Choir

A choir (/ˈkwaɪər/ KWIRE; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words is the music performed by the ensemble. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which spans from the medieval era to the present, or popular music repertoire. Most choirs are led by a conductor, who leads the performances with arm, hand, and facial gestures.

"Choral" redirects here. Not to be confused with coral. For other uses, see Choir (disambiguation).

The term choir is very often applied to groups affiliated with a church (whether or not they actually occupy the quire), whereas a chorus performs in theatres or concert halls, but this distinction is not rigid. Choirs may sing without instruments, or accompanied by a piano, accordion, pipe organ, a small ensemble, or an orchestra.

A choir can be a subset of an ensemble; thus one speaks of the "woodwind choir" of an orchestra, or different "choirs" of voices or instruments in a polychoral composition. In typical 18th century to 21st century oratorios and masses, 'chorus' or 'choir' implies that there is more than one singer per part, in contrast to the quartet of soloists also featured in these works.

Adult mixed choir (with male and female voices) is perhaps the most common and dominant type, usually consisting of , alto, tenor, and bass voices, often abbreviated as SATB.^[6] Often one or more voices is divided into two, e.g., SSAATTBB, where each voice is divided into two parts, and SATBSATB, where the choir is divided into two semi-independent four-part choirs. Occasionally baritone voice is also used (e.g., SATBarB), often sung by the higher basses. In smaller choirs with fewer men, SAB, or soprano, alto, and baritone arrangements allow the few men to share the role of both the tenor and bass in a single part and altos may also sing the tenor part.

soprano

Male choir (or choir of men & boys) with the same SATB voicing as a mixed choir, but with boys singing the upper part (often called or boy sopranos) and men singing alto (in falsetto), also known as countertenors. This format was until recently typical of the British cathedral choir (e.g. King's College, St Paul's, Westminster Abbey). However, all cathedrals now accept women and girls and by 2019 female choristers outnumbered males in English cathedral choirs.^[7]

trebles

(Male voice choir, Männerchor), a choir of adult men, low voices only, usually consisting of two tenors, baritone, and bass, often abbreviated as TTBB (or ATBB if the upper part sings falsetto in alto range). ATBB may be seen in some barbershop quartet music.

Men's chorus

a choir of boys, typically singing SSA or SSAA, sometimes including a cambiata/tenor part for boys/young men whose voices are changing and a baritone part for boys/young men whose voices have changed.

Boys' choir

a choir of adult women, high voices only, usually consisting of soprano and alto voices, two parts in each, often abbreviated as SSAA, or as soprano I, soprano II, and alto, abbreviated SSA. If all singers are young, the term "girls' choir" is used instead.

Women's choir

Children's mixed choir (with male and female voices), often two-part SA or three-part SSA, sometimes more voices.

– a festive song or hymn often sung by a choir or a few singers with or without instrumental accompaniment

Carol (music)

Come and sing

Choral Public Domain Library

– choral repertoire database

Musica International

– Gregorian and plainchant

Global Chant Database

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