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==Origin==
[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=English#ca._1100-1500_.09THE_MIDDLE_ENGLISH_PERIOD Middle English] ''quer'', from Anglo-French ''queor'', from Medieval Latin ''chorus'', from [[Latin]], chorus
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/14th_century 14th Century]
==Definitions==
*1: an organized company of [[singers]] (as in a [[church]] service)
*2: a group of instruments of the same class <a brass choir>
*3: an organized [[group]] of [[persons]] or things
*4: a division of [[angels]]
*5: the part of a [[church]] occupied by the [[singers]] or by the clergy; also : the part of a church where the services are performed
*6: a group organized for ensemble [[speaking]]
==Description==
A '''choir''', ''chorale'' or ''chorus'' is a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musical_ensemble musical ensemble] of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the [[music]] [[written]] specifically for such an ensemble to [[perform]].
A body of singers who [[perform]] [[together]] as a [[group]] is called a choir or chorus. The former term is very often applied to [[groups]] affiliated with a [[church]] (whether or not they actually occupy the choir) and the second to groups that perform in [[theatres]] or [[concert]] halls, but this distinction is far from rigid.
The term "Choir" has the secondary [[definition]] of a subset of an ensemble; thus one speaks of the "woodwind choir" of an [[orchestra]], or different "choirs" of [[voices]] and/or instruments in a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venetian_polychoral_style polychoral] [[composition]]. In typical 18th- to 21st-century [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oratorio oratorios] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_(music) masses], chorus or choir is usually [[understood]] to imply more than one singer per part, in [[contrast]] to the quartet of soloists also featured in these works.
The [[origins]] of choral music are found in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traditional_music traditional music], as singing in big groups is extremely widely spread in traditional cultures (both singing in one part, or in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unison unison], like in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Greece Ancient Greece], as well as singing in parts, or in [[harmony]], like in contemporary European choral music).[3]
The oldest unambiguously choral [[repertory]] that survives is that of ancient Greece, of which the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/200_BC 2nd century BC] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delphic_hymns Delphic hymns] and the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/200_AD 2nd century AD]. hymns of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesomedes Mesomedes] are the most complete. The original [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_chorus Greek chorus] sang its part in Greek drama, and fragments of works by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euripides Euripides] ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orestes_(play) Orestes]) and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophocles Sophocles] ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajax_(Sophocles) Ajax]) are known from papyri. The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seikilos_epitaph Seikilos epitaph] (2c BC) is a complete [[song]] (although possibly for solo voice). One of the latest examples, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxyrhynchus_hymn Oxyrhynchus hymn] (3c) is also of interest as the earliest Christian music.
Of the [[Roman]] drama's music a single line of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terence Terence] surfaced in the 18c. However, musicologist Thomas J. Mathiesen comments that it is no longer believed to be authentic.
[[Category: Music]]
==Origin==
[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=English#ca._1100-1500_.09THE_MIDDLE_ENGLISH_PERIOD Middle English] ''quer'', from Anglo-French ''queor'', from Medieval Latin ''chorus'', from [[Latin]], chorus
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/14th_century 14th Century]
==Definitions==
*1: an organized company of [[singers]] (as in a [[church]] service)
*2: a group of instruments of the same class <a brass choir>
*3: an organized [[group]] of [[persons]] or things
*4: a division of [[angels]]
*5: the part of a [[church]] occupied by the [[singers]] or by the clergy; also : the part of a church where the services are performed
*6: a group organized for ensemble [[speaking]]
==Description==
A '''choir''', ''chorale'' or ''chorus'' is a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musical_ensemble musical ensemble] of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the [[music]] [[written]] specifically for such an ensemble to [[perform]].
A body of singers who [[perform]] [[together]] as a [[group]] is called a choir or chorus. The former term is very often applied to [[groups]] affiliated with a [[church]] (whether or not they actually occupy the choir) and the second to groups that perform in [[theatres]] or [[concert]] halls, but this distinction is far from rigid.
The term "Choir" has the secondary [[definition]] of a subset of an ensemble; thus one speaks of the "woodwind choir" of an [[orchestra]], or different "choirs" of [[voices]] and/or instruments in a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venetian_polychoral_style polychoral] [[composition]]. In typical 18th- to 21st-century [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oratorio oratorios] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_(music) masses], chorus or choir is usually [[understood]] to imply more than one singer per part, in [[contrast]] to the quartet of soloists also featured in these works.
The [[origins]] of choral music are found in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traditional_music traditional music], as singing in big groups is extremely widely spread in traditional cultures (both singing in one part, or in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unison unison], like in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Greece Ancient Greece], as well as singing in parts, or in [[harmony]], like in contemporary European choral music).[3]
The oldest unambiguously choral [[repertory]] that survives is that of ancient Greece, of which the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/200_BC 2nd century BC] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delphic_hymns Delphic hymns] and the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/200_AD 2nd century AD]. hymns of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesomedes Mesomedes] are the most complete. The original [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_chorus Greek chorus] sang its part in Greek drama, and fragments of works by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euripides Euripides] ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orestes_(play) Orestes]) and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophocles Sophocles] ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajax_(Sophocles) Ajax]) are known from papyri. The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seikilos_epitaph Seikilos epitaph] (2c BC) is a complete [[song]] (although possibly for solo voice). One of the latest examples, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxyrhynchus_hymn Oxyrhynchus hymn] (3c) is also of interest as the earliest Christian music.
Of the [[Roman]] drama's music a single line of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terence Terence] surfaced in the 18c. However, musicologist Thomas J. Mathiesen comments that it is no longer believed to be authentic.
[[Category: Music]]
