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Books > Arts & Architecture > Music > Western music, periods & styles > 20th century music
for SATB and organ Archer's setting of this well-known Christmas
text is lilting and buoyant, with a memorable melody and charming
organ interludes. Suitable for liturgical or concert use, the carol
features great textual variety, building to a rousing finish that
is sure to fill audiences with Christmas cheer!
for SAATB unaccompanied A piece made famous by the award-winning a
cappella group Vocado, Coffee Time is an upbeat dedication to the
down time we all crave, for sharing thoughts, silence, and that
aroma! Founded on classic a cappella style and sense of fun, the
piece boasts an infectious melody and bossa nova rhythm, with
sumptuous key changes, scat rhythms, and contrasting sections. The
piece is perfect for vocal groups or small- to medium-size choirs,
and has the makings of a great encore or competition piece.
Elegy, with its warmly expressive tenor-range melodies, is highly
suitable for use at funerals, while the cascading joy of Festive
Bells makes it perfect as a wedding recessional. The finely wrought
sonorities will sound to maximum effect on a large organ in a
spacious acoustic, but will nonetheless be convincing on even the
most modest of instruments. Both pieces have that warm sense of
Englishness that makes them very accessible to the first-time
listener.
for SATB double choir, children's choir, and piano Setting a text
by Charles Bennett, The White Field presents a dreamlike scene in
which blackbirds plant songs in the cold earth and await the growth
of their music. Chilcott's melodies echo through the voices, before
a climactic tutti central section giving full voice to the idea of
renewal and hope in the depth of winter. A wistful coda completes
the reverie as the blackbirds settle to await the return of the
sun. The piano part provides harmonic support and rhythmic energy
to the voice parts with chordal and semiquaver figurations
throughout the work. The White Field was commissioned by the
Barbican Centre for London Symphony Chorus and BBC Symphony Chorus
for Sound Unbound, November 2015.
for SATB, piano, and optional saxophone, bass, and drum kit
Ophelia, Caliban, and Miranda puts a jazzy twist on three
Shakespearean characters. With newly written texts by Charles
Bennett, each of the three movements focuses in on Ophelia from
Hamlet and Caliban and Miranda from The Tempest. In the funky
opener, 'River Bride', the upper voices take the part of Ophelia,
while the tenors and basses play a lover figure. Caliban's song,
'Ariel taught me how to play', is a reflective ballad in which the
slave tells Miranda, who has escaped his advances, about the spirit
helper Ariel teaching him to play the saxophone. The final
movement, 'All good things come to an end', is a sassy yet tender
number, where Miranda bids farewell to her beloved husband
Ferdinand, declaring: 'I've gone back to the island to remember who
I am'. The piano part may be played as written or serve as a guide,
and a part for saxophone, bass, and drum kit is available
separately for jazz quartet accompaniment.
for soloists, SATB, and organ Written for the Choir of Wells
Cathedral, of which Matthew Owens is Organist and Master of the
Choristers, this setting of the St Matthew Passion is ideally
suited to liturgical performance during Holy Week. The principal
role of the Evangelist is taken by a baritone soloist, who narrates
the story of Christ's trial and Crucifixion in unaccompanied chant.
The other, smaller, solo roles of Judas (tenor), Pilate (tenor),
Jesus (bass), and Pilate's wife (alto) continue in the same vein,
with four-part choral interspersions from the crowds, soldiers, and
priests providing a contrast in texture. The hymn 'When I survey
the wondrous cross', set to the Rockingham hymn tune, appears twice
throughout the work, and the congregation are encouraged to join in
on both occasions. The simple organ part supports the voices for
the hymn, and may also optionally double the choir during the
narrative.
for SSAATTBB unaccompanied Ave gloriosa mater salvatoris is a
challenging and yet delicate anthem, with subtle key-signature
changes, vocal divisions in up to eight parts, and alternating
homophonic and polyphonic passages. The text includes excerpts from
the synonymous medieval hymn and Wordsworth's poem The Virgin,
making the piece suitable for a variety of sacred celebrations and
particularly those of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
for violin and mixed choir This innovative and imaginative choral
arrangement of The Lark Ascending has the original solo violin part
accompanied by mixed choir. It sensitively sets George Meredith's
poem (on which the original orchestration is based) and combines
this with wordless vocal lines and vocal solos, preserving the
texture and timeless effect of the original. Commissioned and
premiered by the Swedish Chamber Choir, the work has also been
recorded by the choir under the direction of Simon Phipps.
for SAT and piano or organ Originally published in the collection
Alan Bullard Anthems, this optimistic setting of Jan Struther's
famous text is perfectly suited to performance at a variety of
occasions, including at weddings, funerals, and services throughout
the year. Bullard's original melody is expressive and graceful,
paying homage to the message of the words, and the supportive and
melodious accompaniment may be performed on piano or organ.
This engaging work was composed in 1929 and premiered the following
year by its dedicatee, the legendary Spanish cellist Pablo Casals.
