Tanner Oglesby – SSAA R&R Chair
Choosing Literature for Treble Ensembles
January has always been a complicated month for me. As an individual, I find January to be an exciting time, imagining new goals, starting fresh, and cleaning the slate. As a choral director, I find January to be the “lull” in the middle. Still exhausted from the busy month of December, we have to find the energy to chart a productive, growth-oriented path forward for our ensembles while not completely starting over. I’ve never subscribed to the “new year, new me” ideology; I believe that positive change is something that should never wait for a new year. Let’s face it… we’re in the middle of the curriculum, and it’s the same old us! I believe that true success lies at the intersection of “fresh perspective” and that “same old us.” So where do we begin?
When I find myself uncertain for any reason, I turn to the anchor of everything we do: literature. The benefits of thoughtful, ensemble-focused literature selection cannot be overstated. Specifically, for treble groups, I find the amount of literature to sort through exhaustive. Therefore, I’ve written this article to help guide directors—novice and seasoned alike—through the literature selection process. While this article is specifically for directors choosing literature for treble choirs, I hope that the proposed considerations will be helpful to all directors going through the process of selecting literature for the new semester.
Ensemble Identity
Unlike SATB or tenor/bass choirs, treble choirs range from elementary to university level. While this means that there is a wealth of options available, finding the right literature for your group can be time consuming and sometimes overwhelming. For this reason, understanding the identity of your treble ensemble is a vital first step in the process. Not every 2-part song is meant for beginning level singers, and not every 4-part song is challenging enough for advanced singers. You might find a piece that’s wonderful for teaching beginning concepts to a beginning-level high school treble group, but the text may be too juvenile. You may also have a treble ensemble that is not solely female-identifying, which would be important to consider when considering text for a piece of music.
Difficulty Level
Having judged various choral assessments, I can confidently say that choosing literature with appropriate voicing and/or difficulty level is the aspect most often overlooked when selecting repertoire for a group. When considering a piece of music, I try to visualize the end, middle, and beginning of the process in that order. First, what do I want the students to achieve as the final product of the piece? If I want them to sing the notes and rhythms accurately, there’s not much they couldn’t accomplish. However, if my goal is for them to sing with unified vowels, energized consonants, dynamic contrast, articulation, and breath-supported tone within a specific timeframe for learning the piece, my options naturally become more limited. As the director, it is our responsibility to start with the desired final product—hopefully a musically elevated one—and work backward to develop the rehearsal plan. This isn’t to say that choirs shouldn’t be given music that challenges them; it entirely depends on the outcome you’re aiming for, and remember that the desired outcome doesn’t always have to be a performance!
As we work backward, let’s consider the “middle” (the bulk of the rehearsal process). Where are we in our literacy sequence, and how can we choose literature that will benefit the learning process? This is where I can truly discern whether the difficulty level of the piece is appropriate. For instance, if I’m reviewing relative major and minor keys, it would be helpful to program a piece that begins in either major or minor and modulates to the relative minor or major key. This approach could also be great for teaching musical form. When considering literature as a vessel for literacy, it makes the task of teaching literacy much less daunting.
Voicing
Considering the beginning of the process, I focus on more fundamental aspects of the piece, such as voicing. WARNING: Do not take things at face value when it comes to voicing! A song could be listed as SSA, yet the soprano 2 part might double the alto part for most of the song. Conversely, it could be listed as SSA and split into five or more parts at cadence points. This will inevitably affect how you divide students among each part and, therefore, the difficulty level of the piece.
For developing treble choirs, I recommend searching for music with accessible ranges for each voice part. As we know, an alto part in an SSA setting is very different from an alto part in an SATB setting. From my personal experience, it can be challenging for altos and tenors to transition from treble and tenor/bass settings to SATB settings when they have limited experience singing inner voice parts. While this is not always the case, it’s something I wish I had been more aware of earlier in my career.
Programming
Though our lives would be much easier if we could simply find individual pieces of music that check all the boxes we’re looking for, we must consider how well the pieces pair together. Does the performance we’re preparing for have a theme, and does the piece I’m reviewing fit within that theme? Beyond a potential theme, does the piece I’m considering share many of the same features as the other chosen pieces? Am I actively seeking music of varying styles written by composers from diverse backgrounds? These are just a couple of questions worth asking before giving music the green light for our ensemble.
