A vocal score or piano–vocal score is a music score of an

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

, or a

vocal The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound production i ...

choral 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 ...

composition written for

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

l accompaniment, such as an

oratorio An oratorio () is a large musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Like most operas, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias. However, opera is mus ...

cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir. The meaning of ...

. In a piano–vocal score, the vocal parts are written out in full, but the

accompaniment Accompaniment is the musical part which provides the rhythmic and/or harmonic support for the melody or main themes of a song or instrumental piece. There are many different styles and types of accompaniment in different genres and styles ...

is reduced and adapted for keyboard (usually piano). The music is usually reduced to two staves; however, more staves, a second keyboardist (

piano four hands Piano four hands (french: À quatre mains, german: Zu vier Händen, Vierhändig, it, a quattro mani) is a type of piano duet involving two players playing the same piano simultaneously. A duet with the players playing separate instruments is ...

), or a second keyboard part can be added, as needed. There are two main types of piano–vocal scores. The first kind consists of those scores created by a composer in the process of composing, usually as a harmonic map or "sketch" of the piece to be later

orchestrated Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra (or, more loosely, for any musical ensemble, such as a concert band) or of adapting music composed for another medium for an orchestra. Also called "instrumentation", orch ...

. The second category includes scores that are arrangements or transcriptions made after the completion of the work, usually by someone other than the composer. Piano–vocal scores are generally created to enable a conductor or choir leader to rehearse the singers with a piano accompanist before the choir begins rehearsals with the orchestra. The cost of rehearsing with a professional orchestra is so high that choirs typically hold a number of rehearsals with piano accompaniment to prepare the choir, as the cost of hiring a single piano accompanist is much lower than hiring 50–100 orchestral musicians. Piano–vocal scores are also used by music students, singers and conductors to study the compositional structure of the score. Before the widespread availability of sound recordings, piano–vocal scores were also sold for amateur home performance or small-scale professional performance of the piece, where a full orchestra would not be feasible from an economic or performance space perspective.

Piano-conductor scores

While piano-vocal scores tend to consist of the vocal lines and a

piano reduction In music, a reduction is an arrangement or transcription (music), transcription of an existing sheet music, score or musical composition, composition in which complexity is lessened to make musical analysis, analysis, performance, or practice ...

of the whole orchestra onto two staves, piano-conductor scores tend to consist of the vocal lines and one of the orchestral piano parts that already exists, coupled with another staff containing the rest of the orchestral reduction (in contrast to a piano-vocal score, where the piano and other orchestral parts cannot be easily separated at sight). In a piano-conductor score, orchestral part entries are usually visibly tagged in the third staff. While piano-vocal scores provide a full accompaniment for rehearsals, reduced performances, etc., piano-conductor scores give the conductor a more direct view of the activity of the orchestra, without being as complex as a full orchestral score. This is especially relevant when the conductor is conducting not from the podium, but from the piano while playing the indicated piano part (often seen in

musical theatre Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movemen ...

orchestras).

Piano-conductor scores

See also