May 2023 Update from Musica International

Apr 20

Published: Apr 20,2023

Have you considered organizing a concert around the theme of the Four Elements (air, water, fire, earth)?

Musica International database (www.musicanet.org or https://www.ifcm.net/service/access-to-musica-international-database for IFCM members) is an ideal resource for building a concert program around a given theme, particularly because the database is developed as a collaborative project in which all choral musicians are invited to participate. As Musica International is a structured database, conductors can obtain specific, targeted responses by combining multiple and different search criteria.

As an example, Musica International suggested the Four Elements theme in its recent newsletter (https://www.musicanet.org/musicamail/202303/202303_en.html) and invited everyone to share their favorite pieces which might fit within a Four Elements themed program.

Here is a sampling of the proposals received:

"Clair flambeau du monde (l’air, la terre et l’onde)" from Les Indes Galantes by Jean-Philippe Rameau: https://www.musicanet.org/bdd/en/score/151461-clair-flambeau-du-monde-jean-philippe-rameau
“Let them not say” by Chris Hutchings: https://www.musicanet.org/bdd/en/score/118448-let-them-not-say-chris-hutchings
“Power of nature” by Alwin Schronen: https://www.musicanet.org/bdd/en/score/172274-power-of-nature-alwin-michael-schronen

A new keyword, or , has been created for all the scores related to this topic. You can now use the keyword to begin your search and then narrow it down by including additional criteria such as voicing, key, duration, type of choir, genre, difficulty, other keywords, and more.

If you have a choral piece which refers to one or more of the Four Elements, contact Musica International at librarian@musicanet.org. If the score is already labeled in the database, Musica’s librarian will add the keyword to the respective descriptive record. Otherwise, if there is sufficient information on a piece that is not yet included in the database, a new record will be created.