SKU: BA.BA08521

ISBN 9790006563203. 27 x 19 cm inches. Key: E-flat minor. Text Language: Latin.

The “Missa brevis in E flat minor” for mixed choir a cappella has been composed in the tradition of the short Mass (without Credo) and can be easily managed by most choirs. Thanks to its conciseness, it is suitable for use in church services, while its delightful harmonic layout and consciously simple melodies (with clear allusions to folk music) also make it perfect for concert performance.

“My music is my own and I have never tried to be original. That has always been my motto and I have only tried to use music to express all the feelings which life has to offer. This has led people to describe my music as ‘so sad that it sounds like birds who have lost their wings’ but also as ‘the happiest classical music that we have ever heard‘.
My compositions are almost all sacred. They express not only my own faith but also my appreciation and respect for the timeless texts that have been used for centuries and centuries.“

Mårten Jansson (b. 1965), elected member of the Föreningen svenska tonsättare (the Society of Swedish Composers), graduated from the Royal College of Music, Stockholm (KHM) with an MFA degree in Music Education, Dalcroze Eurhythmics and Voice. For more than ten years he was the music director and conductor of “Carmen”, one of the most prominent womens’ vocal ensembles in Sweden. He currently teaches choral conducting and music theory as well as giving vocal tuition at the Bolandgymnasiet and Musikskolan in his home town of Uppsala.

Please find a recording of the “Missa brevis” performed by the Ensemble Sonoro, Neil Ferris (Conductor) by clicking on Multimedia.

SKU: CR.984299

ISBN 9780758661807. 7 x 10.25 inches.

This familiar Christmas carol is given an ethereal setting by Brian L. Hanson. Supported by a gentle, lilting accompaniment, the strains of 'Still, Still, Still' interweave in both the accompaniment and choral parts. Soaring vocal lines, rich harmonies, and imaginative text painting point to the wonder and mystery of Christmas.

In the bleak midwinter,
Frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron,
Water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow,
Snow on snow,
In the bleak midwinter,
Long ago.

Heaven cannot hold Him,
Nor earth sustain;
Heav'n and earth shall flee away
When He comes to reign;
In the bleak midwinter,
A stable place sufficed
The Lord God Almighty,
Jesus Christ.

Still, still, still,
One can hear the falling snow.
For all is hushed, the world is sleeping,
Holy star its vigil keeping.
Still, still, still,
One can hear the falling snow.

What can I give Him,
Poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd,
I would bring a lamb;
If I were a Wise Man,
I would do my part;
Yet what I can I give Him—
What can I give Him?
Give my heart.

SKU: PR.342402070

ISBN 9781491111253. UPC: 680160643226. Octavo inches. Text: Archibald R. Ammons. Archibald Ammons. Text by A.R. Ammons.

To benefit Chorus America, Stucky allowed himself to be auctioned off as a prize - the high bidder would receive a new work from the composer. After a few years and not really hearing anything, Stucky suddenly found himself up against a deadline. He reached back to a favorite poem by A.R. Ammons, Eyesight, which, he says, Won't let...his reader rest till the very last word...one of those sudden insights that leave us breathless..
This piece has an odd history. A few years ago, I agreed to be one of the“prizes” in an auction to benefit Chorus America: the highest bidder wouldget a new piece from me, while their money went to the organization. Thewinning bid came from a collection of several professional choruses anddirectors. But I was always a little vague about the details, and, hearingnothing more about it for a few years, forgot the whole thing.One day I received a message from Thomas Edward Morgan, directorof the Ars Nova Chamber Singers in Boulder: they had scheduled thepremiere of my new piece for a few weeks later, and could they have themusic, please? I needed a text, quickly, and (as usual) I was in a Los Angeleshotel room, not at home with my books. So I turned to the internet andsoon tracked down my favorite poet, A.R. Ammons (1926-2001).Once I stumbled on “Eyesight,” I remembered having loved the poemyears before. Archie must have loved it, too, because he included it bothin his Collected Poems 1951-1971 and in the later Selected Poems. It haseverything you want in an Archie Ammons poem: what Edward Hirschcalled his “offbeat, sideways, unpredictable radiance,” his “homespunglory.” It has one of his trademark conversations with a mountain (perhapsfrom his native North Carolina), it has the fluid motion from one line tothe next (enjambment, if you want to get technical) that won’t let him orhis reader rest till the very last word of the very last line, and it has in thatlast line one of those sudden insights that leave us breathless: “some thingsthat go are gone.”I miss Archie, but he’s not gone. I’m grateful for the wonderful poems heleft us, and I’m grateful that he was always generous and kind when I hadthe chutzpah to add my music to his.

