A choir is a group of singers who perform together. It is also called a chorale or chorus, which comes from the Latin word "chorus," meaning a dance in a circle. Choral music is the music written for choirs to perform or the music that choirs play. Choirs may sing music from the classical music tradition, which includes songs from the medieval era to today, or they may perform popular music. Most choirs are directed by a conductor, who uses hand movements, facial expressions, and gestures to guide the group during performances.

The word "choir" is often used for groups connected to a church, even if they are not in the quire area. A chorus, however, typically performs in theaters or concert halls. This difference is not always clear. Choirs may sing without instruments or with accompaniment from a piano, accordion, pipe organ, small group, or orchestra.

A choir can be a part of a larger group. For example, an orchestra may have a "woodwind choir," or a piece of music might include different "choirs" of voices or instruments. In many oratorios and masses from the 18th century to today, "chorus" or "choir" refers to having more than one singer for each musical part, unlike the quartet of soloists that also appear in these works.

Structure

Choirs are usually directed by a conductor, choirmaster, or choir director. Most choirs have four sections that sing in four-part harmony, but the number of parts can vary depending on how many singers are available. For example, Thomas Tallis wrote a 40-part motet called Spem in alium for eight choirs with five parts each. Krzysztof Penderecki’s Stabat Mater includes three choirs with 16 voices each, totaling 48 parts. Other common numbers of parts are three, five, six, and eight.

Choirs may sing with or without instruments. Singing without instruments is often called a cappella, though some groups prefer the term "unaccompanied" instead. Instruments that accompany choirs can range from a single piano or pipe organ to a full orchestra with 70 to 100 musicians. During rehearsals, choirs often use a piano or organ even if a different instrumentation is planned for the final performance. With modern technology, small groups can use electronic devices and learning tracks for practice.

Choirs perform in many places, such as churches, opera houses, schools, and village halls. Sometimes, multiple choirs join together to form a "massed choir" for special concerts, where they perform a series of songs or musical pieces to celebrate or entertain.

Conducting is the skill of leading a musical performance, such as a choral concert, using visible gestures with the hands, arms, face, and head. A conductor or choirmaster is responsible for uniting performers, setting the tempo, using clear signals for timing, and shaping the sound of the group.

In most choirs, one person may serve as the musical director (who selects the music and works with soloists and accompanists), the chorusmaster (who trains and rehearses singers), and the conductor (who leads the performance). These roles may be separated in larger ensembles, such as in opera.

Conductors typically stand on a raised platform and may use a baton or conduct with their hands. A baton helps make gestures more visible, but some conductors prefer using their hands for more expressive movements, especially with smaller groups. In recent years, most conductors do not play an instrument while leading a performance, though in earlier times, conductors often played an instrument, such as a harpsichord or violin, while directing. In musical theater, conductors may also play the piano while leading an orchestra. During performances, communication is usually non-verbal, but during rehearsals, conductors often give verbal instructions since they also guide the group’s artistic interpretation of the music.

Conductors help choirs by selecting the music they perform and studying the scores. They may make adjustments to the music, such as changing the tempo or assigning vocal solos, and share their vision with the singers. If a choir performs with an orchestra, the conductor may also lead the instrumentalists. Conductors also handle tasks like scheduling rehearsals, planning concerts, holding auditions, and promoting their ensemble through the media.

In worship services

Historically, the types of music sung can be divided into sacred or religious music and secular music. Although many religious songs were written for concerts, they originally served a purpose within religious services.

Similar to Jewish groups after the Diaspora in the early centuries, early Christians generally agreed that musical instruments should not be used in worship. Early writers believed that divine worship should focus on the human voice without musical accompaniment.

Many Eastern Orthodox Christian churches, certain American Protestant groups, and traditional Jewish synagogues do not use musical instruments during their songs. In Western Rite churches, the organ is typically the instrument used for accompaniment. However, in colonial America, the Moravian Church used string and wind instruments. Churches that use modern worship styles often use a small amplified band to accompany singing. Roman Catholic churches may choose to use orchestral music for accompaniment.

In addition to leading songs that involve the congregation, such as hymns and service music, some church choirs perform full religious services, including specific songs tied to different times of the year, like introits, graduals, and communion antiphons. In Christianity, the Evangelical Lutheran, Anglican, and Roman Catholic churches are among those that perform these complete liturgies. However, it is more common for churches to perform anthems or motets at specific times during services. A church meeting called the Second Vatican Council stated that choirs have an important role in religious services like Mass. Singing together helps make religious rituals more meaningful. In early Christianity, singing was an important part of church life, helping to approve certain hymns and giving believers a sense of spiritual connection.

