As one of the foremost composers, conductors, and pianists of the nineteenth century, Felix Mendelssohn played a fundamental role in the shaping of modern musical tastes through his contributions to the early music revival and the formation of the Austro-German musical canon. His career allows for a remarkable meeting point for critical engagement with a host of crucial issues in the last two centuries of music history, including the relation between musical meaning and social function, programmatic and absolute music, notions of classicism and Romanticism, modernism and historicism. It also serves as a pertinent case-study of the roles political ideology, racism, and musical ignorance may play in creating and perpetuating a composer's posthumous reception. Fittingly, Rethinking Mendelssohn focuses on critical engagement with the composer's music and aesthetics, and on the interpretation of his works in relation to contemporaneous culture. Building on the renaissance in Mendelssohn scholarship of the last two decades, Rethinking Mendelssohn sets a fresh and exciting tone for research on the composer. Opening new ways of understanding Mendelssohn and setting the future direction of Mendelssohn studies, the contributing scholars pay particular attention to Mendelssohn's contested views on the relationship between art and religion, analysis of Mendelssohn's instrumental music in the wake of recent controversies in Formenlehre, and the burgeoning interest in his previously neglected contribution to the German song.

for SATB with piano accompaniment and unaccompanied Mo li hua (Jasmine) is a tri-language publication suitable for Chinese- or English-speaking choirs. A collection of arrangements of five well-known traditional Chinese songs depicting the simplicity and beauty of everyday life, it includes simplified and traditional Chinese scripts, as well as English singing translations. A Pinyin version of the Chinese - for non-Chinese reading choirs - will be available from the OUP website.The songs-drawn from across China-are arranged sympathetically and in Chilcott's original style, suggesting a musical fusion of East and West. The song 'Mo li hua' was written for The Bach Choir and David Hill, who gave its premiere while on tour in China in April 2014.

for SATB and organ or small orchestra In this setting of haunting simplicity, Rutter employs rich orchestral colours and a beautiful, imploring melody. The composer has taken the opportunity of this anniversary edition to recast the original accompaniment for organ, to facilitate performance in church. Conductor's scores and instrumental parts are available on sale and on hire/rental.

for SATTBB unaccompanied Thou, my love, art fair was written for The King's Singers and first performed by the group on St Valentine's Day 2015. Setting the William Baldwin poem, Christ to his spouse, this delightful song makes full and effective use of the voice parts and features charming harmonies and interweaving melismas. Chilcott has treated the sixteenth-century text with due care and style, creating a beautifully elegant piece of music.

Shall I compare thee? is a collection of ten exquisite settings for mixed voices, specially commissioned to celebrate the four hundredth anniversary of William Shakespeare's death. The volume pays tribute to Britain's greatest writer, presenting a selection of his finest texts set to music by some of today's most accomplished choral composers.

for SATB unaccompanied Setting a well-known poem by Percy Shelley, Love's Philosophy is a sweet and tender choral song reflecting on the idea of love with reference to nature and the interdependent relationships evident in the world around us. Mellifluous choral writing and sighing 'ah' interjections convey the sometimes wistful feel of Shelley's words, and numerous repetitions of 'thou' at the end of the piece emphasize the theme of unrequited or lost love.

for SATB and chamber ensemble Inspired by Geertgen's painting Nativity at Night, Candlelight Carol centres around the love of a mother on that first night in the stable. The orchestral material is compatible with both the SATBB and SSAA versions.

for SATB and chamber ensemble Inspired by Geertgen's painting Nativity at Night, Candlelight Carol centres around the love of a mother on that first night in the stable. The orchestral material is compatible with both the SATBB and SSAA versions.

