Rounds and canons drawn from the folk and classical repertoire provide an introduction to two-part singing.

Tallis's Canon for 2, 3, 4, or 5 equal voices and chamber orchestra or organ and strings Accompaniment for chamber or string orchestra is available on hire

for SATB, congregation (opt), and organ, or string/chamber orchestra, or brass This popular arrangement can also be found in Carols for Choirs 1 and 100 Carols for Choirs. Verses two and five may be sung by two choirs or by choir and audience. The other verses are a mixture of women's voices alone, men's voices alone, and SATB. Orchestral accompaniment is available on hire.

for SATB and congregation (opening phrase to be played on trumpets or organ) This striking anthem sets the Latin text of Psalm 33 (an English singing translation is included). Dynamic melismatic vocal lines feature throughout, with the texture switching between homophony and polyphony. It was first performed in 1956, the same year as the composer's similarly lively motet A Vision of Aeroplanes.

for SA and piano This setting of the much-loved English folksong Greensleeves employs sophisticated harmony to adorn the simple yet timeless melody. An SATB version is also available.

for SATB unaccompanied Vaughan Williams composed this setting of a poem by his wife Ursula in 1953 to form part of A Garland for the Queen, a collection of ten tributes to the newly-crowned Queen Elizabeth II by leading British composers and poets. It is dedicated 'to the memory of Charles Villiers Stanford, and his Blue Bird', and reflects Stanford's masterpiece in its harmonic language, floating soprano part, unaccompanied scoring, and haunting atmosphere.

for unison or two-part voices and piano Adapted from music from The Pilgrim's Progress, this setting of words from Revelation 2 is profound and mystical. Flowing melodies, atmospheric harmonic shifts, and hushed dynamics all give the piece an ethereal quality that powerfully evokes the religious transcendence described in the text.

for SATB and organ Text from Psalm 24:7-10

for tenor soloist, SATB choir, and organ Written for the marriage of HRH The Princess Elizabeth and Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten in Westminster Abbey, 20 November 1947.

for STB soli and unaccompanied SATB choir This unaccompanied motet was first performed at the dedication of the Battle of Britain Chapel in Westminster Abbey, London, and has an accordingly sombre tone. It opens with a haunting treble/soprano solo, and this ethereal atmosphere continues with unexpected harmonic shifts and hushed vocal writing. The words are taken from The Wisdom of Solomon (3: 1-5) and convey death as peaceful for those who have been 'righteous'. This motet would therefore be particularly well-suited to funeral or memorial services.

Originally entitled Thanksgiving for Victory, A Song of Thanksgiving is a powerful and moving work that celebrates the Allies' victory in World War II. It was first recorded in 1944 while the war was still ongoing, but was not broadcast until victory had been achieved in May of the following year. Comprising seven movements, it sets texts from the Bible alongside words by Shakespeare and Kipling, lending the work a sense of timelessness and grandeur. Scores and parts for both the full and reduced accompaniments are available on hire.

for SATB and strings or organ This is a full anthem for mixed voices with a brief section for SA. The words are based on Psalm 39. String material is available on hire.

for SATB unaccompanied Based on the well-known carol e wish you a merry Christmas this arrangement provides a spirited setting for mixed voices with an introduction from the upper voices. Short in duration and entertaining, this piece is a perfect closer for any holiday program.

for SATB with organ or orchestra O what their joy And their glory must be is a wonderful anthem, based on a traditional French melody. The text has been translated from the Latin of Abelard by J.M. Neale and the work is scored for SATB with an Organ reduction of the original Orchestral score. Orchestral parts ffor full orchestra are available on hire.

The practices of singing and teaching singing are inextricable, joined to each other through the necessity of understanding the vocal art and craft. Just as singers must understand the physical functions of voice in order to become musically proficient and artistically mature, teachers too need to have a similar mastery of these ideas - and the ability to explain them to their students - in order to effectively guide their musical and artistic growth. With this singer-instructor relationship in mind, Richard and Ann Alderson's A New Handbook for Singers and Teachers presents a fresh, detailed guide about how to sing and how to teach singing. It systematically explores all aspects of the vocal technique - respiration, phonation, resonance, and articulation - with each chapter containing exercises aimed at applying and teaching these principles. Beyond basic vocal anatomy and singing fundamentals, the handbook also covers such understudied topics as the young voice, the changing voice, and the aging voice, along with helpful chapters for teachers about how to organize vocal lessons and training plans. Thoughtfully and comprehensively crafted by two authors with decades of singing and teaching experience between them, A New Handbook for Singers and Teachers will prove an invaluable resource for singers and teachers at all stages of their vocal and pedagogical careers.

