Michael Ewans explores how classical Greek tragedy and epic poetry have been appropriated in opera, through eight selected case studies. These range from Monteverdi's Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria, drawn from Homer's Odyssey, to Mark-Antony Turnage's Greek, based on Sophocles's Oedipus the King. Choices have been based on an understanding that the relationship between each of the operas and their Greek source texts raise significant issues, involving an examination of the process by which the librettist creates a new text for the opera, and the crucial insights into the nature of the drama that are bestowed by the composer's musical setting. Ewans examines the issues through a comparative analysis of significant divergences of plot, character and dramatic strategy between source text, libretto and opera.

This directory is the most comprehensive index of music written for orchestra with chorus in print today. Offering performance information about choral works by more than 900 conductors, the more than 3,500 entries include such details as instrumentation, languages, timings, publishers, and composer information in an easy-to-follow reference style. Users can also browse categorized appendices of works, composers, and popular and original titles.

Sing Carols! is a collection of traditional carols and Christmas songs for carol singers of all ages, compiled and arranged by composer Harry Escott. Featuring all your favourites, every song in this collection can be sung as a single unison line, with easy-to-learn second and third parts provided for some. Additionally, there are some accompaniment suggestions for all the carols that are easy to perform outside and accompanying backing tracks are available to download.

Composed for an Easter Sunday performance in 1715 during Bach's tenure as court composer at Weimar, this cantata has long been a favorite among the more than 250 he wrote. Unabridged electronically enhanced reprint of the vocal score first issued by C. F. Peters in ca. 1880.
1. Sonata
2. Coro: Die Himmel lacht, die Erde jubilieret
3. Recitativo: Erwunschter Tag Sei, Seele, wieder froh
4. Aria: Furst des Lebens, starker Streiter
5. Recitativo: So stehe denn, du Gott ergebne Seele
6. Aria: Adam muss in uns verwesen
7. Recitativo: Weil denn das Haupt sein Glied, nat rlich nach sich zieht
8. Aria: Letzte Stunde, brich herein
9. Chorale: So fahr ich hin zu Jesu Christ

for SSATB and cello Night Flight was written to mark the centenary of Harriet Quimby's pioneering flight across the English channel. Setting texts by Sheila Bryer on the mysterious powers of the sea, earth, and air, McDowall uses vocal clusters and haunting solo cello lines to highlight the sense of fear, awe, and majesty experienced by an individual pitted against the elements. Cecilia McDowall was awarded the 2014 British Composer Award in the Choral category for Night Flight.

for women's chorus and piano. This cantata features sixteen highly-varied folk song settings, bound together in seasonal groupings to take the listener on an engaging journey through the year from Spring to Winter. The prologue implores us to 'sing and be merry', and many of the songs facilitate this with their charmingly light-hearted melodies and imaginative orchestral accompaniment. There are also darker moments, such as the haunting and heart-rending setting of 'The Unquiet Grave' in 'Autumn'. For this comprehensive new edition, the editor Graham Parlett has drawn on all available sources, providing an authoritative full score with critical commentary. This edition also makes available new materials for the version for string orchestra and piano, and a new vocal score.

for TBarB and piano Originally published as part of the upper-voice collection As you sing and now re-arranged for TB voices, this is a thrilling and high-energy piece setting a text by Jennifer Thorp. Young uses body-percussion, sound effects, repeating themes, and strong rhythms to capture the characteristics of a river, creating a fun and dynamic piece suitable for concert performance.

Classics of seventeenth-century Italian sacred music set in modern notation, this third part of Vesper and Compline Music for Multiple Choirs features works by Giacomo Giacobbi, Viriglio Mazzochi, Tarquinio Merula and Francesco Soriano.

for TTBB (and two soloists) unaccompanied This is a stirring arrangement of the gospel classic for unaccompanied male voices, with two idiomatic solos. The popular text uses the imagery of combat to express faithfulness to God, and Jefferson's characterful arrangement of the familiar melody features swing rhythms, jazz harmonies, and scat-style accompaniments. Also available in an SATB version.

Focus: Choral Music in Global Perspective introduces the little-known traditions and repertoires of the world's choral diversity, from prison choirs in Thailand and gay and lesbian choruses of the Western world to community choruses in the Middle East and youth choirs in the United States. The book weaves together the stories of diverse individuals and organizations, examining their music and pedagogical practices while presenting the author's research on how choral cultures around the world interact with societies and transform the lives of their members. Through an engaging series of portraits that pushes beyond the scope of extant texts and studies, the author explores the dynamic realm of world choral activity and repertoire. These personal portraits of musical communities are enriched by sample repertoire lists, performance details, and research findings that reposition a once Western phenomenon as a global concept. Focus: Choral Music in Global Perspective is an accessible, engaging, and provocative study of one of the world's most ubiquitous and socially significant forms of music-making.

Focus: Choral Music in Global Perspective introduces the little-known traditions and repertoires of the world's choral diversity, from prison choirs in Thailand and gay and lesbian choruses of the Western world to community choruses in the Middle East and youth choirs in the United States. The book weaves together the stories of diverse individuals and organizations, examining their music and pedagogical practices while presenting the author's research on how choral cultures around the world interact with societies and transform the lives of their members. Through an engaging series of portraits that pushes beyond the scope of extant texts and studies, the author explores the dynamic realm of world choral activity and repertoire. These personal portraits of musical communities are enriched by sample repertoire lists, performance details, and research findings that reposition a once Western phenomenon as a global concept. Focus: Choral Music in Global Perspective is an accessible, engaging, and provocative study of one of the world's most ubiquitous and socially significant forms of music-making.

