Benjamin Britten's War Requiem Op.66 includes words from the Missa pro defunctis and the poems of Wilfred Owen.Commissioned to write a work to celebrate the rebuilding of the bomb-damaged Coventry Cathedral in 1962 Britten used the opportunity to write a large-scale composition embodying his deeply held pacifist and humanitarian beliefs. The result the War Requiem is a timeless expression of the brutality and inhumanity of war.

For Nine Male Voices And Orchestra-Luminous Body is a collaboration between Nico Muhly and Craig Lucas written in the period immediately following their narratively charged opera 'Two Boys'. Luminous Body is as a result abstract and poetic in gesture and form. The text interpolates among other things stylized versions of the teachings of Christ Buddha Mohammed and Plato; these are scrambled and re-contextualized and in a sense serve as background for the textures of the combination of nine male Voices and Orchestra.Part 1 introduces the chord structure that governs the entire piece and ends with the repeated words ?only your will is your own.?The second and third parts loosely dealing with the Devil and the importance of choosing one?s words are based on drones generated by the Voices and the strings; the constant (but slightly morphing) texture is meant to be meditative and vague. Muhly always wanted to set the Beatitudes and Craig paraphrased them beautifully here; the tenors intone the word ?blessed? over and over while the strings and winds reiterate the passacaglia from the opening of the piece. The fifth and final part is a series of proverbs. The Orchestra begins in a series of loose ecstatic drones which increase in intensity (?Make your own family!?) until you jump suddenly to the garden of Gethsemane where Christ was betrayed while his disciples slept. ?Why are you sleeping? Couldn?t you stay awake for one more hour?? he asks while the strings and winds lazily chant in the background.Luminous Body was premiered by The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and Cantus.

This stunningly beautiful ballad from the Broadway musical Les Mis?rables has enjoyed renewed popularity thanks to Susan Boyle and also the TV show Glee. For female vocal solo and orchestra. Key: Eb-F Range: gb-C2

Shchedrin concert opéra 'The Wanderer Enchanted' a rapidement pris une place permanente dans le canon musical. Maintenant, la partition de piano de l'oeuvre réussie et impressionnante est en cours de publication. Profondes émotions slaves et la virtuosité de préhension caractériser à la fois cette pièce et de nombreuses autres compositions par Shchedrin. Même s'il a été une ville cosmopolite pendant une longue période, le compositeur né à Moscou n'en reste pas moins un compositeur origine russe dont l'attachement au folklore musique russe et la poésie n'a jamais été rompu. Le texte de cette 'opéra pour la scène de concert' est basé sur une légende par le grand Russe Nikolay Leskov S. narrateur et raconte l'histoire d'un pèlerin enchanté. L'action dramatique est racontée par trois voix solistes, choeur et orchestre en grande colorés images musicales. / Choeur Mixte Et Orchestre

The Birds was commissioned by the Lydia Michael Trust to be about the birds of Beauly and is dedicatedto the University of Edinburgh. First performance by Jane Irwin (mezzo-soprano) and students from theRoyal ScottishAcademy of Music and Drama at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama on26th June 2007.