When I met Frank at Jonathan Palant’s session on men’s choirs at the 2015 National ACDA Convention in Salt Lake City this spring, I just had to ask him to submit his five favorites! I am so glad that I did :o). Susan.
Ave Maria
Franz Biebl
TBB/TTBB, a cappella
Hinshaw HMC1253
Moderate
Franz Biebl’s Ave Maria is one of the most popular works for men’s chorus in North America. Brought to this country by Thomas Sokol and the Cornell Glee Club, it was popularized by Chanticleer and is now sung by choirs all over the world in various versions for single gender and mixed choir. The original version, composed for a volunteer fire department men’s chorus, is easily the best. Surprisingly, it’s the only one of more than 2000+ published choral works by Biebl to become popular.
https://youtu.be/R9UXEKgDu0E (The Virginia Glee Club and the Washington Men’s Camerata, yours truly, conducting)
https://youtu.be/9WSbq3TCcd0 (Chanticleer, with me singing)
Five Ways to Kill a Man
Bob Chilcott
TTBB divisi, percussion
Oxford University Press 9780193356054
Difficult
This piece was jointly commissioned by Chor Leoni (Diane Loomer) in Canada and Orphei Drängar (Robert Sund) in Sweden. The text is an environmental poem by Edwin Brock. The work is challenging, both rhythmically and harmonically, but the overall effect is stunning and audiences respond well to the chilling message of the timeless poetry.
Dona Nobis Pacem
Joseph Gregorio
TTBB, a cappella
E. C. Schirmer Publishing 6511
Moderate +
Joe wrote this lovely setting of the Latin prayer for peace for the Cornell Glee Club. The rich harmonies are firmly rooted in the tonality of the 19th century, while including many 20th century choral harmonies popularized by composers like Lauridsen, Stroope, and Whitacre.
Dostoyno Yest
Nikolai Golovanov
TTBB, a cappella (Church Slavanic)
Musica Russica Go004
Moderate –
Golovanov was a Soviet composer, conductor, and pianist who lived in the early part of the 20th century in Moscow. There are literally hundreds of Russian works for men’s chorus, so instead of Chesnokov’s classic Spaseniye sodelal, try something a little different with this lovely motet.
https://youtu.be/My23krBM_3k
Last Letter Home
Lee Hoiby
TBB, a cappella
Schott 49016738
Moderate +
Hoiby set this text, excerpts from a “last letter home” by Private First Class Jesse Givens, in 2006 for 10 male choirs that made up the Male Chorus Commissioning Consortium, sponsored by Cantus and Intercollegiate Men’s Choruses. Givens’s words are set in conversational style, with little polyphony, so the text can be easily understood by the audience. Givens was killed in action in Iraq in 2003, after only one month in the country, and his beautiful letter to his wife, stepson, and unborn child are a fitting memorial to all who have served and paid the ultimate sacrifice.
Frank Albinder is music director of the Washington Men’s Camerata, the Woodley Ensemble and the Virginia Glee Club, the 143-year-old men’s chorus at The University of Virginia. Frank came to Washington from the internationally renowned male vocal ensemble Chanticleer, where he served as singer, Associate Conductor and acting Director. During his 11-year tenure with Chanticleer, Frank performed in all 50 states and in 20 foreign countries. He appears on 21 of theensemble’s recordings, including Wondrous Love, which was recorded under his direction, and the Grammy® Award-winning Colors of Love, for which he designed the concept and selected the repertoire. Other performance credits include the Boston Camerata, the Robert Shaw Festival Singers, the WashingtonBach Consort, and the Concord Ensemble. Like most musicians, he has held a number of non-musical jobs, including counter man in a delicatessen, secretdocument destroyer for a major military contractor, tour guide at Universal Studios and problem-fixer for FedEx. Between 1984 and 1988, Frank was Director of Choral Activities at Davidson College in North Carolina. He holds a B.A. in Vocal Performance from Pomona College in Claremont, California, and two M.M. Degrees (Choral Conducting and Vocal Performance) from the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. He recently completed two terms as the National Chair of Repertoire and Standards for Male Choirs for the American Choral Directors Association. He is also President of Intercollegiate Men’s Choruses, DC representative of the National Collegiate Choral Organization and a member of the steering committee for ChoralNet.org, the Internet’s principal portal for information and resources relating to the choral field. He recently retired after 12 years from the professional music staff at St. John’s Church, Lafayette Square, the Church of the Presidents.
