Male-centered theology, a dearth of men in the pews, and an overrepresentation of queer males in music ministry: these elements coexist within the spaces of historically black Protestant churches, creating an atmosphere where simultaneous heteropatriarchy and "real" masculinity anxieties, archetypes of the "alpha-male preacher", the "effeminate choir director" and homo-antagonism, are all in play. The "flamboyant" male vocalists formed in the black Pentecostal music ministry tradition, through their vocal styles, gestures, and attire in church services, display a spectrum of gender performances - from "hyper-masculine" to feminine masculine - to their fellow worshippers, subtly protesting and critiquing the otherwise heteronormative theology in which the service is entrenched. And while the performativity of these men is characterized by cynics as "flaming," a similar musicalized "fire" - that of the Holy Spirit - moves through the bodies of Pentecostal worshippers, endowing them religio-culturally, physically, and spiritually like "fire shut up in their bones". Using the lenses of ethnomusicology, musicology, anthropology, men's studies, queer studies, and theology, Flaming?: The Peculiar Theo-Politics of Fire and Desire in Black Male Gospel Performance observes how male vocalists traverse their tightly-knit social networks and negotiate their identities through and beyond the worship experience. Author Alisha Jones ultimately addresses the ways in which gospel music and performance can afford African American men not only greater visibility, but also an affirmation of their fitness to minister through speech and song.

This book looks at the musical culture of death in early modern England. This book looks at the musical culture of death in early modern England. In particular, it examines musical funeral elegies and the people related to commemorative tribute - the departed, the composer, potential patrons, and friends and family of the deceased - to determine the place these musical-poetic texts held in a society in which issues of death were discussed regularly, producing a constant, pervasive shadow over everyday life. The composition of these songs reached a peak at the end of the sixteenth and the beginning of the seventeenth centuries. Thomas Weelkes and Thomas Morley both composed musical elegies, as did William Byrd, Thomas Campion, John Coprario, and many others. Like the literary genre from which these musical gems emerged, there was wide variety in form, style, length, and vocabulary used. Embedded within them are clear messages regarding the social expectations, patronage traditions, and class hierarchy of late Elizabethan and early Jacobean England. En masse, they offer a glimpse into the complex relationship that existed between those who died, those who grieved, and attitudes toward both death and life. K. DAWN GRAPES is Assistant Professor of Music History at Colorado State University.

for SATB and organ (or piano duet) A lyric and serene sacred song, foreshadowing the mood of the Requiem. German words are by Paul Flemming (b. 1609) and the English singing translation has been provided by Rutter.

African American spirituals comprise one of the world's greatest and best-loved bodies of music. The Oxford Book of Spirituals is the first anthology to present a comprehensive survey of the genre's repertoire -- its principal composers, themes, and forms -- in a way that is at once stylistically authentic, historically meaningful, and intended for practical use both in worship and in concert. This collection features a rich array of songs, both familiar and less familiar, arranged for SATB choir by twenty-eight of the most significant American composers and presented in chronological order from the beginning of the twentieth century to the present.

BBC Songs of Praise is a compilation of the greatest traditional hymns, the best hymns from today's writers, and the finest examples of contemporary worship songs. It offers to churches and schools the core music required for worship in a wide range of situations. The breadth and diversity of the material ensures the BBC Songs of Praise can be the key resource for any worshipping community.

An exciting collection of twenty new spiritual arrangements for SATB choirs, specially commissioned for this volume, compiled and edited by Bob Chilcott. Taking a fresh look at these timeless songs, including both familiar favorites and less well-known gems, the ten arrangers bring to these pieces the fruits of their diverse musical backgrounds and experiences. The arrangements feature a wide range of styles, from introspective to ecstatic, with a mixture of large- and small-scale pieces, both unaccompanied and accompanied. Spirituals for Choirs provides singers with an inspirational, moving, and above all, enjoyable repertoire.

This unique collection approaches Advent afresh, drawing together 52 beautfiul and accessible pieces that span the whole gamut of periods, styles, and traditions. Advent for Choirs is the perfect musical and liturgical resource for all church , cathedral, and concert choirs and includes approachable new settings, unjustly neglected music, and works not easily available elsewhere.

