for unison or 2-part choir and organ or piano This setting of the well-known hymn text 'Christ the Lord is risen again!' features bright vocal lines and an energetic accompaniment. The scoring is flexible, allowing performance with either one or two vocal parts made up of upper, lower, or mixed voices. Offprinted from The Oxford Book of Easy Flexible Anthems.

for SATB unaccompanied The Scholar is a sensitive setting of Robert Southey's poem that explores a man's kinship with the dead. With Bednall's characteristic metrical fluidity and effective word setting, this piece will provide a moment of quiet reflection in a concert programme.

for SATB unaccompanied I will be with you sets a reflective text by the composer with a message of enduring solace. Lush harmonies, with predominantly homophonic passagework, coupled with flowing and cascading lines in every voice part make for a tranquil musical experience. Also available in a version for SSAA unaccompanied choir.

SSAA unaccompanied I will be with you sets a reflective text by the composer with a message of enduring solace. Lush harmonies, with predominantly homophonic passagework, coupled with flowing and cascading lines in every voice part make for a tranquil musical experience. Also available in a version for unaccompanied SATB choir.

for SATB unaccompanied This short sacred work for unaccompanied mixed choir is a highly atmospheric setting of the poet Henry Vaughan's mystical and enigmatic poem of the same name. Written for the choir of St Peter's College, Oxford, the work has a sonorous quality and uses extended harmonies to great effect.

for SATB (with divisions) and piano This sombre and evocative 'Stabat mater' is taken from Passion Music, a concert and liturgical work that continues Todd's fusion of jazz and choral music so successfully blended in his Mass in Blue. The delicate piano part often falls away to spiritual a cappella sections, and a soaring line for solo soprano rises out of the texture to draw the setting to a close.

for SSATB unaccompanied An atmospheric and expressive setting of Caliban's dream from Shakespeare's The Tempest, this piece transports the listener to a mysterious, dream-like place. McDowall effectively employs melismas and ornaments to create a sense of the other-worldly, and her rich, immersive harmonies perfectly characterise the reverie Shakespeare's protagonist describes.

Everyday Wonders: The Girl from Aleppo tells the extraordinary story of Nujeen Mustafa, a Kurdish teenager with cerebral palsy forced by war to flee her home and embark on an arduous journey to Europe with her sister. In this five-movement cantata Nujeen's story - recounted in her biography 'The Girl from Aleppo' (co-authored by Christina Lamb) - is retold by Kevin Crossley-Holland and richly scored by Cecilia McDowall. A wealth of musical effects are employed to capture the narrative, including chorales, rhythmic spoken sections, body percussion, and a solo violin part infused with Middle Eastern flavours. The prevailing mood of Nujeen's story is embodied by the final line of a chorale that bookends this unique concert work: 'singing the song of life itself.'

for SATTBB unaccompanied Victimae paschali laudes is an atmospheric arrangement of the traditional plainsong melody for this Latin text for Easter Sunday. Changing metres enable an authentic presentation of the plainsong style, and Lawson effectively employs interjections of 'alleluia' within the main body of the text as a powerful expression of the triumph of life over death that is at the heart of the Easter story.

for SATB double choir unaccompanied Lightly come or lightly go is a playful setting of James Joyce's poem of the same name for SATB double choir. The second choir carries the titular words as an arching ostinato, while choir one presents the main body of the text through characterful melodies and word painting. The two choirs portray the conflicting emotions expressed in the poem demonstrated by the closing line: "Love and laughter song-confessed When the heart is heaviest".

for SSA and piano This work for upper voices with a text by the composer was inspired by members of the Radcliffe Ladies' Choir and their motto 'friendship through singing'. The lilting vocal lines are subtly underpinned by a delicate piano accompaniment, and the opening performance direction, 'contentedly rocking', describes the overall nature of the piece: peaceful, content, and easy-going.

