The writing of a requiem is a special challenge for any composer. The great requiems of the past by composers such as Mozart, Verdi and Berlioz interpret the sacred requiem text literally, offering prayers of salvation for the departed, whose souls are assumed to be in purgatory facing a terrible judgment.
Eternal Light: A Requiem, by the Emmy Award winning British composer and internationally acclaimed broadcaster Howard Goodall is a stunning new requiem for the modern day. In contrast it is intended to provide solace to the grieving, reflecting on the words of the Latin Mass by juxtaposing them with poems in English. Speaking about the work, Howard Goodall said, "For me, a modern requiem is one that acknowledges the unbearable loss and emptiness that accompanies the death of loved ones, a loss that is not easily ameliorated with platitudes about the joy awaiting us in the afterlife. This, like Brahms', is a requiem for the living, addressing their suffering and endurance, a requiem focusing on the consequences of interrupted lives."
Also available in single octavo format, is Lead, Kindly Light (057153323X).
Buy digital tracks from iTunes.
Complete CD also available from Amazon.com.

for SATB choir, cor anglais (or clarinet in A or viola) and organ This reflective setting of verses from Psalm 139 opens with a folk-like melody from the cor anglais. The work grows in intensity with sombre choral harmonies, leading to anome ecstatic climax as the psalmist contemplates the awesomence power of God; it then gently subsides, tailing into silences with a return to the opening cor anglais melody. The work is a highly effective Lenten or contemplative anthem.

This is a selection of the best-loved carols and hymns for Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, and Easter: 74 of the most popular titles from Carols for Choirs 1, 2 and 3, plus 26 titles new to the series. There are carols suitable for both sacred and secular occasions, and both accompanied and unaccompanied material. The Order of Service for a Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols is included.

With the popularity of television shows such as Glee, American Idol, and The Voice, show choirs have become a vibrant component of college and high school music programs. Music teachers must not only know how to teach choral singing for popular music, but also be versed in show design and production. In The Show Choir Handbook, Alan L. Alder and Thalia M. Mulvihill address both song technique and show presentation, giving show choir directors the full set of tools they need for successful performances. The Show Choir Handbook is a resource for current and future music educators who administer show choirs. With most literature on the topic either out of date or focused on the teaching techniques limited to vocal jazz (drawing on the choral genre's origins as "swing choirs"), instructors are in dire need of a resource that addresses music produced by publishers and choral arrangers.

for TTBB and piano, or orchestra, or piano and strings This hearty song from the cantata In Windsor Forest (adapted from the opera Sir John in Love) is full of character. With a rollicking 'oom-pah' accompaniment and spirited vocal writing, it makes a fun and entertaining closing number or encore. Orchestral material is available on hire.

Described as the "life and soul of British contemporary music", Jane Manning is an internationally celebrated English concert and opera soprano. In this new follow-up to her highly regarded New Vocal Repertory, Volumes I and II, she provides a seasoned expert's guidance and insight into the vocal genre she calls home. Vocal Repertoire for the Twenty-First Century spans the late middle-20th century through the second decade of the 21st. Manning's comprehensive selection of contemporary art songs ranges from the avant-garde to the more easily accessible, including substantial song cycles, shorter encore pieces, and songs suitable for auditions and competitions. The two-volume guide presents expertly-informed selections tailored to particular voice types. Each of the 160 selections is accompanied by a highly detailed performance guide, music examples, levels of difficulty, and a brief encapsulation of vocal characteristics or challenges contained in the piece. A supplemental companion website provides composer biographies and an up-to-date list of recommended recordings. With a focus on younger composers in addition to prominent figures, Manning encourages singers to refresh and expand their recital repertoire into less familiar territory, and discover the rewards therein. Volume 1 features works written before 2000, including pieces from such renowned composers as John Cage ("The Wonderful Widow of Eighteen Springs", "A Flower"), Andre Previn ("Five Songs"), and Igor Stravinsky ("The Owl and the Pussycat").

The Oxford Book of Flexible Choral Songs is the perfect resource for secular choirs and singing groups who like the flexibility to perform songs in a range of combinations from unison to SATB. Each piece may be performed by a mixed choir, but is also presented with flexible scoring options, clearly explained throughout, enabling performance by various combinations of singers, including upper voices or men's voices alone. As well as new arrangements of existing repertoire, the collection also features newly commissioned original works, specially written for flexible forces.