First Published in 2000. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Edvard Grieg's choral music has remained little known outside Scandinavia. One of the chief aims of this book is to bring this body of work to the notice of a wider audience, in the hope that it may receive greater prominence in concert programmes. Choral pieces form a relatively small proportion of Grieg's total output, although works such as the Album for Male Voices and the Four Psalms represent significant developments in his compositional career. In this study Beryl Foster not only provides an in-depth examination of this music, but also presents a picture of Norwegian musical life in the second half of the nineteenth century. An overview of Norway's choral tradition from the Middle Ages provides the historical context from which Grieg came to the genre. Subsequent chapters discuss in detail the types of choral works that he wrote, such as occasional and commemorative pieces, dramatic works and solo song arrangements. A set of useful appendices, including a chronological list of works and a discography complete this original survey.

The first investigation into the choral foundation of the Chapel Royal, Dublin Castle. The Chapel Royal, Dublin Castle, was the place of worship of the British monarch's representative in Ireland from 1814 until the inception of the Irish Free State in 1922. It was founded and maintained by the joint efforts of church and state, and thus its history provides valuable insights into how the relationship between religion and politics shaped Irish society and identity. The Dublin Chapel was established in imitation of the Chapel Royal of St James's Palace, London, and was served by a staff of clergy and musicians. Its musical foundation was a formal and independent entity, with its own personnel and performance traditions. Its distinctive repertoire included music from the English and Irish cathedral traditions, as well as works written by composers associated directly with the Chapel. This study investigates the Chapel's constitution, liturgy and music through an examination of previously unexplored primary material. Discussion of the circumstances of the Chapel's founding and its governance structures situates the institution in the context of the church-state relationship that existed following the Union of 1800. Further, by exploring architecture, churchmanship and musical style, O'Shea demonstrates how the Chapel was part of a wider aesthetic and liturgical tradition. The choral foundation is brought to life with accounts of the Chapel's clergy, organists, boy choristers and gentleman singers, which provide insights into Dublin's social history during a period of significant change. This book reflects on the Dublin Chapel Royal's legacy a century after its closure and offers a new perspective into a forgotten corner of Irish cultural, religious and political history.

for SATB unaccompanied Setting a well-known Latin text from the Liber Usualis, Michael Austin Miller combines expressive harmony and flowing polyphony to create a gentle and touching anthem. The opening and closing sections develop the chant-like opening motif, enclosing an 'Alleluia' section comprising joyously interweaving lines.

for SATB (with divisions) and piano This dazzling work presents an exploration of light in its many forms and uses, from starlight and sunlight to electricity, photosynthesis, or guiding ships to safety. Both piano and voices are used pictorially, conjuring the beautifully descriptive images from Charles Bennett's text in a musical setting that contrasts moments of high energy and tranquility. Lightwaves is sure to capture the imagination and provide an illuminating take on this fascinating subject.

for SATB unaccompanied Skempton's setting of the Preces and Responses is simple, well-crafted, and harmonically rewarding, and is perfect for choirs seeking new material for the liturgy.

Flute and harp parts for Bob Chilcott's easy and original setting of the well-known Rossetti text.

For Stacy Horn, regardless of what is going on in the world or her life, singing in an amateur choir the Choral Society of Grace Church in New York never fails to take her to a place where hope reigns and everything good is possible. She s not particularly religious, and her voice is not exceptional (so she says), but like the 32.5 million other chorus members throughout this country, singing makes her happy. Horn brings us along as she sings some of the greatest music humanity has ever produced, delves into the dramatic stories of conductors and composers, unearths thefascinating history of group singing, and explores remarkable discoveries from the new science of singing, including all the unexpected health benefits. "Imperfect Harmony" is the story of one woman who has found joy and strength in the weekly ritual of singing and in the irresistible power of song."

This study of the Bach Choir provides a much-needed overview of one of the major choral societies in London. Dr Basil Keen examines the background that led to the formation of an ad hoc body to give the first performance in England of J.S. Bach's B minor Mass. The musical and organizational effects of a permanent choral society drawn from one social group are traced during the first twenty years, after such time the pressures of social change led to a complete review followed by a restructuring of the methods of recruitment and internal organization. The rebuilding of the choir at the opening of the twentieth century, the expansion of the repertoire, the upheaval resulting from the First World War and the impact of these events on preparation and performance, are all considered. The book is essentially structured around the tenure of successive Musical Directors: Otto Goldschmidt, Charles Villiers Stanford, Walford Davies, Hugh Allen, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Adrian Boult, Reginald Jacques and David Willcocks, since their varied tastes and interests inevitably had a decisive influence on policy. Keen draws upon previously unpublished material, including minutes and correspondence of the Bach Choir, interviews with relatives and descendants, and examination of family records and correspondence. To date, there has been no survey of a major London choir that encompasses the full history of the organization in context. In this study, Dr Basil Keen provides a thorough examination of the Bach Choir, including the response of the choir to social changes; the influence of conductors and officials; changes in musical taste; relationships with composers and composition; major national and international events; and the effect of these matters on organization and repertoire.

for CCBar and piano This is an imaginative and modern-sounding setting of John Masefield's popular poem (2017 marks the 50th anniversary of Masefield's death). This expressive piece ebbs and flows, and provides imitative textures and well-crafted narrative.

for SA and piano or orchestra With a simple, appealing melody and a flowing accompaniment, The Colours of Christmas evokes a touching sense of longing for the joys of the festive season. An accompaniment for orchestra is available on hire/rental.