Call For Scores

Call for scores

Our call for scores is ongoing for future concerts from 2020 onwards: please send us a score as detailed below if you would like us to perform and record your work.

Voces Inauditae is an Edinburgh based choir dedicated to the integration of lesser known composers into the world of choral music, with an emphasis on gender equality. We are mainly looking for unaccompanied choral works (though accompanied works may be an option for future concerts). We particularly welcome submissions from any social groups who are currently under-represented in classical music.

We are an amateur choir but with a high standard, and have performed several world premieres in the past. At least half of each programme contains music by female composers. We work to include composers from traditionally marginalised social groups, as well as giving up-and-coming composers the chance to premiere their work (previously-performed works are also welcome).

There is no entry fee; composers whose works are selected will receive 2 free tickets to the concert in Edinburgh where they are being sung (if you are unable to attend in person we will manage something with Skype or similar), and we aim to give all selected composers a recording of their work. You can use this recording for any purpose (e.g. promoting your work online) other than directly receiving payment for the recording – if you wish to put it on a CD or sell in other ways, this would have to be arranged separately.

We will make copies of the score for rehearsal and performance: all other copyright remains with the composer.

What are we looking for?

  • a cappella works for SATB choir (our usual maximum divisi is SSAATTBB) or any subset of SSAATTBB – pieces in unison, 2-3 parts, or upper/lower voices alone, would be fine too. Some solo passages can be included. (As of Jan 2020 we’re a bit short on basses, so divisi for lower parts should be at most TTB or TBarB; preferably just TB.)

  • Preferred duration is under 6 minutes; shorter or longer pieces will be considered, but probably nothing over 10 minutes as we want to have time to present a wide variety of works.

  • Vocal effects, speaking/whispering/shouting, spatial effects, and stamping etc. are all possible; clapping and body percussion are tricky because we usually sing while holding scores.

  • Small handheld percussion for a few singers would be an option if it is essential to the piece.

  • Please use texts which are out of copyright, or for which you have obtained copyright clearance. The choir has performed in many languages in the past, but please provide a pronunciation guide if the piece is not in a common European language, English, or Latin.

We hope to have a variety of works in each concert, with a wide range of levels of difficulty. Send us the piece you like best, though beware of the “too complex” areas mentioned below:

  • simple – 4 or fewer parts, no accidentals, straightforward rhythms, comfortable ranges (soprano middle C to high G, alto low G to high D, tenor low Bb to high G, bass low F to high D), stepwise motion or small leaps, few discords, English or Latin text (we can also sing French, German or Spanish without much difficulty)

  • complex but still within our capabilities – 7-8 parts, frequent accidentals or key changes (but still using mainly major and minor based harmonies), frequent tuplets or complicated time signature changes, wide ranges (a tone or more beyond the ranges given above), leaps of up to an octave, some clashes between parts, clusters of major seconds, text in an unfamiliar language, unusual vocal effects

  • almost certainly too complex – more than 8 parts for sustained passages (though occasional chords or aleatoric divisi could be OK), extensive atonal writing, nested tuplets, wide leaps onto discords, clusters of semitones, extensive clashes between parts, extremely high or low notes (e.g. above high C for sopranos or below low D for basses), microtones, text entirely in IPA, or a piece that includes all or most of the “complex” items above

Currently we are rather short on low basses, so pieces with bass parts that don’t go below Ab (or a quiet G) would be particularly welcome.

How do I send a piece in?

Send a score to v.inauditae@gmail.com (no need to make it anonymous), with a recording if available (MIDI is fine – if your recording is over 1MB please send a link rather than attaching it to your email), and a piano reduction if possible for pieces on 4 or more staves. Include your contact details. Please state your gender and ethnicity if you are willing to do so, as we want to make sure that under-represented groups are heard more.

Only one piece per composer please. If you are finding it hard to choose between two pieces, send us the one that you like best, even it goes a little beyond the guidelines above.

Thank you to all 62 composers who entered our last call for scores! At the moment, we are accepting emails from composers with one score each on an ongoing basis, but please do not send us more than one score per year. If we like it but it’s not right for us at the moment, we’ll ask to see other works, but please don’t send more than one to start with.