The five folk songs on which the work is founded are 'Salisbury
Plain', 'The Long Whip', 'Low down in the broom', 'Bristol Town',
and 'I've been to France'. This arrangement for solo viola and
orchestra is compatible with the original orchestral accompaniment,
materials for which are available on hire.
for SAATBB unaccompanied This touching piece sets Yeats' beautiful
words describing the love of a parent for their child. Switching
between major and minor tonalities, A Cradle Song is quiet and
understated, with sensitive a cappella scoring that makes the
sentiments seem all the more real. This is an impressive and
sophisticated debut from Swedish singer and composer Joel Nilson.
for SSA unaccompanied Songbird sets an evocative text by the
composer describing songbirds that spin tunes of gold. The catchy,
colourful melody is first presented by tutti voices, and is then
woven through the vocal parts, often to scat accompaniment.
for SATB, piano, and optional saxophone, bass, and drum kit
Ophelia, Caliban, and Miranda puts a jazzy twist on three
Shakespearean characters. With newly written texts by Charles
Bennett, each of the three movements focuses in on Ophelia from
Hamlet and Caliban and Miranda from The Tempest. In the funky
opener, 'River Bride', the upper voices take the part of Ophelia,
while the tenors and basses play a lover figure. Caliban's song,
'Ariel taught me how to play', is a reflective ballad in which the
slave tells Miranda, who has escaped his advances, about the spirit
helper Ariel teaching him to play the saxophone. The final
movement, 'All good things come to an end', is a sassy yet tender
number, where Miranda bids farewell to her beloved husband
Ferdinand, declaring: 'I've gone back to the island to remember who
I am'. The saxophone, bass, piano, and drum kit parts may be played
as written or serve as a guide.
for soprano and baritone soloists, SATB chorus, and orchestra This
significant seven-movement work from Cecilia McDowall presents an
imaginative pairing of extracts from The Notebooks of Leonardo da
Vinci with texts from the Latin Missa pro defunctis. Da Vinci's
reflective and penetrating insights into the nature of mortality
and all that it encompasses cast new light on the familiar Requiem
texts, and McDowall employs her orchestral forces to create a rich,
atmospheric backdrop to the profound narrative presented by the
chorus and soprano and baritone soloists. Dark, sonorous writing
precedes an energetic 'Sanctus', and the closing bars of the
luminous 'Lux aeterna' create a powerful allusion to da Vinci's
concept of 'The Perspective of Disappearance'.
for flute, clarinet, percussion, piano, violin, and violoncello The
concept of the Five Elements was a central aspect of traditional
Chinese thought. Here each of the Five Elements is characterised in
an individual movement. In the first movement metal is represented
by metallic percussion, while in the second movement marimba and
claves are used to portray wood. In the third movement a slower and
expansive texture is employed to signify water, and rhythmic
drumming is used to illustrate the heat of fire, the subject of
movement four. A majestic yet peaceful final movement portrays
Earth, where all the elements are transformed into a perfect
balance.
for SAATBB unaccompanied The signature tune for the award-winning
Swedish a cappella group Vocado, this poignant love song is
characterized by mixed messages: the lover wants to leave, but
can't quite bring himself to walk out the door. The flavour of the
music reflects the dilemma, with emotions ranging from muted
acceptance in the verses to highly charged indecision in the
passionate chorus. With classic a cappella rhythms and textures,
along with melodies that will stay with you for days, this
dual-language publication in the Voice Junction series is perfect
for vocal groups and choirs singing in Swedish or English. Hall mig
kvar has been recorded by Vocado on the CD 'Northern Lights'.
for solo piano and full orchestra This work opens with a form of
Shaman-dance from North-east China, during which the piano mimics
some of the animal postures seen in the art of kung fu. Pianobells,
the more lyrical and lightly orchestrated second movement, takes
two contrasting bells (Mighty Bells and Frost Bells) as its
narrative throughout. The third and final movement, which is
intended to represent the Peking Opera Monkey's action, is a wild
and intense finale with rapid rhythmic patterns from the
percussion. This concerto is exciting, lively, and highlights the
piano as a virtuoso percussion instrument.
This hauntingly beautiful piece, arranged for flute and piano by
the composer, is extracted from Rutter's large-scale work Visions.
The expressive solo line features long phrases and a
quasi-improvised section, making it an ideal concert work for
intermediate to advanced flautists.
Benjamin Britten was one of the most important cultural figures in
England in the twentieth century. Internationally renowned as a
composer, performer, and founder of the Aldeburgh Festival and
English Opera Group, he had a career spanning nearly five decades,
producing a series of works such as Peter Grimes and the War
Requiem that caught the public imagination, and becoming a familiar
figure to worldwide concert and TV and radio audiences through his
conducting and song recitals with his partner, the tenor Peter
Pears. Behind this public face, however, Britten was an intensively
private man, who valued perhaps more than anything the time he
spent at home on the Suffolk coast, composing and enjoying a
settled domestic life. Britten in Pictures celebrates the many
facets of Britten's life in a major new photographic treatment
timed to coincide with the composer's centenary in 2013. Using the
wealth of images housed in the collections of The Britten-Pears
Foundation at Aldeburgh, the book charts the curve of Britten's
life, using a selection of rare and previously unpublished images
to reveal him anew in all phases of his career, catching a
multitude of informal glimpses of the man 'behind the scenes' at
work and play as well as in more familiar formal settings. The
result is a new and often surprising portrait of this major musical
genius. Published in association with The Britten-Pears Foundation.
Vaughan Williams wrote Symphony No. 8 between 1953 and 1955 while
in his eighties. It is his shortest symphony and considered by many
to be his least serious. Aside from a few sombre moments, the
symphony is optimistic in mood and displays Vaughan Williams's love
for exotic and colourful combinations of instruments with a
percussion sections that, he said, employs "all the 'phones and
'spiels known to the composer". For this newly engraved edition,
editor David Lloyd-Jones has consulted all extant sources and
materials to create a score matching the composer's intentions. The
full score is completed with Textual Notes and Preface, and
accompanying orchestral parts are available on hire.
for upper voices, SATB, and piano or orchestra The Seeds of Stars
is a resplendent setting of a philosophical text by Charles
Bennett. The rippling piano part provides a shimmering
accompaniment to radiant and expressive vocal lines, and Chilcott
effectively contrasts upper- and mixed-voice sections with stirring
passages for all voices. Reflecting the vivid imagery of the text,
the upper voices soar above the choir during climatic moments, but
also bring the piece to its gentle, profound close. An orchestral
accompaniment is available on hire/rental.
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