One thing I wish I had paid more attention to when selecting literature for a program is key relationships! During my first year of teaching, I programmed three songs for a freshman treble group and realized early on that all three songs were in the same key. Even though the style of each piece was different, it sounded more like a medley than anything cohesive. Thankfully, I caught this quickly and was able to replace one of the pieces. I’ve also found myself in a situation where I programmed two a cappella songs, distributed the music, and later realized that I had programmed them in keys that were only a half step apart. While it’s not the end of the world, I certainly wished I had noticed this before selecting the songs and placing them back-to-back in the program. Additionally, aside from avoiding poor key relationships, you can also plan intentional, positive key relationships that mirror your theme or contribute to the overall story you’re telling.
Language & Voice
In my opinion, language is singularly the most impactful part of choral music; therefore, it cannot be ignored when selecting literature! I was a band kid growing up and was fortunate enough to have a band director who was also a vocalist, encouraging us to sing our parts. One day, the trombone quartet I was playing in decided to sing our music on a neutral syllable to save our chops from another run-through. The choir director walked into the hallway where we were playing and asked if any of us wanted to join choir. Long story short, I joined choir my senior year of high school and immediately fell in love. I had loved music before, but there was something raw and emotional about creating music with text. (Thanks, Mrs. White!) The human voice is an instrument that is personal like no other. Any instrumentalist will tell you that the instrument you play matters, but the voice cannot be replaced. While I loved my trombone in high school, I would have upgraded to a better one without much thought if I had the money. The trombone was an instrument I selected from several options, making it a personal choice rather than a core aspect of my identity. My voice, however, was and always will be an integral part of who I am.
The text for every song doesn’t have to be profound or transformative, but it should be selected with intention. First, consider patterns in your previous selections. Do you tend to gravitate toward a specific language when picking foreign language pieces? Has the group you’re working with not performed many foreign language pieces recently? Is there a current event to which a song could provide a reassuring or comforting response? The answers to these questions will be helpful as you consider the message of each piece and whether or not you would like to program it. For me, music is performed best when students have bought into it. Though it’s not the only factor to consider, text is a great place to start when it comes to selling a piece of literature.
Diverse Literature
There are three specific concepts that come to mind when I think of diverse literature: 1) Diverse in Style, 2) Diverse in Perspective, and 3) Diverse in Pedagogical Approach. The first concept is easy to grasp. Of course, we want our ensembles to perform a variety of literature well. In order to achieve this, we must do the necessary work, which is where diverse perspectives and pedagogical approaches come into play.
Choosing literature from diverse perspectives means being intentional about selecting music (and text) written by composers with a variety of lived experiences. This paragraph alone could encompass an entire article, but I’ll do my best to be concise. First, the power of representation is crucial. Every student should have the opportunity to learn literature written by a composer who shares some of their lived experiences. I mentioned this at a presentation a couple of years ago, and someone asked, “What do I do if my choir is not diverse?” My answer was simple: “You choose literature from diverse perspectives.” Diverse perspectives are the catalyst for empathy, and there is not a person in the world who couldn’t benefit from empathy.
If we choose music from a variety of styles, we should also consider a diverse approach to teaching the music. If you have almost exclusively learned music through the lens of sight-reading with solfege, there’s no need to worry! Solfege is an incredible tool, and I use it most often in my class, but I also find it appropriate to teach music by rote, depending on the style of music I’m teaching. I’ve used rote teaching for music written in a gospel style and to emphasize form. Both approaches are valid and helpful tools in our toolbox. In addition to sight-reading, learning by rote, singing on a neutral syllable, chanting text, etc., I do not always utilize the same pedagogical approach for an entire piece of music, and I don’t always sequence my approach in the same way. A diverse pedagogical approach improves engagement, builds musicianship, and is often more authentic to a given style of music.
Literature selection is a complex and vital aspect of the work we do. I find the process to be time-consuming because I want to get it right. However, it helps to know that the time spent is a worthwhile investment in the success of our ensembles. More time spent on the front end will save so much time down the road. Stay the course, and best wishes for a productive semester ahead! As always, please reach out to me if you have any questions or need a resource.
