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Books > Music > Other types of music > Vocal music > Choral music
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.
This companion volume provides organists with new, dedicated
three-stave accompaniments to twenty-four of the twenty-eight
choruses in the main Sacred Choruses volume. In every case, these
organ transcriptions, made by John Rutter, are based directly on
the original orchestral versions and will facilitate church
performances without orchestra.
for SATB and piano This celebration of friendship is rich in
expressive melodies and poignant harmonies, underpinned by
sensitive piano writing. The text, by Delphine Chalmers, is
inspired by French Renaissance essayist Michel de Montaigne's
writings on friendship, from which the well known quotation 'If I
am pressed to say why I loved him, I feel it can only be explained
by replying: 'Because it was he; because it was me.'' originates.
Eminently accessible, this piece is perfect for concert programmes
celebrating friendship and community.
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 SA and piano Commissioned by the Treble Makers Women's Choir to
celebrate both their 10th anniversary and the 150th anniversary of
Canada, this secular work for upper voices sensitively sets
Langston Hughes's poem of the same name. A lilting melodic line,
eloquent part-writing, and an effective piano part combine to
create a piece that will appeal to both youth and adult upper-voice
choirs.
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 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.
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 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 and organ This radiant anthem explores the theme of light,
with luminescent harmonies, a virtuosic organ part, and soaring
vocal lines. The text is by Dr Marcus Tomalin, after Dante's
Paradiso, and Bednall's word painting is highly effective. A
compelling climax as the singers tell of the 'pure living light
shining' falls away to a powerful unaccompanied moment, before the
organ picks up a motif and develops it in a majestic interlude.
This is a highly rewarding anthem for performer and audience alike.
Pure Living Light 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 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 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.
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