for soprano soloist, SSA chorus, and piano This tender lullaby sets William Ballet's well-known text 'Sweet was the song the Virgin sang'. An expressive soprano solo is gently accompanied by SSA chorus and a piano reduction of the original orchestral accompaniment. The lullaby is taken from the Christmas Cantata Hodie, for which scores and parts are available on hire.

(Piano Method). The great Baroque master composer Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) wrote music for every combination of instruments and voices. His simplest and purest work are four-part chorale compositions and settings, so perfectly constructed that they evoke meditative spirituality. "Figured bass" was a Baroque system of notating harmony. In addition 371 chorales, this collection includes 69 melodies with figured bass. This classic Schirmer edition, edited by Albert Riemenschneider, has sold over 1,000,000 copies since its release in the early 20th century. Primarily for keyboard, the chorales can also be played by other instruments.

for SATB and piano or organ This expressive anthem brings together excerpts from the gospels that express God's commandment to mankind to love one another. Underpinned by a flowing piano or organ accompaniment, Love one another explores this profound topic with sensitive harmonies and effective modulations. Although suitable for performance throughout the church year, this anthem would be particularly affecting in a Wedding or Maundy Thursday service.

Singing has been a characteristic behaviour of humanity across several millennia. Chorus America (2009) estimated that 42.6 million adults and children regularly sing in one of 270,000 choruses in the US, representing more than 1:5 households. Similarly, recent European-based data suggest that more than 37 million adults take part in group singing. The Oxford Handbook of Singing is a landmark text on this topic. It is a comprehensive resource for anyone who wishes to know more about the pluralistic nature of singing. In part, the narrative adopts a lifespan approach, pre-cradle to senescence, to illustrate that singing is a commonplace behaviour which is an essential characteristic of our humanity. In the overall design of the Handbook, the chapter contents have been clustered into eight main sections, embracing fifty-three chapters by seventy-two authors, drawn from across the world, with each chapter illustrating and illuminating a particular aspect of singing. Offering a multi-disciplinary perspective embracing the arts and humanities, physical, social and clinical sciences, the book will be valuable for a broad audience within those fields.

Choral Monuments provides extensive material about eleven epoch-making choral masterworks that span the history of Western culture. Included are: Missa Pange lingua (Josquin Desprez); Missa Papae Marcelli (G. P. da Palestrina); B Minor Mass (J. S. Bach); Messiah (G. F. Handel); The Creation (Joseph Haydn); Symphony #9 (Ludwig van Beethoven); St. Paul (Felix Mendelssohn); Ein deutsches Requiem (Johannes Brahms); Messa da Requiem (Giuseppe Verdi); Mass (Igor Stravinsky); and War Requiem (Benjamin Britten). The works are presented in separate chapters, with each chapter divided into three basic sections-history, analysis, and performance practice. Discussions of history are focused on relevancies-the genesis of the designated work in reference to the composer's total choral output, the work's place within the musical environment and social climate of its time, and essential features of the work that make it noteworthy. In addition, the compositional history addresses three other factors: the work's public reception and critical response, both at the time of its composition and in ensuing years; the history of score publications, detailing the various differences between editions; and the texts of the composition. The material regarding textual treatment, which often includes the complete texts of the works being discussed, concentrates on primary concerns of the text's usage; also included in the discussion are noteworthy aspects of texts separate from the music as well as biographical details of librettists and poets, if appropriate. The analysis section of each chapter outlines and describes musical forms and other types of compositional organization, including parody technique, mirror structures, and motto repetitions, as well as salient compositional characteristics that directly relate and contribute to the work's artistic stature. Numerous charts and musical examples illustrate the discussions. The discussion of performance practices includes primary source quotations about a wide range of topics, from performing forces, tempo, and phrasing of each work to specific issues such as tactus, text underlay, musica ficta, metric accentuation, and ornamentation.