A men's chorus or male voice choir (MVC) (German: ''Männerchor''), is a
choir
A choir ( ; 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. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...
consisting of men who sing with either a tenor or bass voice, and whose music is typically arranged into high and low tenors (1st and 2nd tenor), and high and low basses (1st and 2nd bass; or baritone and bass)—and shortened to the letters ''TTBB''. The term can also refer to a piece of music which is performed by such a choir.
Overview
Male voice choirs are commonly found in the United Kingdom,
particularly in
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
,
Cornwall
Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...
, and
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
. The names of male voice choirs sometimes use the abbreviation MVC, for example
Castleford MVC.
Men have sung together throughout history. In the West, most music lovers will be familiar with monastic chanting such as the
Gregorian chant
Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainchant, a form of monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song in Latin (and occasionally Greek) of the Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant developed mainly in western and central Europe durin ...
.
In addition, men have come together to make music and enjoy the fellowship of others with a similar passion. Glee clubs became popular in the United States where men would sing in harmony, usually ''
a cappella
''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...
''. Russia has a long tradition of men singing in the
Russian Orthodox Church
, native_name_lang = ru
, image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg
, imagewidth =
, alt =
, caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia
, abbreviation = ROC
, type ...
. Elsewhere in the world, such as in Wales, parts of the US and Europe, male choirs arose from the late 19th century through to present times.
Male choirs (1st tenor, 2nd tenor, baritone and bass) even without trebles or boy sopranos have a slight advantage over women's choirs in that 1st tenors singing in the falsetto range of their voice can extend the range to encompass most of the range available to a female choir. However, even the lowest female voices cannot extend into the bass range of a men's choir or chorus. Arguably the most well-known male choruses are those in Wales, but there are highly skilled choirs around the world. Most male choruses today sing a wide range of music, including the traditional Welsh hymns but also choruses from opera, musical comedy and the popular genre.
An unusual offshoot of the male chorus is the
barbershop genre. Barbershop singing uses unique and specialised arrangements and is nearly always unaccompanied.
Many of the modern Germany male choruses owe their origins to the groups which were very popular in the 19th and early 20th centuries, with some groups still singing.
"Männerchor" male voice choirs in Germany
Male voice choirs were an innovation of the 19th century. Traditional values, with an increasingly patriotic stance and coupled with the social pleasures of a circle of friends stood at the centre of the movement. Older folk songs found new popularity in the first half of the 19th century (
Romantic Age). ''A capella'' four-voice male voice choirs supplemented the established choral forms of a mix of male, female and children's voices. National musical education was supposed to be promoted along with the political and social Enlightenment.
Carl Friedrich Zelter
Carl Friedrich Zelter (11 December 1758 15 May 1832)Grove/Fuller-Datei:Carl-Friedrich-Zelter.jpegMaitland, 1910. The Zelter entry takes up parts of pages 593-595 of Volume V. was a German composer, conductor and teacher of music. Working in his ...
(1758–1832) and above all
Friedrich Silcher
Philipp Friedrich Silcher (27 June 1789 in Schnait (today part of Weinstadt) – 26 August 1860 in Tübingen), was a German composer, mainly known for his lieder (songs), and an important Volkslied collector.Luise Marretta-Schär, Silcher, (Phili ...
(1789–1860) were instrumental in influencing the development of a choral life, where choirs took root with a constitution, committee and – in the full flush of enthusiasm – showed all the "bells and whistles" of an organisation. In Switzerland,
Hans Georg Nägeli
Hans Georg Nägeli (26 May 1773 – 26 December 1836) was a composer and music publisher.
Nägeli was born in Wetzikon, Switzerland. He studied under his father as a child, and then opened a private music shop and publishing firm in the 1790s. In ...
continued this movement.
The choirs often gave themselves evocative names. If an enthusiast had spent a few days at the "golden Rhine", he would feel called on to found a choir on the River Weser with a name such as "Lorelei" or "Stolzenfels". Hoarse male voices called themselves "Harmony" or named their organisation "Concordia", or "The Warbling Nightingale". Such vocal enthusiasm was often bound with patriotism and love of nature. The life of such a club and the joy of singing in harmony was supposed to be especially helpful in diverting attention from a hard day's work.
The musical content, after the initially more political forays, was accordingly: homeland, German forests, songs about the fruit of the grape, and of course – love. Areas which overflow with tourists today were once serenaded as quiet, romantic spots, in songs such as : ("In der Drosselgass“), "Zu
Rüdesheim" and "Vater
Rhein
Rhein may refer to:
Places
* Rhine, a major river in Europe (german: Rhein, link=no)
* Rhein, a village in the municipality of Morsbach in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
* Rhein (Ostpreussen), a former name of the town Ryn in Poland
Ships
* ...
". In such songs, one would roam as a musician ("
Spielmann
Spielmann or Spielman is a German occupational surname, which means " jester", from the Middle High German ''spilære''.''Dictionary of American Family Names''"Spieler Family History" Oxford University Press, 2013. Retrieved on 16 January 2016. The ...
") or hunter ("
Jäger") through the country, and one felt oneself to be as free as a gypsy.
After the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, the survivors found themselves back in their choirs, at first with new members, but the more the dreams of travel and romantic interludes could be actually realised with increasing wealth, the less the members had to seek the experiences about which they sang in thoughts alone. Thus began a gradual decline as the members of the great choirs aged and died and no new members replaced them. Despite this decline, there were still about 9641 male voice choirs in Germany around the year 2002 – about 15.9% of all choral forms.
