Homophonic arrangements are worthwhile for a choir. In such scores, all choir members sing the same lyrics at the same time. In this way, there is a strong connection between the singers and the choir will have a strong unified performance on stage. Below are the advantages of homophonic pieces.
Rhythmical simplicity
If the parts of a score are rhythmically independent, the singers have to be solid in their timing, making sure all rhythms fit together. In a homophonic arrangement timing is less of a problem. The voice groups are singing the same rhythms, thus they are helping each other.
Textual simplicity
Suppose only a single voice group is having lyrics, because it has the lead. In a choir of twenty singers, we’re talking of five singers for example. On a performance, with all the nerves involved, it might occur that a few of these singers are making mistakes in the lyrics. As a result, the other singers might start to hesitate and the whole voice group might fall apart. In a homophonic arrangement something like that won’t happen easily. Because the full choir is singing lyrics individual mistakes won’t stand out that much.
All singers are engaged
Because all choir members sing lyrics, everyone is concious of the subject of the song. Thus, the group will convey the meaning more strongly on stage.
All parts show variation
Lyrics make singing interesting. With it, the verses are different. Accompanying sounds, like doo and ah, mostly show less variation.
The basses will be closer to the rest of the singers
Bass lines sound good if they are sung on dark vowels on low notes. In a lot of scores, the basses therefore sing a lot of low notes and a lot of dm’s. The danger is that in this way the basses loose contact with the other singers of the group. For them there is little need to blend with the other singers. As a result, basses may start to sing flat. To prevent this from happening, it helps to sing homophonic pieces. The basses get the possibily to make other sounds than dm of doo. This will help to re-establish the connection between basses and other singers. On top that, in homophonic arrangements bass parts often lie somewhat higher. In this way the basses will get to use the upper part of their range as well, which is good for the singing technique.
In a concert with a choir, I always program a couple of homophonic pieces, maybe as much as a third of the total number of songs.