This is hilarious! Ellen Foncannon has created a clever parody on Bach's famous Fugue in G Minor that will have your audience in stitches! Your students will have a blast singing such funny words with such serious Baroque music which has been simplified for young voices. From the first note to the resounding A-Choo! at the end this uproariously funny novelty is sure to be a big hit in your concert! Available: SATB SSAA TTBB 2-Part 3-Part.

Op. 106. Par REGER MAX. Max Reger?s setting of Psalm 100 is one of the ?grand style? choral-symphonic works of the classical modern repertoire. Contrapuntal skill in the tradition of Bach combines with overwhelmingly powerful expressiveness, rich in contrasts. The full harmonic and stylistic breadth of the early 20th century sings out, not only in frenetic song, but also in the search for awareness in quieter passages. Reger?s opulence, tonal and contrapuntal almost throughout, finally culminates in a double fugue with an off-stage orchestra similar to the trumpets of Jericho over ?Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott?. The composer?s declared aim was: ?The psalm must go so brilliantly, that all will be simply ?bowled over?.? / Date parution : 2023-03-11/ Répertoire / SATB [Divisi] et Piano

Par BACH CARL PHILIPP EMMANUEL. C. P. E. Bach's nine-movement Magnificat (1749), the first great vocal work from his Berlin years, is among the most magnificent sounding, in which the solo vocal parts are also among the most ambitious settings of the 'Hymn to the Virgin Mary” (Luke 1). The work fulfills all the criteria required for a larger sacred composition: grandeur, dignity, polyphonic and concertante choral movements, sensitive ('empfindsam”) and expressive arias, a long concluding double fugue. This richly scored Magnificat (with 3 trumpets and timp. ad. lib.), which is almost one hour in duration, would be well suited, for example, as the central work on every Christmas or pre-Christmas concert programme./ Répertoire / Choeur Mixte (SATB) et Orchestre

Novello New Choral Series-Craig McLeish writes of The Negro Speaks of Rivers; Langston Hughes (1902-1967) was the first black American to earn his living from writing. He was an innovator of jazz poetry becoming part of the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s and 1930s. He wrote plays short stories novels and his poetry was widely read. He was also a journalist columnist and lecturer. The Negro Speaks of Rivers was perhaps his earliest published work written when only 17 and while travelling by train to Mexico to visit his father. As the train crossed the Mississippi he suddenly began thinking about how rivers had impacted on Negro history particularly in the fight against slavery.The four rivers mentioned in the poem lent themselves to using musical influences from those particular regions. However I have tried to keep these links fairly tenuous to avoid overt pastiche. A few years ago I was fortunate enough to work with Congolese musicians. These sessions led to the intricate rhythms in The Congo. The Mississippi mentions New Orleans so a jazz fugue seemed the most appropriate compositional device to weave into the texture. The spirit of The Nile was gauged from many hours listening avidly to Egyptian music.Craig McLeish began his musical life as a chorister at St Paul’s Cathedral. As a bass guitarist conductor musical arranger and composer he has worked with a wide variety of groups in several genres and scored a hit with the cult pop band ‘Fat & Frantic’. He is musical director of Young Voices UK and conducts several youth and community choirs in and around Milton Keynes. Listen to an excerpt from Craig McLeish's The Negro Speaks Of Rivers:  