The Oxford Book of Flexible Choral Songs is the perfect resource for secular choirs and singing groups who like the flexibility to perform songs in a range of combinations from unison to SATB. Each piece may be performed by a mixed choir, but is also presented with flexible scoring options, clearly explained throughout, enabling performance by various combinations of singers, including upper voices or men's voices alone. As well as new arrangements of existing repertoire, the collection also features newly commissioned original works, specially written for flexible forces.

for SATB and organ or piano Spirited in tone, this anthem sets a text based on Psalm 148 that praises God's glory. Opening with an uplifting unison melody, the vocal parts gradually open out into jubilant harmonies, which are supported by the accompaniment (performable on organ or piano). Suitable for performance throughout the year, Praise the Lord, ye heavens adore him will be a welcome addition to repertory of all church choirs.

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.

(Amadeus). By the author of the critically acclaimed Choral Music in the Twentieth Century, this volume is an indispensable resource for choral conductors, a valuable guide for choral singers and other music lovers, and an essential text for educators and their students. As with his first book, Nick Strimple reviews 100 years of choral music literature, offering a straightforward text that is gratifying and enlightening. Strimple covers repertory by Beethoven, Brahms, Verdi, Faure, Mendelssohn, Dvorak, Bruch, Mahler, and lesser figures. The text is illustrated with photos and musical examples, and appendices include works lists organized by type of chorus and accompaniment.

The B-minor Mass has always represented a fascinating challenge to musical scholarship. Composed over the course of Johann Sebastian Bach's life, it is considered by many to be the composer's greatest and most complex work. The fourteen essays assembled in this volume originate from the International Symposium 'Understanding Bach's B-minor mass' at which scholars from eighteen countries gathered to debate the latest topics in the field. In revised and updated form, they comprise a thorough and systematic study of Bach's Opus Ultimum, including a wide range of discussions relating to the Mass's historical background and contexts, structure and proportion, sources and editions, and the reception of the work in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. In the light of important new developments in the study of the piece, this collection demonstrates the innovation and rigour for which Bach scholarship has become known.

Vocal, Instrumental, and Ensemble Learning and Teaching is one of five paperback books derived from the foundational two-volume Oxford Handbook of Music Education. Designed for music teachers, students, and scholars of music education, as well as educational administrators and policy makers, this third volume in the set emphasizes the types of active musical attributes that are acquired when learning an instrument or to sing, together with how these skills can be used when engaging musically with others. These chapters shed light on how the field of voice instruction has changed dramatically in recent decades and how physiological, acoustical, biomechanical, neuromuscular, and psychological evidence is helping musicians and educators question traditional practices. The authors discuss research on instrumental learning, demonstrating that there is no 'ideal' way to learn, but rather that a chosen learning approach must be appropriate for the context and desired aims. This volume rounds out with a focus on a wide range of perspectives dealing with group performance of instrumental music, an area that is organized and taught in many varied ways internationally. Contributors Alfredo Bautista, Robert Burke, James L. Byo, Jean Callaghan, Don D. Coffman, Andrea Creech, Jane W. Davidson, Steven M. Demorest, Robert A. Duke, Robert Edwin, Shirlee Emmons, Sam Evans, Helena Gaunt, Susan Hallam, Lee Higgins, Jere T. Humphreys, Harald Jers, Harald Jorgensen, Margaret Kartomi, Reinhard Kopiez , William R. Lee, Andreas C. Lehmann, Gary E. McPherson, Steven J. Morrison, John Nix, Ioulia Papageorgi, Kenneth H. Phillips, Lisa Popeil, John W. Richmond, Carlos Xavier Rodriguez, Nelson Roy, Robert T. Sataloff, Frederick A. Seddon, Sten Ternstrom, Michael Webb, Graham F. Welch, Jenevora Williams, Michael D. Worthy

The Ivy and the Holly is a superb collection of carols and motets for Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany by contemporary composers. Scored for mixed voices - a cappella and with organ - the anthology embraces a range of styles and sonorities. Here are plainchant lines, lilting melodies, and overlapping phrases; lively, energetic settings and soft, reflective ones; dancing rhythms and rich, sumptuous harmonies. Encompassing a variety of texts, with settings of medieval English verse and biblical passages alongside poems by celebrated writers, this collection will be welcomed by concert and church choirs alike.