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Books > Music > Other types of music > Vocal music > Choral music
for SATB and piano or organ or orchestra This sprightly setting of
a sixteenth-century English text tells the tale of a jolly shepherd
named Wat. With an upbeat triple metre and a joyful swing feel,
this carol has imaginative, contrasting textures, a memorable
refrain, and a rousing finish. Two versions of the vocal score are
available: one with piano accompaniment and one with organ
accompaniment. Full scores and parts are available for purchase or
hire.
for SSA and piano This atmospheric setting of familiar words from
Shakespeare's As You Like It is sprightly and uplifting, with
singers being asked by the composer to perform with 'a bit of frost
and a knowing smile'. Blow, blow, thou winter wind was originally
published in the collection Hark, hark, the lark.
for SSATBB unaccompanied Skilfully set to the tender words of the
poet E. E. Cummings, 'I carry your heart' is an unaccompanied
secular work originally for men's voices, but rescored by the
composer in this version for women and men. The piece was
commissioned by the acclaimed close-harmony group, The King's Men,
and was recorded on their album Love from King's.
for TTBB unaccompanied The Parting Glass is a traditional Scottish
song, often sung as a farewell at the end of a get-together. Sarah
Quartel's arrangement features close harmonies, idiomatic Scotch
snap rhythms, and effective interjectory moments in what is a
largely homophonic setting. With its valedictory message, it would
make a fitting end to a performance, perhaps as an encore item.
for SATB unaccompanied This is a warm and contemplative setting of
the medieval Latin hymn, suitable for communion services or for
Lent, Passiontide, or Corpus Christi. Built around harmonic
sequences and an appealing opening phrase, and with a gently
romantic feel, Parry's setting offers a charming alternative to
more familiar settings of these words.
for SATB unaccompanied The text for this imaginative and effective
piece by Gabriel Jackson is a response to Allen Ginsberg's A
Supermarket in California by Latvian poet Karlis Verdins,
translated here by Ieva Lesinska. As in Ginsberg's poem, the
initial setting is a supermarket, depicted with vivid imagery such
as 'a weary, shrivelled apple', before the angel protagonist
expounds on their observations about contemporary society.
Pleasingly alliterative lines such as 'he'd babble boozily about
tanks' are artfully given rhythmic emphasis by Jackson, who fully
exploits the dramatic intent of the poem, giving space for the text
to come through by homophonic setting, a pure harmonic language,
and often sparse textures.
for SATB and chamber ensemble A splendid curtain-raiser to
Vivaldi's Gloria, Francesco Durante's artful Magnificat has long
been misattributed to his pupil Pergolesi in a version for four
voices, not five. Durante's vocally richer five-voice version has
been chosen for the Sacred Choruses volume, which this
orchestration accompanies, and merits performance as an alternative
to the familiar four-voice version, which may or may not have been
Durante's own work.
for SATB and chamber ensemble A splendid curtain-raiser to
Vivaldi's Gloria, Francesco Durante's artful Magnificat has long
been misattributed to his pupil Pergolesi in a version for four
voices, not five. Durante's vocally richer five-voice version has
been chosen for the Sacred Choruses volume, which this
orchestration accompanies, and merits performance as an alternative
to the familiar four-voice version, which may or may not have been
Durante's own work. This complete set contains 4 x vln I, 4 x vln
II, 2 x vc, 2 x db, 1 x continuo, and 1 x lute.
for SATB unaccompanied Images of Peace resulted from a request for
a work that would encourage peace and understanding while not
focussing on any particular creed or belief, and Alan Bullard
approached this concept by choosing texts from a range of sources,
including the English metaphysical and pastoral traditions, and the
Taoist, Jewish, and Christian traditions. The set of five songs are
designed as a symphonic whole, with the first and last ('Sweet
Peace' and 'Bread of Peace') partly sharing the same material,
book-ending three contrasting movements, a lively scherzo ('Rainbow
of Peace'), an expressive slow movement ('Peace in the world'), and
an elegant allegretto ('Doves of Peace').
for SATB soloists or choir unaccompanied This powerful work is a
sequence of meditations on loss and longing, of fear and of hope,
by turns contemplative and dramatic. The narrative is made up of a
selection of poems by four exiled Latvian writers from the group
known as the Hell's Kitchen Poets and present-day displaced persons
from Palestine and Syria. The text is in Latvian and English, and a
pronunciation guide for the Latvian text is included in the vocal
score. Jackson also employs percussion for dramatic effect, with
three singers required to play brake drum, railway man's whistle,
and claves. With all of the trademarks of Jackson's compelling
musical style, this piece will be an exciting challenge for choirs
looking to explore universal themes.
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 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 SAB and piano Chilcott has re-scored this serene, reflective
anthem, originally for upper voices, for SAB, making it accessible
to choirs with a limited number of male voices. A rich addition to
the Choral Evensong repertory, the anthem presents an artful
juxtaposition of an original setting of William Fuller's 'Evening
Hymn', most famously set by Henry Purcell, with the plainsong
melody for the Latin hymn 'Te lucis ante terminum', in J. M.
Neale's English translation.
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 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 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.
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