Types

Choirs are often grouped by the gender and age of their members because these factors influence the sound and type of music a choir performs. The following list shows the most common types of choirs, starting with the most common and moving to less common ones.

• Adult mixed choir: This is the most common type, made up of both men and women. It usually includes soprano, alto, tenor, and bass voices, often shortened to SATB. Sometimes, voices are split into two parts, such as SSAATTBB or SATBSATB. In smaller choirs with fewer men, SAB (soprano, alto, and baritone) is used, allowing men to sing both tenor and bass parts.

• Male and boy choir: This type includes boys and men, with boys singing the higher parts (called trebles or boy sopranos) and men singing the lower parts (called alto in falsetto, also known as countertenors). This was common in British cathedrals, but now many cathedrals include women, and by 2019, more women than men sang in English cathedral choirs.

• Men’s chorus: This choir includes only adult men, with low voices. It usually includes two tenors, a baritone, and a bass, often shortened to TTBB. Sometimes, it is written as ATBB if the upper part sings in a higher range.

• Boys’ choir: This choir includes boys, often singing in SSA or SSAA. Some choirs include a cambiata or tenor part for boys whose voices are changing and a baritone part for boys whose voices have fully changed.

• Women’s choir: This choir includes only adult women, with high voices. It usually includes soprano and alto voices, often shortened to SSAA or SSA. If all members are young, the term "girls’ choir" is used.

• Children’s mixed choir: This choir includes both boys and girls, often singing in two parts (SA) or three parts (SSA).

All-female and mixed children’s choirs are less common than choirs with boys, men, or full SATB choirs. This is partly because there are fewer scholarships and professional opportunities for women in some roles, such as lay clerks or musical directors.

Choirs are also grouped by the places where they perform:

• Church choirs (including cathedral choirs)
• Chorale (Kantorei), which focuses on sacred Christian music
• Collegiate and university choirs
• Community choirs (for children or adults)
• Professional choirs, which may be independent (e.g., Anúna, the Sixteen) or supported by the government (e.g., BBC Singers, Swedish Radio Choir)
• School choirs
• Signing choirs, which use sign language instead of singing
• Integrated choirs, which use both sign language and singing, led by a signductor and a musical director
• Cambiata choirs, for boys whose voices are changing
• Virtual choirs, where members do not meet in person, some starting during the COVID-19 pandemic

Some choirs are grouped by the type of music they perform:

• Bach choirs
• Barbershop music groups
• Gospel choirs
• Show choirs, where members sing and dance, similar to musicals
• Symphonic choirs
• Vocal jazz choirs

In the United States, middle schools and high schools often offer choir as a class or activity. Some choirs compete, and one popular type in high schools is the show choir. During middle school and high school, students’ voices change. While girls also experience voice changes, boys’ changes are more noticeable. Much of the music education research focuses on how male voices change and how to help boys sing during this time. Research by John Cooksey divides male voice changes into five stages, and most middle school boys are in the early stages. Choir teachers must adapt to the limited vocal range of students during these changes.

In the U.S., fewer boys than girls join choirs. Researchers have studied why fewer boys participate, with some suggesting that boys may leave choir in middle school if it does not fit their schedules. Others note that schools often have women’s choirs to balance mixed choirs, but this can reduce opportunities for boys to sing. Some studies suggest that creating ensembles or workshops for boys can help improve their confidence and singing skills.

British cathedral choirs are usually made up of students from schools.

Arrangements on stage

There are different opinions about how choir members should be arranged on stage. The conductor decides where each group of singers stands. In symphonic choirs, it is common (but not always done) to place the choir behind the orchestra, with the highest voices on the left and the lowest on the right, matching the usual arrangement of string instruments. In a cappella or piano-accompanied performances, it is often seen for men to stand in the back and women in the front. Some conductors place basses behind sopranos, believing this helps the outer voices tune together.

More experienced choirs may mix all voice types together. Sometimes singers with the same voice type are grouped in pairs or small groups. Supporters of this method say it helps singers hear and match other parts more easily, but it requires each singer to be more independent. Critics argue this method reduces the clear separation of voices, which helps the audience hear individual parts, and weakens the strong sound created by groups of singers. For music with two or more choirs, members of each choir are usually together, sometimes far apart, especially in performances of 16th-century music, like works in the Venetian polychoral style. Some composers, such as Benjamin Britten in War Requiem, specifically instruct choirs to be separated. Others use separated choirs to create "antiphonal" effects, where one choir responds to the other in a musical conversation.

