Clara Schumann's lovely Sechs Lieder, Opus 13, is an intriguing setting of extremely romantic poems of Herine, Geibel and Rckert. Written in the first weeks of a long awaited marriage, she captures their intimacy and the naturalistic elements of nineteenth century poetry. Virginia Davidson's tasteful arrangements for SSA ensembles serve to make these beautiful pieces accessible for choral groups from young to mature women. Both vocal range and piano accompaniment are welll within the ability of most musicians.

Composer: Virginia Davidson

Originally called As Fair As Morn, this piece is a simple example of three-part imitative counterpoint. The lowest part was originally written in the tenor clef and was intended for the tenor voice. The text is one of the earliest of the Ambrosian hymns, 6th century or earlier, this hymn is used from Easter Sunday until Ascension. In the Breviary revision of 1632 by Pope Urban VIII the hymn was so greatly altered that only three lines of the original remained and thus is really a different hymn entirely. The revised hymn can be found under the title of Ad regias Agni dapes.

Composer: Stephen DeCesare