for SSATB unaccompanied This simple and exquisite miniature keeps the text, the fourth-century Latin Hymn to the Virgin Mary, at the fore, with instructions from the composer to accent the melodic lines according to word stress rather than position in the bar. The musical style is a fusion of old and new, with plainchant-like melodies and tonality set against expressively dissonant contemporary harmonies. Tota pulchra est was recorded by The Epiphoni Consort on the CD David Bednall: Sudden Light (Delphian, DCD34189)

for SATB unaccompanied Aspire to God, my soul sets a macaronic text by Canon John Dilnot, with the titular words recurring throughout the setting as an emphatic refrain. This short anthem is optimistic and uplifting in tone, with frequently changing time-signatures that convey a rhythmic fluidity and the flexibility to follow the declamation of the words.

for SATB and organ Chilcott's setting of Psalm 96 is bright, optimistic, and celebratory. The sparkling organ part and fluctuation between 7/8 and 4/4 metres give the opening and closing sections a dance-like feel, while the central section is still, soft, and reflective.

for SATB and organ or piano Chilcott's setting of St Benedict's sixth-century prayer begins with a gentle recurring figure in the keyboard, graduallly building to a rousing climax. The primarily homophonic texture allows the timeless text to shine through, while the expansive vocal writing and expressive use of harmony create a sense of awe towards the Almighty God.

for SATB and organ Francis Jackson's spirited setting of Psalm 150 is steeped in the English choral tradition. With contrapuntal writing, engaging interplay between choir and organ, effective word painting, and virtuosic organ writing, O praise God in his sanctuary is a welcome addition to the service repertory.

for SATB unaccompanied This setting of a tune from The Sacred Harp is strong and march-like, with accented rhythms and percussive vocal lines contributing to a rousing overall effect. It was originally published as part of Mack Wilberg Anthems and is also available in a version for TTBB unaccompanied.

for SATB and organ or orchestra This is an arrangement of the 19th-century hymn by Philip Bliss, with words written by Horatio Spafford following several personal tragedies. Despite having lost his first son to scarlet fever, most of his assets in the Great Fire of Chicago, and then his four daughters in a shipwreck, Spafford's enduring faith inspired him to write this hymn, which speaks of an internal, spiritual calm in the face of life's difficulties. Wilberg's arrangement of Bliss's tune keeps the first two verses in unison, first women and then men, before allowing fuller textures to take over. The choir is accompanied throughout, and two upward major 3rd modulations lead to a triumphant close.

for SATB unaccompanied A group of three miniatures for unaccompanied mixed voices, Some corner of a foreign field sets poems by three First World War soldiers: John William Streets, Goldfeld (about whom no more than his surname is known), and Rupert Brooke. Bednall's settings are slow, expansive, and expressive, giving space for the listener to reflect on the profoundly moving texts. Brooke's 'The Soldier' brings a particularly poignant conclusion to the set, with melismas employed for dramatic effect.

for SATB unaccompanied A partner antiphon to Bednall's Ave Regina caelorum, Alma Redemptoris Mater is a tender and expressive setting. In turn, this pair of antiphons compliments Herbert Howells's setting of the other two Marian antiphons (Salve Regina and Regina Caeli), making for compelling programming. Triplet movement and changing metre create a sense of ebb and flow and harmonic and melodic interest provoke a sense of peaceful expectancy.

for SATB unaccompanied This high-energy, majestic setting of well-known words from the psalms is a welcome addition to the service repertory. The changing metre brings the text to the fore, and the semiquaver movement that passes between parts creates a sense of motion and drive that is fitting for this uplifting and joyous hymn of praise.

for SATB (with divisions) unaccompanied Ethan McGrath's setting of this well-known fourteenth-century macaronic text is expressive and rich, both harmonically and emotionally. The melodies have a chant-like quality and the metrical changes create a compelling ebb and flow. This carol is evocative of an ancient choral tradition, while at the same time offering a fresh choral sound.