Voice for Life Songbooks
It is vitally important, if you want to engage the singers in a choir, to choose the right repertoire. A range of repertoire is being developed in line with the Voice for Life philosophy to give singers the opportunity to:
- enjoy using their voices
- learn to use their voices well
- experience a range of musical styles
- sing both accompanied and a cappella
- develop their musical skills and understanding
Voice for Life Songbook
The Voice for Life Songbook contains a range of material compiled with young people and singers at beginner and intermediate levels in mind. With traditional church music, gospel and jazz, and songs from around the world, this volume will appeal to singers of all ages, and provide your choir with the opportunity to explore a range of musical styles.
The vocal parts are photocopiable so you only need to purchase one book for your choir. It also comes with a demonstration CD to provide guidance on how the songs sound, and also for those who are not confident at reading music, so they can listen to their part and learn it.
There are training notes which accompany each piece to provide ideas about how to introduce each song in rehearsals, ideas for a creative performance, and how to use the song to develop your singers’ voices and musical understanding.
There is an additional CD of piano accompaniments available for purchase which you can use in rehearsals if you do not have a pianist.
Voice for Life Festival Services
Every year the Voice for Life team produces a new themed festival service. This is part of the RSCM’s outreach to encourage and inspire singers. The services are produced for two purposes:
- annually, the RSCM invites schools and church choirs to bring boys and girls to sing in our Young Voices Festivals under expert music direction in beautiful venues across the UK. Individual items from the Voice for Life festival service books can subsequently be used in a choir’s home church or school in special services, concerts or assemblies.
- to provide the resources for choirs to put on their own special service in their church, school or community. The music is arranged for equal voices and can therefore be used by mixed voice or upper voice choirs. Choirs might use the Festival Service as a fundraising event, or to mark RSCM Music Sunday. One of the most recent services ‘Road to Freedom’ is particularly pertinent this year, as we celebrate the bicentenary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act.
What is included in a Voice for Life Festival Service?
- all the musical items
- liturgy and prayers
- readings (including bible readings, poetry and prose)
- an order of service to photocopy and hand out to your congregation
- musical quiz sheets
- the majority of Festival Services include audio recordings of the pieces, and piano accompaniments that you can sing to in rehearsals if needed Voice for Life Young Voices Festivals 2007
Voice for Life Festival Services
Each Festival Service is designed to help you put on a performance of the service in your own church, school or community.
How can I keep from singing?
To mark the 80th anniversary of the RSCM in 2007, this year’s service, entitled ‘How can I keep from singing?’, celebrates the joy of song. It combines much-loved traditional hymns with uplifting new songs and anthems from the Voice for Life Songbook in a wide range of musical styles.
In order to reduce the cost to those choirs who wish to use the Voice for Life Festival Service, this year choirs will not have to buy copies for each individual singer as has happened in previous years. Instead, each choir need purchase only a single copy of the How can I keep from singing? CD-ROM and a Voice for Life Songbook. These include all the musical and liturgical resources for the service which can be photocopied as many times as necessary. This flexible format will, we hope, prove useful throughout the year for assemblies, concerts and other occasions.
As the Voice for Life Songbook contains 35 songs in addition to those that are part of this year’s festival service – as well as extensive training notes, a demonstration CD, plus advice on warming-up and rehearsing your choir – we hope you will consider this a very worthwhile investment. Please note that we also plan to use other items from this book in future festival services. A CD of piano accompaniments is also available separately.
Designed for use with the Voice for Life Songbook, the How can I keep from singing? CD ROM contains the following resources an order of service for distribution at your event, all the hymns, prayers and readings in the service, and musical quiz sheets.
Road to Freedom
Road to Freedom is a celebration of African and Gospel music. It tells the powerful story of the African-American people and their journey from slavery to liberation. It also considers the way in which we are all on a road to freedom through faith and hope.
The repertoire includes catchy African songs, fresh new arrangements of well-known spirituals and uplifting music from the gospel tradition. Each of the individual items can be used throughout the school year for assemblies, concerts and other occasions.
There is a Road to Freedom service book, and also a CD ROM which includes demonstrations of each of the musical items and recordings of the accompaniments for use in rehearsals. It also contains an order of service that you can print out for use in your own church or school, educational quiz sheets on slavery and gospel music, plus tips on warming up your choir.
Care for the world
An inspirational service focusing on the environment and considering our responsibility as stewards of God’s creation. The service draws together a wide variety of musical styles including African folk music, jazz, anthems and hymns, with contributions from Bob Chilcott, Andrew Carter, Mozart, Beethoven, John Harper and Geoff Weaver.
There is a CD ROM available containing performances of all the music in the service and separate recordings of the accompaniments for use in rehearsals. It also contains an order of service that you can print out for use in your church or school, and educational quiz sheets based on environmental themes.
Bread for the hungry
A thought provoking service focusing on major themes in Christian life: poverty and hunger, harvest, One World Week and Christ the Bread of Life. The service brings together spirituals and folk music from Africa and America with the English tradition of anthems and hymns. Exciting new pieces were composed especially for this collection by John Barnard, John Harper, Philip Moore and Geoff Weaver.
A rehearsal CD is available with performances of each of the musical items and separate recordings of the accompaniments for use in rehearsals.
Voice for Life Repertoire for awards
To help singers and choir trainers prepare for the Bronze and Silver awards, the RSCM has produced two repertoire collections with these awards in mind.
The Bronze Collection
The Bronze Collection is a comprehensive and varied selection of 34 easy anthems and songs, including many favourites as well as specially commissioned works.
Chosen with the Bronze award syllabus of the Voice for Life scheme firmly in mind, this collection provides choirs with an indispensable selection of anthems covering the entire Church’s year at a consistent level of difficulty.
The Silver Collection
The Silver Collection is a comprehensive and varied selection of 30 anthems; many specially commissioned and published for the first time.
Chosen with the Silver award syllabus of the Voice for Life scheme firmly in mind, this collection provides choirs with an exciting selection of anthems covering the entire Church’s year at a consistent level of difficulty.