The theme of the essays in this volume is the identification of the resources which between c.1320 and 1642 the English church saw fit to provide for the performance of the music of its liturgy. Individual essays describe the music and the choirs of Canterbury and Lincoln Cathedrals, Winchester Cathedral Priory and the private chapel of Cardinal Wolsey, while the personnel of the chapels of Edward III, the Black Prince and John of Gaunt emerge from study of the texts of compositions of the 14th century. From the alignment of contemporary musical and archival sources there arises a web of conclusions relating to the size of ensemble, vocal scoring and sounding pitch envisaged by its composers for English church polyphony of the period c.1320-1559. These essays thus encompass the two most profound of the revolutions to which the music of the English church was subject at this period: the inauguration and widespread adoption of choral polyphony in the years c.1455-85 and the liturgical and doctrinal Reformation of 1547 to 1563.

All the most popular sacred solos together in one volume. If you need to sing a solo at church this collection is all you need. Many of the pieces have been specially arranged for this book, and well-loved items traditionally viewed as only for higher voices are now available in the low voice volume in suitable keys.

All the most popular sacred solos together in one volume. If you need to sing a solo at church this collection is all you need. Many of the pieces have been specially arranged for this book, and well-loved items traditionally viewed as only for higher voices are now available in the low voice volume in suitable keys.

for soprano and tenor soloists and SATB choir, with keyboard or chamber ensemble or orchestra
The nine movements form a single choral work comprising seven pieces previously published separately and two new movements. A broad range of emotions all find their place with rich and varied musical settings.
Instrumental material and vocal scores are available on hire.

for SSATB unaccompanied Verdi's select output of choral music is little known, but contains much of the dramatic boldness and harmonic invention of his operatic choruses. The Pater Noster is an unusual and interesting work of moderate difficulty, ranging in mood from meditative, devotional stillness to dramatic contrasts of a more extrovert nature. This scholarly edition has been carefully prepared by Judith Blezzard, and includes a keyboard reduction for rehearsal purposes and an English singing translation by Professor Brian Trowell.

This volume is a collection of 37 of the best pieces for use at carol services, Christmas services, and Christmas concerts. It includes a number of exciting new pieces on established tunes (from Andrew Carter, Gerre Hancock, and David Willcocks, among others), as well as excellent new arrangements of popular Christmas pieces.

The tercentenary of the death of world-famous English Baroque composer Henry Purcell (most widely known for his opera "Dido and Aeneas") will be celebrated everywhere. This volume offers an opportunity to choral associations to join the celebration. With Purcell's expertise in setting the English language, ten of the eleven anthems are in English (one in Latin). The editor, secretary to the Purcell Society, has selected those most representative and most useful, from among the composer's prodigious output.

Providing new insight into the Wesley family, the fundamental importance of music in the development of Methodism, and the history of art music in Britain, Music and the Wesleys examines more than 150 years of a rich music-making tradition in England. John Wesley and his brother Charles, founders of the Methodist movement, considered music to be a vital part of religion, while Charles's sons Charles and Samuel and grandson Samuel Sebastian were among the most important English composers of their time. This book explores the conflicts faced by the Wesleys but also celebrates their triumphs: John's determination to elevate the singing of his flock; the poetry of Charles's hymns and their musical treatment in both Britain and America; the controversial family concerts by which Charles launched his sons on their careers; the prolific output of Charles the younger; Samuel's range and rugged individuality as a composer; the oracular boldness of Sebastian's religious music and its reception around the English-speaking world. Exploring British concert life, sacred music forms, and hymnology, the contributors analyze the political, cultural, and social history of the Wesleys' enormous influence on English culture and religious practices. Contributors are Stephen Banfield, Jonathan Barry, Martin V. Clarke, Sally Drage, Peter S. Forsaith, Peter Holman, Peter Horton, Robin A. Leaver, Alyson McLamore, Geoffrey C. Moore, John Nightingale, Philip Olleson, Nicholas Temperley, J. R. Watson, Anne Bagnall Yardley, and Carlton R. Young.

