factus est.
Aleksandras Kacanauskas, Christus factus est, Carus 3.010/60
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Hardly any composition by Josef Gabriel Rheinberger is better known than his “Abendlied” op. 69, no. 3. In this work, Rheinberger set the familiar words from St. Luke’s Gospel with which Jesus was urged to stay by the disciples on the way to Emmaus, before they recognized him as the risen Lord. Originally scored for six parts a cappella, the piece has been arranged for six instruments, three-part choir and organ for inclusion in the choral series mehrKlang. This is aimed at church choirs and instrumental ensembles which want to contribute to church services, parish festivals and other occasions.
Josef Gabriel Rheinberger, Bleib bei uns, denn es will Abend werden,
Bearb. für 6 Instr., SAM, Orgel, Carus 3.378
The choral collection Mozart · Haydn contains sacred repertoire by the Mozarts father and son, and the two brothers Joseph and Johann Michael Haydn. The selection of works is divided into three editions: one for equal voices, one for mixed choir and one for mixed choir with one male voice part. A few pieces are also available in different scorings, and some are arrangements. For Passiontide and Easter we recommend the following selection of compositions by the Haydn brothers:
J. M. Haydn, In monte oliveti, Carus 3.109/20
J. Haydn, Tenebrae factae sunt, Carus 3.110/70 (SAB), Carus 3.062/20 (SATB)
J. Haydn, Das Grab ist leer (Ostern), Carus 3.107/10 (SAB, Bc),
Carus 3.101/60 (SA, Bc)