sur un poème d?Étienne de Jouy. Par SAINT-SAENS CAMILLE. Bien loin de constituer un ouvrage isolé dans l??uvre de Camille Saint-Saëns, le Ch?ur de sylphes appartient à un petit ensemble réalisé au début de sa carrière dans le contexte particulier du concours pour le prix de Rome. Institué en 1803, supprimé dans la foulée des événements de mai 1968, ce dernier fut pendant plus d?un siècle et demi le plus convoité des prix français de composition musicale. Organisé par l?Institut, il garantissait à ses lauréats, à défaut de l?assurance d?une future carrière sans embûches, du moins l?entrée par la grande porte dans le monde artistique et quelques années de pension en Italie, à la villa Médicis. De fait, bien peu résistèrent à l?attrait de cette récompense susceptible de marquer avec éclat l?aboutissement de longues années d?études. Qu?une personnalité comme Saint-Saëns s?y soit présenté n?a finalement rien d?étonnant. Mais bien qu?appelé à devenir au tournant du siècle l?un des plus illustres représentants de l?art académique, il n?obtint jamais, malgré deux participations, le fameux premier grand prix. Le concours était alors organisé en deux épreuves distinctes : la première, éliminatoire, consistait en la réalisation d?une fugue et d?un ch?ur avec accompagnement d?orchestre sur un poème donné, la seconde en la composition d?une grande cantate pour trois voix solistes. Saint-Saëns lui-même en écrira deux, Le Retour de Virginie (1852) puis Ivanhoé (1864). C?est entre le 5 et le 11 juin 1852, pour sa première participation au concours, que Saint-Saëns composa le Ch?ur de sylphes. Favorablement accueilli, il permit au musicien d?être placé en tête des six candidats admis pour l?épreuve finale. Mais il est vrai qu?objectivement le poème proposé avait tout pour lui permettre de briller. Tiré d?un livret d?Étienne de Jouy et de Nicolas Lefebvre, Zirphile et Fleur de myrte, déjà mis en musique par Charles-Simon Catel (1818), l?extrait choisi (acte I, scène 4) était particulièrement adapté à l?exercice. En quelques pages fermement tracées, Saint-Saëns parvient à transcrire l?atmosphère merveilleuse, toute en légèreté, du monde des esprits de l?air. Sous bien des aspects, le résultat obtenu n?est pas sans rappeler le « Scherzo » du Songe d?une nuit d?été de Mendelssohn (1843), compositeur auquel il vouait un véritable culte. Certes, comme toute ?uvre de jeunesse, le Ch?ur de sylphes fut écrit sous influence. Dans la perspective du prix de Rome, le morceau avait en outre été pensé pour répondre à diverses exigences que d?aucuns dénoncèrent par principe comme passéistes. Au-delà de ces réserves un peu simplistes, l?ouvrage n?en reste pas moins un exemple abouti de la grande tradition académique française et de son idéal d?élégance et de clarté. Derrière son indéniable maîtrise de la forme et de l?écriture, l?auteur nous dévoile un travail qui, sans être révolutionnaire, recèle d?indéniables beautés. / Date parution : 2024-01-10/ Répertoire / Choeur SATB et Piano

Doxologie. Par WAGNER RICHARD. fugue by the 18-year-old Richard Wagner for his teacher Theodor Weinling/ Répertoire / Choeur SATB

From the most ecstatic trumpeting orchestral jubilation of the start of the Gloria to the tender pained longing in the Soprano and Tenor duet of the Laudamus te or the unstoppable fugue of the Cum sancto Spiritu the Mass in B minor is as exhilarating to the listeners as it is exhausting to performers. This edition of the Vocal score is edited by Frank Damrosch.

Now in a newly engraved edition from Haydn's masterpiece oratorio The Creation this famous chorus celebrates the third day with a four-part fugue on the text For the heavens and earth/He has clothed in stately dress.

This first publication of Michael Haydn's Timete Dominum is based on parts found in the monastery of St. Peter's in Saltzburg. It is virtually certain that this composition was first performed on All Saints Day (November 1st) 1777. This work formed the subject of an enthusiastic letter written to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart by his father Leopold. He reported: 'The fugues...are worked out in a masterly fashion the themes being most natural and without any exaggerated modulations or too sudden transitions'.For SATB (in English and Latin) and organ accompaniment. Edited and with English translation by Reinhard G. Pauly.

A quirky lively and amusing piece where the main theme seems to be to eat as much as is possible! This show-stopping fughetta by Rutter is written for SATB and Piano Accompaniment. The piece is from The Reluctant Dragon an Entertainment originally written for the King's Singers and the City of London Sinfonia.

This zany original speech chorus is about as close as a chorus can get to a food fight while performing! The creative possibilities are limited only by your appetite! Optional choreography by John Jacobson. Available: 4-Part anycombination. Performance Time: Approx. 2:00.