This new vocal score is a digitally enhanced reprint of the one fist issued by C.F. Peters, Leipzig in the late 19th century, based upon the Bach Gesellschaft edition with the classic keyboard reduction by Gustav Rosler. With added measure numbers and in a large, easy-to-read A4 size, choruses and students of Bach's music will appreciate having this authoritative score in their libraries.

The definitive collection of 27 of the most popular classics of the wedding repertoire in simplified arrangements for manuals only. All the best-loved processionals, marches, and more reflective pieces are included.

What Shall We Sing? is suitable for SATB and organ.

"The Complete Book of Hymns" brings to life the stories behind more than 600 hymns and worship songs. With background on the composer, the inspiration behind the lyrics, scriptural references for devotional consideration, and a sampling of the song lyrics, this book brings forth the message of these great songs of the faith like never before!

A "contemplative" ethnographic study of a Benedictine monastery in Vermont known for its folk-inspired music. Far from being a long-silent echo of medieval religion, modern monastery music is instead a resounding, living illustration of the role of music in religious life. Benedictine monks gather for communal prayer upwards of five times per day, every day. Their prayers, called the Divine Office, are almost entirely sung. Benedictines are famous for Gregorian Chant, but the original folk-inspired music of the monks of Weston Priory in Vermont is among the most familiar in post-Vatican II American Catholicism. Using the ethnomusicological methods of fieldwork and taking inspiration from the monks' own way of encountering the world, this book offers a contemplative engagement with music, prayer, and everyday life. The rich narrative evokes the rhythms of learning among Benedictines to show how monastic ways of being, knowing, and musicking resonate with humanistic inquiry and the pursuit of knowledge and understanding. Support for this publication was provided by the Howard Hanson Institute for American Music of the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester.

The Tropologion is considered the earliest known extant chant book from the early Christian world which was in use until the twelfth century. The study of this book is still in its infancy. It has generally been believed that the book has survived in Georgian translation under the name 'ladgari' but similar books have been discovered in Greek, Syriac and Armenian. All the copies clearly show that the spread and the use of the book were much greater than we had previously assumed and the Georgian ladgari is only one of its many versions. The study of these issues unquestionably confirms the earliest stage of the compilation of the book, in Jerusalem or its environs, and shows its uninterrupted development from Jerusalem to the Stoudios monastery, the most important monastery of Constantinople. Over time many new pieces and new authors were added to the Tropologion. It is almost certain that it was the Stoudios school of poet-composers that divided the content of the Tropologion and compiled separate collections of books, each one containing a major liturgical cycle. In the beginning all of the volumes kept the old title but in the tenth century the copies of the book were renamed, probably according to the liturgical repertory included, and by the thirteenth century the title 'Tropologion' is no longer found in the Greek sources as it became superfluous, and fell out of use.

Peter Hurford is one of the most acclaimed and influential organists of our time. In this book he records the ideas which underpin his performance and teaching. As well as discussing interpretation and the place of the organ in classical music for the general reader, there is advice for the student on technical problems, and a useful description of the workings of the instrument itself.

for SATB and organ, OR brass OR orchestra Te Deum is a hymn of praise, appropriate for choral concerts as well as for use in sacred settings. The music is jubilant, straightforward, and appealing; with an extrovert organ accompaniment. The orchestral and brass accompaniments are available on hire.

Haydn's Missa brevis Sancti Joannis de Deo dates from c.1775 and was written for the Order of the Brothers of Mercy based in Eisenstadt. The mass is known for its distinctive 'Benedictus', which features elaborate soprano writing and an extensive obbligato organ part from which the work's alternative title, 'Little Organ Mass', derives. This edition includes the elongated 'Gloria' composed by Haydn's younger brother Michael, with Haydn's 31-bar original included as an Appendix. The full score - also available on sale - contains a critical commentary and full details of sources. Complete orchestral material and vocal scores are available on hire/rental.