for children's choir, SATB chamber choir, and SATB double choir This monumental cantata for massed forces was commissioned by David Hill and The Bach Choir and premiered as part of the 2012 BBC Proms. Setting a specially commissioned text by Charles Bennett, Chilcott skilfully uses both metred and unmetered sung and spoken lines to highlight the text's environmental message. While the musically interlinked choirs sing of humanity's negligence towards nature in a series of dream images, the endearing and innocent tunes of the children's choir ultimately evoke a sense of hope for the future. Creating a unique opportunity for adult and children's choirs to collaborate, this captivating piece offers a fun and educational performance experience for singers both young and old.

for soprano solo and SSATB unaccompanied Setting a text spoken by Nurse Edith Cavell on the eve of her execution in 1915 and re-fashioned by the poet SeA!n Street, McDowall has created a work of haunting beauty full of gently lamenting harmonies.The sombre subject matter makes the piece equally suitable for funerals and Remembrance Day celebrations. Standing as I do before God is featured on the CD A Multitude of Voices by the choir Sospiri on Convivium Records.

for SATB (with divisions) and soprano saxophone Setting the original Latin text of the hymn better known as 'Hark! a thrilling voice is sounding', Jackson creates an Advent piece of beautiful stillness. The largely homophonic choral parts, with a soloist supplying a gentle contrapuntal line, are contrasted with light and graceful interjections from the saxophone. The result is a quietly moving piece ideally suited for a reflective moment during an Advent service.

The introduction of hymns and hymn-singing into public worship in the seventeenth century by dissenters from the Church of England has been described as one of the greatest contributions ever made to Christian worship. Hymns, that is metrical compositions which depart too far from the text of Scripture to be called paraphrases, have proved to be one of the most effective mediums of religious thought and feeling, second only to the Bible in terms of their influence.
This comprehensive collection of essays by specialist authors provides the first full account of dissenting hymns and their impact in England and Wales, from the mid seventeenth century, when the hymn emerged out of metrical psalms as a distinct literary form, to the early twentieth century, after which the traditional hymn began to decline in importance. It covers the development of hymns in the mid seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, the change in attitudes to hymns and their growing popularity in the course of the eighteenth century, and the relation of hymnody to the broader Congregational, Baptist, Methodist, and Unitarian cultures of the nineteenth and earlier twentieth centuries.
The chapters cover a wide range of topics, including the style, language, and theology of hymns; their use both in private by families and in public by congregations; their editing, publication and reception, including the changing of words for doctrinal and stylistic reasons; their role in promoting evangelical Christianity; their shaping of denominational identities; and the practice of hymn-singing and the development of hymn-tunes.

Union and Distinction in the Thought of St Maximus the Confessor presents the writings of a key figure in Byzantine theology in the light of the themes of unity and diversity. The principle of simultaneous union and distinction forms the core of Maximus' thought, pervading every area of his theology. It can be summarized as: Things united remain distinct and without confusion in an inseparable union. As Melchisedec T r nen shows, this master theme also resonates in contemporary theological and philosophical discussions.

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. The solo cello part is available for sale separately.

With a host of accessible, quality new settings, and with pieces based on all the major hymn tunes, these volumes are a must for every church organist's library.

for SATB and organ or piano or orchestra or brass This anthem combines original music by Mack Wilberg, words by David Warner, and the celebrated hymn tune 'Old One Hundredth', which emerges from heralding voices, cleverly and majestically interwoven. Hymn of Praise is on the CD 'Glory! Music of Rejoicing' (2012) recorded by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra on Temple Square. Orchestral material is available on hire/rental.

for SATB and organ or large orchestra This arrangement of the well-loved hymn stays true to the jubilation and reverence of Easter. Wesley's words and the eighteenth-century melody shine through in a sensitive reharmonization, and a recurring instrumental passage smoothly connects the verses. Reflecting common hymn-singing practice, the first verse is in unison, the second in four-part harmony, and the third returns to unison with a soprano descant, before closing with a suitably exultant 'Alleluia' and 'Amen'. Christ the Lord is risen today appears on the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square's latest CD, He is Risen, which reached No. 1 in both the 'Classical Albums' and 'Traditional Classical Albums' US charts within two weeks of its release in April 2014.