Anna Crusis Womens Choir 2014-12-07 DSCF0913 Crop

A women's choir or women's chorus is a

choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') 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 ...

formed exclusively by women. If all singers are young, it is called a girls' choir. The voice types are usually

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...

and

alto The musical term alto, meaning "high" in Italian (Latin: '' altus''), historically refers to the contrapuntal part higher than the tenor and its associated vocal range. In four-part voice leading alto is the second-highest part, sung in ch ...

, SSAA. The names are also used for music especially composed for such groups.

History

In Egypt, women's choirs were documented for singers in temples since the Middle Kingdom. In

Assyria Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , ''māt Aššur'') was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization that existed as a city-state from the 21st century BC to the 14th century BC and eventually expanded into an empire from the 14th century BC t ...

and

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

, women's choirs sang to honour a victorious king. Women's choirs appeared in ancient Greek tragedy. Laments of deaths were performed by groups of women in Assyria and Judaism, among others. In early Christianity, responsorial singing was practiced by women alternating with men, but with the late 4th century, women's singing in church was repressed. In nuns' monasteries, singing of women's choirs was regular in church services.

Hildegard von Bingen Hildegard of Bingen OSB (, ; ; 17 September 1179), also known as the Sibyl of the Rhine, was a German Benedictine abbess and polymath active as a writer, composer, philosopher, mystic, visionary, and as a medical writer and practitioner ...

composed sacred plays with music for women's choir. Venetian orphanages () for girls became a focus for music for women's voices. The girls received musical training, beginning in the 16th century, and their concerts attracted tourists for centuries. Composers such as

Giovanni Legrenzi Giovanni Legrenzi (baptized August 12, 1626 – May 27, 1690) was an Italian composer of opera, vocal and instrumental music, and organist, of the Baroque era. He was one of the most prominent composers in Venice in the late 17th century, and ext ...

Johann Rosenmüller Johann Rosenmüller (1619 – 10 September 1684) was a German Baroque music, Baroque composer, who played a part in transmitting Italian musical styles to the north. Career Rosenmüller was born in Oelsnitz, Vogtland, Oelsnitz, near Plauen in El ...

Johann Adolph Hasse Johann Adolph Hasse (baptised 25 March 1699 – 16 December 1783) was an 18th-century German composer, singer and teacher of music. Immensely popular in his time, Hasse was best known for his prolific operatic output, though he also composed a co ...

Nicola Porpora Nicola (or Niccolò) Antonio Giacinto Porpora (17 August 16863 March 1768) was an Italian composer and teacher of singing of the Baroque era, whose most famous singing students were the castrati Farinelli and Caffarelli. Other students include ...

Baldassare Galuppi Baldassare Galuppi (18 October 17063 January 1785) was a Venetian composer, born on the island of Burano in the Venetian Republic. He belonged to a generation of composers, including Johann Adolph Hasse, Giovanni Battista Sammartini, and C.&nbs ...

Niccolò Jommelli Niccolò Jommelli (; 10 September 1714 – 25 August 1774) was an Italian composer of the Neapolitan School. Along with other composers mainly in the Holy Roman Empire and France, he was responsible for certain operatic reforms including redu ...

Domenico Cimarosa Domenico Cimarosa (; 17 December 1749 – 11 January 1801) was an Music of Italy, Italian composer of the Neapolitan School and of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He wrote more than eighty operas, the best known of which is ''Il ...

and

Antonio Vivaldi Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741) was an Italian composer, virtuoso violinist, impresario of Baroque music and Roman Catholic priest. Regarded as one of the greatest Baroque composers, Vivaldi's influence during his lif ...

wrote choral and instrumental compositions for these institutions.

Charles Burney Charles Burney (7 April 1726 – 12 April 1814) was an English music historian, composer and musician. He was the father of the writers Frances Burney and Sarah Burney, of the explorer James Burney, and of Charles Burney, a classicis ...

Johann Joachim Quantz Johann Joachim Quantz (; 30 January 1697 – 12 July 1773) was a German composer, flute, flutist and flute maker of the late Baroque music, Baroque period. Much of his professional career was spent in the court of Frederick the Great, where he s ...

and

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...

reported positively of performances. Usually the choral music was set for four vocal parts, two soprano and two alto parts. Some lists contain names classified as

tenor A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...

and

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

Johann Friedrich Reichardt Johann Friedrich Reichardt (25 November 1752 – 27 June 1814) was a German composer, writer and music critic. Early life Reichardt was born in Königsberg, East Prussia, to lutenist and ''Stadtmusiker'' Johann Reichardt (1720–1780). Johann F ...

mentioned in 1791 women tenors in a bass function.

Contemporary women's choirs

Women's choirs have a tradition in many countries. They are frequent in schools, colleges and universities. Some, such as the Mädchenkantorei Limburg, a group at the Limburg Cathedral founded in 1971, are associated with ecclesiastical organizations. Others operate independently, such as the Mädchenchor Hannover, an award-winning choir of girls and young women founded in 1951 in Hanover, the

Anna Crusis Women's Choir The ANNA Crusis Feminist Choir is the longest-running feminist choir in the United States, founded in 1975 by Catherine Roma, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. History Catherine Roma formed the Anna Crusis Women's Choir in 1975 after moving to P ...

, the oldest feminist choir in the U.S. founded in 1975, and the Melodia Women's Choir, founded in 2003 to promote new music.

References

External links

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Women's Choral Groups
singers.com {{authority control Women's choirs Types of musical groups