List of male voice choirs
Notable male voice choirs include:
*
The Academic Male Voice Choir of Helsinki
''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...
*
Australian Welsh Male Choir
*
BYU Men's Chorus
Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...
*
Cardiff Arms Park Male Choir
Cardiff Arms Park Male Choir is a Welsh Male choir based at Cardiff Arms Park in Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom.
History
On 1 September 1966, following Cardiff RFC's 35–0 defeat of Cardiff & District, a group of supporters came up with idea ...
*
Castleford Male Voice Choir
The Castleford Male Voice Choir (CMVC) is a male voice choir based in Castleford, West Yorkshire, England. The choir was established in 1926.
The choir has recorded LPs. It has appeared on the BBC television programme ''The One Show''. It has t ...
*
Choir of the French Army
The Choir of the French Army (), commonly known as the Armed Forces Choir, is an official academic ensemble of the Republican Guard of France. Its current director is Major Aurore Tillac. This male-voice choir is composed of 46 professional sing ...
*
Chor Leoni Men's Choir
The Chor Leoni Men's Choir is a male choir based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The group was founded in 1992 by Order of Canada recipient Diane Loomer, C.M. (1940 - 2012), and consists of up to 65 male singers. While primarily focused o ...
*
City of Bath Male Choir
The City of Bath Male Choir is a male voice choir from Bath, Somerset. They came to national prominence in the United Kingdom after finishing 5th in the BBC television show ''Last Choir Standing'' during July and August 2008.http://www.bbc.co. ...
*
Côr Godre'r Aran
Côr Godre'r Aran (English: Choir from the foothills of the Aran mountain) is a Welsh male-voice choir that from Llanuwchllyn, near Bala, North Wales. The choir has in excess of 40 members who represent a spectrum of rural occupations and is ...
*
Cornell University Glee Club
The Cornell University Glee Club (CUGC) is the oldest student organization at Cornell University, having been organized shortly after the first students arrived on campus in 1868. The CUGC is a thirty-nine member chorus for tenor and bass voices ...
*
Felling Male Voice Choir
History
Felling Male Voice Choir was established in 1920 and is based in Felling, Tyne and Wear, Felling, Gateshead, in the North East England, North East of England. The choir performs throughout the region and also undertakes national and inter ...
*
Froncysyllte Male Voice Choir The Froncysyllte Male Voice Choir ( cy, Côr Meibion Froncysyllte), also known as the Fron Choir ( cy, Côr Fron), is an amateur male voice choir based in the village of Froncysyllte (pronounced roughly ''vron-cuss-ulth/ tay''), Wrexham County Boro ...
*
Gwalia Male Choir
*
Holman Climax Male Voice Choir
The Holman Climax Male Voice Choir is a Cornish choir which was formed in 1940 and is based in Camborne, Cornwall
Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the C ...
*
Hombourg-Haut Male Voice Choir
*
Kenyan Boys Choir
The Kenyan Boys Choir is an African traditional and contemporary male voice choir based in the city of Nairobi, Kenya.
Background
The Kenyan Boys Choir consists of 25 boys, aged between 13 and 24, from various Kenyan backgrounds and tribes, b ...
*
Leeds Male Voice Choir
Leeds Male Voice Choir is a Male voice choir, choir of men founded in 1916 in Leeds, West Yorkshire in the United Kingdom. Originally formed from mining workers in Middleton, Leeds, the choir now has a diverse of membership of around sixty activ ...
*
Linköping University Male Voice Choir
*
Lund University Male Voice Choir
*
Morriston Orpheus Choir
The Morriston Orpheus Choir ( cy, Côr Orpheus Treforys, link=no), based in Morriston, near Swansea, Wales, is a male voice choir, one of the best-known in the UK.
History
The Choir was formed on April 23, 1935, by Ivor E. Sims and in its early ...
*
Orphei Drängar
Sångsällskapet Orphei Drängar (OD) is a Swedish male voice choir and singing society based in Uppsala, Sweden. While best known for its high quality performances of the classical repertoire, OD sings music of all genres in many different langu ...
*
Orpheus Male Voice Choir, Grimsby & Cleethorpes
*
The Polytech Choir
*
Pontarddulais Male Choir
*
Svanholm Singers
*
Treorchy Male Choir
*
Warrington Male Voice Choir
Warrington Male Voice Choir is one of Great Britain's oldest choirs, tracing its formation to 1898. During its long history the choir has travelled widely and has performed in many famous concert halls and cathedrals throughout the United Kingdom ...
*
Wessex Male Choir
*
Wiener Schubertbund
*
YL Male Voice Choir YL Male Voice Choir (formerly: Helsinki University Chorus; fi, Ylioppilaskunnan Laulajat) was founded by P. J. Hannikainen in 1883 to become the choir of the Helsinki University. It is also the oldest Finnish-language choir. Nowadays the choir is ...
See also
*
Music of Wales
The Music of Wales (Welsh: ''Cerddoriaeth Cymru''), particularly singing, is a significant part of Welsh national identity, and the country is traditionally referred to as "the land of song".Davies (2008), pg 579.
This is a modern stereotype ba ...
References
Directory of Choirs / Uniting English Male Voice Choirslist of English male voice choirs, cotswoldmvc.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Men's Chorus
German music
German music history
Choirs
Types of musical groups