The distance between singers is also important. Studies show that not only the shape of the group but also how much space exists around them (side to side and all around) affects how singers and listeners hear the music.

History

The beginnings of choral music can be traced to traditional music, as singing in large groups has been common in many cultures throughout history. Some groups sang in unison, like in Ancient Greece, while others sang in harmony, similar to modern choral music in Europe.

The oldest surviving choral music is from ancient Greece. Examples include the Delphic hymns from the 2nd century BC and the hymns of Mesomedes from the 2nd century AD. In ancient Greek drama, a group called the chorus performed together. Fragments of plays by Euripides and Sophocles, such as Orestes and Ajax, have been found on ancient paper. The Seikilos epitaph, dating to the 2nd century BC, is a complete song, though it may have been meant for a single singer. Another example, the Oxyrhynchus hymn from the 3rd century, is important because it is one of the earliest examples of Christian music.

Very little is known about the music of Roman drama. Only one line of music from the playwright Terence has survived, but experts now believe it may not be genuine.

The earliest written music in Western Europe is called Gregorian chant, along with other types of chant that were later used or banned by the Catholic Church. This style of singing in unison lasted from the 4th century to the present day. During the Middle Ages, a new style of music called organum developed, where multiple melodies were sung at the same time. At first, only one person sang each part, but later, more singers shared parts. This led to styles like clausulae, conductus, and the motet, which involved different texts sung together. The first evidence of multiple singers sharing parts appears in the Old Hall Manuscript from 1420, which includes music from the late 14th century.

During the Renaissance, sacred choral music was the most common type of written music in Western Europe. Hundreds of masses and motets, along with other forms, were written for choirs to sing without instruments. Some well-known composers from this time include Guillaume Dufay, Josquin des Prez, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, John Dunstable, and William Byrd. Choirs across Europe performed this music, and it is still popular today.

A new type of music called the madrigal began during the Renaissance. Originally, madrigals were sung by small groups in Italy, often about love or myths. Later, they were adapted in England to include more lively, dance-like songs. Today, the word "madrigal" is often used to describe these English-style songs rather than the original Italian ones.

The way voices worked together in Renaissance polyphony influenced music for centuries. Composers still study the "Palestrina style" today, as described by the 18th-century theorist Johann Joseph Fux. Composers in the early 20th century also used Renaissance-inspired styles, such as Herbert Howells’ Mass in the Dorian mode and Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Mass in G minor. Anton Webern studied Renaissance techniques in his research on the Choralis Constantinus by Heinrich Isaac.

The Baroque period, beginning around 1600, introduced the figured bass and the basso continuo system. This system involved a bass line played by instruments like the harpsichord or lute, along with a bass instrument like the violone. Baroque vocal music explored dramatic styles, such as the monodies from the Florentine Camerata and the development of early opera. This was an extension of earlier practices where choirs were accompanied by the organ.

A new genre called vocal stile concertato combined voices and instruments. This style may have started with the polychoral music of the Venetian school. Claudio Monteverdi perfected this style in his Vespers and Eighth Book of Madrigals, which required skilled singers and instrumentalists. His student, Heinrich Schütz, introduced this style to Germany. While new styles like seconda pratica developed, older styles like stile antico continued to be used until the 19th century. Choirs during this time were usually small, with singers trained for church or chamber music. Monteverdi, who was a singer, performed his Magnificat with one voice per part.

Instrumental accompaniment allowed for new forms of choral music. Verse anthems combined solo singing with choral sections, with composers like Orlando Gibbons and Henry Purcell writing many of these. Grands motets, such as those by Lully and Delalande, separated these sections into movements. Oratorios, pioneered by Giacomo Carissimi, expanded this idea into longer concert works based on religious or moral stories.

A major example of Baroque choral music is George Frideric Handel’s Messiah and Israel in Egypt. Handel used different groups of singers, from soloists to larger ensembles, long before modern choirs of hundreds existed.

Lutheran composers wrote cantatas with instrumental accompaniment, often based on hymns. Important examples from the late 17th century include the works of Dietrich Buxtehude. Later, composers like Georg Philipp Telemann and Christoph Graupner wrote many cantatas. Johann Sebastian Bach’s cantatas are among the most famous, though he rarely used the term "cantata." His church music without orchestral accompaniment was called motet, while works with instruments included his Passions, Masses, Magnificat, and cantatas.

A current topic of debate is the "Rifkin hypothesis," which re-examines a 1730 letter Bach wrote to the Leipzig City Council titled A Short but Most Necessary Dra.