Music runs through the story of Arion which begins with a singing competition in Sicily. Arion wins the prize and this puts his life in danger: his newfound wealth excites the greed of the sailors who are supposed to be bringing him back to Corinth and they threaten to kill him. They allow Arion to sing one last song and the power of his singing attracts dolphins to the ship.  At the end of his song he jumps overboard and one of the dolphins carries him to safety.  So Arion’s musical gift gets him into trouble but it is also his salvation.   The idea of being rescued by a music-loving dolphin is very appealing. In Robert Graves’account of the myth the dolphin could not bear to be parted from Arion and accompanied him back to court where “it soon succumbed to a life of luxury.”  However Herodotus says that after his rescue and return to Corinth Arion failed to return the dolphin to the sea and it died there.  Apollo placed the dolphin among the stars and next to it Arion’s lyre in recognition of his musical skill.  This is one of the mythical explanations of the origins of the constellations Delphinus and Lyra. It seems natural to sing a story that has singing at its heart. When I was asked by the Nicholas Berwin Charitable Trust to write a choral work for Making Music something that would be within reach of many choirs and involve children this story struck me as ideal: the men of the chorus could be the bloodthirsty sailors and the women could create an atmosphere of mystery for the arrival of the dolphins represented by children’s voices. There would be one solo voice: Arion the marvellous singer. Andrew Fardell the conductor who was advisor to this commission had suggested that I might use the same instrumentation as a popular arrangement of Orff’s Carmina Burana a work that as well as using children’s chorus features a solo countertenor. I thought the magical otherworldly quality of this

For SSATB unaccompanied This five-voice work is an unusual and interesting piece of moderate difficulty and well worth investigation for any concert programme. Includes an English singing translation.

Instrumentation: SSATB a cappella Format: Sheet Music Details: 12 madrigals for 5 voices (Italian/German) Contents: Contents: Ch'ami la vita mia; A che tormi il ben mio; Non si levav' ancor; E dicea luna; S'andasse amor a caccia; O com' e gran martire; Ch'io non t'ami; Anima mia perdona; Che se tu se il cor mio; O Mirtillo; Era l'anima mia gia presso; M'e pi' dolce il penar

A wedding anthem for mixed voices SSATB setting the text of Richardâ??s brother Thomas.

From Heaven Distilled a Clemency is the third movement of Triptych a cantata for choir and string orchestra. The aspirational text is underpinned by rhythmically-driving strings allowing the voices to soar excitedly overheard.

From Geistliche Chor-Music-Published in 1648 Heinrich Schütz’s “Geistliche Chor-Music” is still regarded as one of his seminal works. A two-volume performance edition based on Werner Breig’s revised new text is available (BA 5901/BA 5902).Now selected motets are being issued in separate volumes. They offer a modern notation and layout retain the original keys and include an integrated figured bass realisation.In keeping with contemporary performance practice the ‘choral’ parts can be performed by instruments as well as voices. Instrumental parts with underlaid words may be purchased separately for performances with instruments (seeperformance material for BA 5901 and BA 5902).- Verleih uns Frieden genädiglich No.4 SWV 372 from 'Geistliche Chor-Music'- Cantus Quintus Countertenor Tenor Bassus Basso continuo ad lib.