Solas (Full Orchestra): Choral Instrumental Pak
By Heather Sorenson
Item: 35-PK01740906
$375.00
Pickup currently not available
Buy Extra Parts (Digital PDF Download)
Parts Added to Cart!
Description
Solas is a 35-minute SATB choral work by Heather Sorenson, accompanied by full or chamber orchestra, with optional narration. Centered around the five foundational pillars of the Christian faith - Sola Scriptura, Sola Gratia, Sola Fide, Solus Christus, and Soli Deo Gloria - this powerful composition is sung in both Latin and English. Designed for the concert hall or sanctuary, Solas offers a balance of accessibility and depth, giving choirs both a meaningful message and substantial musical material. With its blend of theological richness and emotional resonance, this work invites performers and listeners into a stirring journey of faith and worship.
Solas (Full Orchestra): Choral Instrumental Pak isn't in MakeMusic Cloud just yet...but it could be. Let us know you'd like to see it, and you'll help shape what comes next. In the meantime, start a free trial and dive into thousands of interactive titles your students can play along with today.
Request This Title
Tell us you want it.
Start Your Free Trial
Explore everything that's ready to play right now.
Sample Audio
No sample audio found.
Sample Video
No sample videos found.
Additional Details
Publisher:
Hal Leonard
SKU:
35-PK01740906
More about this title
About the Composer: Heather Sorenson
Heather Sorenson has built an international reputation as a composer and orchestrator whose works span sacred and contemporary idioms with equal fluency. Based in Dallas, she draws commissions from universities, foundations, and churches worldwide; her recent projects include a Carnegie Hall premiere and works for Texas A&M University. Her background as a pianist informs the technical sophistication of her instrumental writing, while her teaching experience at Grace Academy and Baylor University has sharpened her instinct for writing music that challenges without overwhelming.
Sorenson's distinctive voice emerges from her refusal to stay in one lane. She moves between traditional hymnic language and contemporary compositional techniques, often blending both within a single work. Her guest conducting and speaking engagements at worship conferences, universities, and churches across America keep her connected to the practitioners who perform her music. When not composing, she organizes benefit concerts for nonprofit organizations, embedding service into her artistic practice.
Why we love this
Sorenson gives you a 35-minute work that functions equally well in the concert hall or the sanctuary, without sacrificing musical substance to accessibility. The integration of Latin and English, paired with the optional narration, creates architectural clarity around five theological anchors, so your singers know exactly what they're building toward even if they've never sung liturgical Latin before. You get full orchestration but chamber options too, which means this scales to your ensemble without compromise.
What to expect
Solas unfolds with the structural weight of an oratorio but maintains an emotional intimacy that draws listeners inward. The alternation between Latin and English, combined with Sorenson's harmonic language, creates moments of both luminous clarity and meditative depth, inviting the choir and audience into something simultaneously grand and personal.
Who it's for
Collegiate and high-level high school choirs with singers who read comfortably in both clefs and can sustain a long-form work. This also suits professional or semi-professional sacred music ensembles that program across liturgical and concert contexts. Directors seeking repertoire that merges theological substance with genuine musical architecture will find Solas rewarding for audiences and singers alike.
How to get the most out of it
- Rehearse the Latin texts slowly with attention to vowel consistency across the ensemble; Sorenson's harmonic language will reveal itself more clearly when diction is locked.
- If using the optional narration, establish clear cueing between the speaker and conductor well before dress rehearsal so the pacing feels inevitable rather than stop-and-start.
- Balance the orchestra carefully in full-orchestra sections; the richness of Sorenson's orchestration can easily cover choral detail if the accompaniment isn't controlled dynamically.
How to use it
This works as a standalone concert event or as the centerpiece of a sacred music program where it can anchor the second half with weight and grandeur. You might also place it strategically in the liturgical year at your church or university, letting the five theological pillars inform your worship season.
Skills your students will build
- Singing in Latin with clear, consistent vowels and idiomatic phrasing
- Managing extended harmonic structures and voice independence in complex textures
- Sustaining musicality across a 35-minute arch without losing focus
- Balancing ensemble sound with orchestral accompaniment across full and chamber configurations
- Integrating optional narration cues and text-driven expression into ensemble cohesion