Our current season is stacked with sacred repertoire, and it's got me thinking about something I rarely see discussed on this sub. We've got a genuinely mixed group: some deeply religious members, some who haven't stepped in a church since they were kids, some who'd call themselves spiritual-but-not-affiliated, at least one or two who'd say atheist outright. Everyone shows up and sings the same notes.

What I'm curious about is what's happening underneath that.

For the non-Christian / non-religious singers: how do you relate to the text? Do you dig into the theology so the words mean something, treat the text as pure phonetics and vowel colour, or translate it into your own secular frame? Does it feel like performing someone else's belief system, or does that stop mattering once the music starts?

For Christian singers: does singing sacred music feel like devotional practice for you, or is it repertoire first and worship second? Does it change depending on whether you're in a church choir versus a secular or community one?

For everyone: have you run into friction around this? Directors who assume the whole room believes programming that leans hard one direction, a Requiem that lands differently for different people in the row?

One thing to be clear about up front: this isn't a thread for arguing about Christianity itself. Nobody needs to defend or attack the faith here. It's specifically about how you, as a singer, relate to the words you're given and how that plays out in rehearsal and performance.

Genuinely not trying to start a theology argument. Just interested in how people hold this, because I suspect most of us have thought about it, and almost nobody says it out loud.

Hey, I'm a student a school where we have singing lessons (in group). I am looking for a text by epica to sing with our choir. I was wondering if someone knew a way of getting a text for Unchained Utopia or song like that, or knows where such songs can be found. We usually sing in four voices (soprano, alt, tenor and base) but 2-5 is all possible.

Hello! I'm a junior soprano II who got accepted into SCVA regional choir, and I just found out that my audition score was a 94/100. I was wondering what the average score was and whether I should expect to have a chance to get accepted into All-State for California. This is my first year, so I don't know what a good score is, especially because I don't know anyone else who tried out for SCVA. Thank you so much for your help!

Please ignore the pedalling, I'm not sure of what I did there. This is the first time I'm writing accompaniments and I don't play the instruments

I'm looking for a transcription of the newer version of Pentatonix o holy night. All I can ever find is the older version. Can anyone point me to this?

Every year, I write a Carol, a piece of music for Choir (sometimes with Organ), and I ask all my music-loving singers if they would like to participate in a voluntary project to record themselves singing their respective parts for the Carol.

This year it's "Follow The Star", inspired by the music of John Rutter, and dedicated to my former Headmaster (and dear friend) at Kings School Rochester, Chris Nickless, who passed away in December last year. This Carol is for SATB Choir and Organ. If you are a singer and are interested, please comment here in this post, and I'll share the info with you!

Does anyone have a copy they can scan and send to me? Id be forever grateful in return I can scan mutiny from epic and send it to you^^

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XD-zy8R3Blc

Just came across this piece— such a beautiful choral arrangement imo!

What are your favorite children's + adult choir pieces for church? I need to switch gears for my plan in November, and am looking for suggestions!

Thanks!

Growing up, the composer and organist **Thaddeus P. Cavuoti** was my choirmaster. He wrote a lot of choral music for my choir and I had copies of it u til it was destroyed in a house flood. He has since passed away and it has become difficult to find some copies of his music.

Two spectacular pieces he wrote that are no longer in print are his ***Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis***. In my mind, they were his magnum opus.

I would like to use them at my current church.

**Can someone help me find a copy of them?**

He was such an important influence on my life growing up, he introduced me to my career in singing at the National Cathedral. It breaks my heart that I will never get to see him again, but keeping his music alive means the world to me. I know his pieces are currently in use in Anglican and Episcopal Churches worldwide.

Edit: PLEASE POST THE LINKS TO THE SONGS

And the time stamp of where the fast part begins or the peak fastest (Optional)

I've been trying to find the fastest choral or classical pieces. And make a list of the fastest ones. But I can't really find that many. If ya'll are able to find some that are fast. Please let me know, this is what I've gathered so far.

https://youtu.be/sgb2qzQRkt0?si=T1aIGkYq0HeeZZAC

https://youtu.be/CZo1_BDn8Ew?si=BFIiFfmnywCVqx4z

https://youtu.be/OI-bQ0RkArA?si=h5VlorGFXAzsFMir

https://youtu.be/JY2rLfhJLmY?t=133&si=Pw22ARJd1IfYlGLi

https://youtu.be/TxpQ49Up5Uc?si=SF2uc02b7sXmmm2e

https://youtu.be/qwtPp8Q13_0?si=YjNuFmiT8A_M8K47

The requiment for my methods is if its a lot of 16th notes but only for holding a word then it doesn't count.

If the song uses tongues those won't be counted towards the speed.

Also the way I calculate the speed is syllables per second and I find the peak speed of a song not 10 seconds of it.

I might add more rules depending on how this goes

That is, do they become fricatives/approximants [β ð ɣ] between vowels, like in speech, or are they always plosives [b d g]?

Hi everyone,

I’ve written a SATB setting of a liturgical piece and I’d really appreciate some detailed feedback on the harmonic and contrapuntal writing.

I’m especially interested in hearing from people with experience in choral composition, SATB writing, hymnody, or liturgical music.

Could you take a look at the attached score and comment on things such as:

- Voice leading — are the individual lines singable and natural?

- Harmonic progression — do the chords and harmonic functions make sense, or are there moments that feel forced or unclear?

- Voice spacing and register — does the SATB texture sit well, particularly in the lower voices?

- Chord voicing/doubling — are there any problematic doublings?

- Parallel 5ths/octaves or other contrapuntal issues that I may have overlooked?

- Non-chord tones, suspensions and passing notes — do they sound convincing in context?

- Cadences — do they provide a convincing sense of arrival appropriate for liturgical music?

- Overall sonority — does the harmony sound warm, coherent and idiomatic for a choir, or are there places where it becomes muddy, tense or confusing?

- Most importantly, does the SATB writing actually sound beautiful and convincing as a liturgical setting?

One important notation detail before analysing the score:

The Tenor is written in treble clef with a 8 lower but sounds one octave higher than written. The Bass is also notated one octave lower than its actual sounding pitch. Therefore, please take these octave transpositions into account when evaluating the harmonic intervals, voice spacing and ranges.

I’m mainly looking for an honest musical critique rather than someone to completely rewrite it. If there are questionable passages, I’d really appreciate it if you could point them out and explain why they may not work.

The score is attached

Thanks in advance to anyone willing to take a look!

Hi everyone!
I’m from Japan, and I traveled to Germany in September 2026.

While I was there, I heard this song being sung inside a cathedral, and I honestly can’t get it out of my head. I really loved it, but I have absolutely no idea what it’s called.

Here’s the video I recorded:
https://youtu.be/cxWhxsw35V8?feature=shared

I’ve tried pretty much everything to find it. I asked AI, but it couldn’t identify it. I also asked on Japanese forums, but nobody knows what it is.

I even emailed the cathedral to ask if they could tell me what was being sung that day, but I haven’t gotten a reply.
So… Reddit is basically my last hope 😂

If anyone recognizes this piece, PLEASE tell me what it is!

Even if you’re not 100% sure, any clue would help. I’d especially love to know the title and composer.
I’ve been trying to find this song ever since I came back to Japan, because hearing it in that cathedral was one of the things that really stuck with me from my trip.
Thanks so much to anyone who takes the time to listen!