Part song facts for kids

A part song is a type of choral music. It's a song for several singers that uses words about everyday life or non-religious topics. Sometimes it uses sacred words that are not part of a church service.

Part songs are often sung by a choir with four parts: Soprano, Alto, Tenor, and Bass (called SATB). But they can also be for groups of all male or all female singers. This music usually has one main tune (the melody) sung by the highest voice. The other voices sing harmonies that support the main tune. This is different from madrigals, where many tunes play at the same time. Part songs are usually sung a cappella, which means without any instruments. Instruments are only used if the composer specifically asks for them.

The Start of Part Songs

Part songs first appeared in Great Britain. They grew out of an older type of song called a glee. Over time, part songs became more popular than glees. A famous composer named Felix Mendelssohn (1809–1847) also greatly influenced them.

The rise of part songs was connected to the growth of choral societies in the 1800s. These were large groups of people who loved to sing together. Choral societies were much bigger than the older glee clubs.

Famous Composers of Part Songs

Many British composers wrote part songs. Early composers included John Liptrot Hatton, R. J. S. Stevens, Henry Smart, and George Alexander Macfarren. Macfarren was especially known for setting the words of William Shakespeare to music.

Around the year 1900, part songs were very popular. Hubert Parry, Charles Villiers Stanford, and Edward Elgar were the main composers then. They often chose serious and thoughtful English poems to set to music. These poems were from their own time or from earlier periods.

Later, other important composers added to the part song style. These included Ralph Vaughan Williams, Granville Bantock, Arnold Bax, Peter Warlock, Gustav Holst, and Benjamin Britten. Over time, part songs became more complex in their structure and how the different voices interacted.

Part Songs and Folk Music

Composers have also used the part song style to arrange traditional folk songs. They have made beautiful versions of folk songs from Scotland, England, Wales, and Ireland.

Part Songs in Ukraine

In Ukraine, part songs took the place of an older style called Znamenny chant. About 50 years before part songs arrived, the old way of writing music notes changed. It became more like the modern way we write music today.

Religious groups called Orthodox fraternities helped bring party singing to Ukraine. They opened schools at monasteries. They also started teaching part songs in church choirs. The first time this was mentioned was in the 1590s, linked to the Lviv Stauropean Brotherhood.

A famous book called "Musical Grammar" by Mykola Diletsky explained how part songs worked. It is the only book from that time about part song theory that we still have today.

Types of Part Songs

Part songs are grouped based on how many voices they have and how the voices sing together. There are three main groups:

• Party concerts: These are works with 8 or more voices.
• Party motets: These are works with 6 or fewer voices, where the voices change how they sing together.
• Party works with constant polyphony: These have voices singing different tunes at the same time in a steady way.

Part songs are also divided by the topics of their words and their musical style:

• Vivatno-panegyric: These are joyful songs that praise someone or something.
• Lyrical-dramatic: These are more emotional songs, sometimes about sadness or asking for forgiveness.

Examples

• Ye spotted snakes, words by Shakespeare, music by R. J. S. Stevens
• Orpheus with his lute, words by Shakespeare, music by George MacFarren
• The Long Day Closes, words by Henry Chorley, music by Arthur Sullivan
• Lay a garland, music by Robert Lucas de Pearsall
• O wild west wind, words by Shelley, music by Edward Elgar
• Three Shakespeare Songs – words by Shakespeare, music by Vaughan Williams
• Loch Lomond, a traditional Scottish song, arranged by Vaughan Williams
• Five Flower Songs, words by four different writers, music by Benjamin Britten

See also

In Spanish: Part song para niños