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Books > Arts & Architecture > Music > Other types of music > Vocal music > Choral music
The Cotswold Male Voice Choir, formed in 1949, has become a
well-known part of the music scene in the Midlands and the South
West. In addition to many local events including concerts at
Tewkesbury Abbey and Gloucester Cathedral, in the past year the
Choir has performed in the French Alps at Annecy, in Wales with
three Welsh choirs, in York's Guildhall at the invitation of the
Mayor of York, and twice at the Malvern Music Festivals. The choir
sings a broad repertoire including male voice choir favorites,
classic and operatic, big show numbers, and popular music. The
majority of Cotswold Male Voice Choir concerts support good causes.
Over the years, this has accounted for many thousands of pounds
raised for charities. This heartwarming history follows the
progress of hundreds of singers, their piano accompanists and guest
artistes as well as the company's travels at home and abroad.
'Erudite, original and surprisingly moving ... This Christmas, as
at every Christmas, millions of listeners will have relished the
ethereal King's choir ... Day's meticulous history of a special
choral sound investigates the creation of a style, and the
evolution of a tradition, that now feels as anciently English as
the stonework of King's chapel itself' Boyd Tonkin The sound of the
choir of King's College, Cambridge - its voices perfectly blended,
its emotions restrained, its impact sublime - has become famous all
over the world, and for many, the distillation of a particular kind
of Englishness. This is especially so at Christmas time, with the
broadcast of the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, whose
centenary is celebrated this year. How did this small band of men
and boys in a famous fenland town in England come to sing in the
extraordinary way they did in the twentieth and early twenty-first
centuries? It has been widely assumed that the King's style
essentially continues an English choral tradition inherited
directly from the Middle Ages. In this original and illuminating
book, Timothy Day shows that this could hardly be further from the
truth. Until the 1930s, the singing at King's was full of high
Victorian emotionalism, like that at many other English choral
foundations well into the twentieth century. The choir's modern
sound was brought about by two intertwined revolutions, one social
and one musical. From 1928, singing with the trebles in place of
the old lay clerks, the choir was fully made up of choral scholars
- college men, reading for a degree. Under two exceptional
directors of music - Boris Ord from 1929 and David Willcocks from
1958 - the style was transformed and the choir broadcast and
recorded until it became the epitome of English choral singing,
setting the benchmark for all other choral foundations either to
imitate or to react against. Its style has now been taken over and
adapted by classical performers who sing both sacred and secular
music in secular settings all over the world with a precision
inspired by the King's tradition. I Saw Eternity the Other Night
investigates the timbres of voices, the enunciation of words, the
use of vibrato. But the singing of all human beings, in whatever
style, always reflects in profound and subtle ways their
preoccupations and attitudes to life. These are the underlying
themes explored by this book.
Described as the "life and soul of British contemporary music",
Jane Manning is an internationally celebrated English concert and
opera soprano. In this new follow-up to her highly regarded New
Vocal Repertory, Volumes I and II, she provides a seasoned expert's
guidance and insight into the vocal genre she calls home. Vocal
Repertoire for the Twenty-First Century spans the late middle-20th
century through the second decade of the 21st. Manning's
comprehensive selection of contemporary art songs ranges from the
avant-garde to the more easily accessible, including substantial
song cycles, shorter encore pieces, and songs suitable for
auditions and competitions. The two-volume guide presents
expertly-informed selections tailored to particular voice types.
Each of the 160 selections is accompanied by a highly detailed
performance guide, music examples, levels of difficulty, and a
brief encapsulation of vocal characteristics or challenges
contained in the piece. A supplemental companion website provides
composer biographies and an up-to-date list of recommended
recordings. With a focus on younger composers in addition to
prominent figures, Manning encourages singers to refresh and expand
their recital repertoire into less familiar territory, and discover
the rewards therein. Volume 1 features works written before 2000,
including pieces from such renowned composers as John Cage ("The
Wonderful Widow of Eighteen Springs", "A Flower"), Andre Previn
("Five Songs"), and Igor Stravinsky ("The Owl and the Pussycat").
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Piae Cantiones
(Hardcover)
George Ratcliffe Woodward; Compiled by Jacobus Finno; Contributions by Theodoricus Petri Rutha
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R915
R744
Discovery Miles 7 440
Save R171 (19%)
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This is a selection of the best-loved carols and hymns for Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, and Easter: 74 of the most popular titles from Carols for Choirs 1, 2 and 3, plus 26 titles new to the series. There are carols suitable for both sacred and secular occasions, and both accompanied and unaccompanied material. The Order of Service for a Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols is included.
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