SKU: WD.080689687235

UPC: 080689687235.

Bringing new life to this classic hymn, I Believe in a Hill Called Mount Calvary, Cliff Duren delivers an arrangement that your choir and congregation will love. Featured in Cliff’s Dove award-winning collection, The Great American Church Songbook, this anthem creates a reminiscent atmosphere with over-the-top dynamics and passionate praise of the one who was slain to change our lives. When earth is no more, I’ll still cling to the old rugged cross….

SKU: ST.EM33

ISBN 9790220200076.

This interesting collection looks back to the 'Winter' of Byrd and Mundy in the conservative settings of such verse as My prime of youth (see EM35B); but it is also a contemporary record, with two madrigals celebrating the failure of Guy Fawkes' Gunpowder Plot against James I.

CONTENTS
Behold now praise the Lord (S (or A) S (or A) TBB)
But yet it seems (SSAB)
Can I abide this prancing? (SSATB)
Earth's but a point (SSATB)
For Lust is frail (SSATB)
He only can behold (SSAB)
Her eyes like angels (SSATB)
I can no more but hope (SSAB)
In hope a King (SSAB)
My prime of youth (SSAB)
O heavy heart (SSAB)
O Lord bow down thine ear (SATTB)
Rest with yourselves (SSATB)
Shall I abide this jesting (SSATB)
The man upright of life (SSAB)
The sacred choir of angels (SATBB)
The Spring is past (SSAB)
The stately stag (SSATB)
The sturdy rock (SSATB)
There is a garden in her face (SSATB)
Those cherries fairly do enclose (SSATB)
Though Wit bids Will (SSAB)
What if a day (SSATB)
Who loves this life (SSAB).

SKU: HL.35032412

ISBN 9781540036537. UPC: 888680826604. 6.75x10.5x0.306 inches.

Festival of Faith is a celebration of the life and ministry of Christ. Through hymns, original anthems and scripture readings, we travel with Him down the dusty roads of Galilee and the ancient stone streets of Jerusalem. We climb the windswept hill of Calvary and enter the garden of resurrection. The orchestration creates a soundscape for this dramatic retelling and a full line of companion products are available to support your rehearsals and performance. This significant work is ideal for performances during Eastertide and will have a lasting impact on your community as they remember the life of the Savior. Songs include: Procession of Faith; And Can It Be That I Should Gain; A Call to Faith; Come to the Mountain; Prayer of Restoration; Festival of Palms; In the Breaking of the Bread; Shadow Garden; I Saw the Cross of Jesus; Easter People, Rise; A Call to Alleluia. Score and Parts for Full Orchestra (fl 1-2, ob/enghn, cl 1-2, bn, hn 1-2, tpt 1-3, tbn 1-2, tba, timp, perc 1-2, hp, pno, vn 1-2, va, vc, db) and Consort (fl, cl, tpt 1-2, tbn, perc, kybd) available as a Printed Edition and as a digital download.

SKU: HL.1436091

UPC: 196288203896.

The hymntune â??Hyfrydolâ? is placed with the texts for â??Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesusâ? and â??Love Divine, All Loves Excellingâ? in this lovely arrangement. The setting is delightfully refreshing, flowing like a madrigal. The vocal lines are lyrical and melodic and work together effortlessly. This piece is especially appropriate for Advent, but will serve well for worship and concerts at any time of the year.

SKU: FG.55011-455-5

ISBN 9790550114555.

This cycle of carols, to the poetry of Christina Rossetti, was assembled piecemeal over a number of years, gradually acquiring a larger dramatic and harmonic arch shape as new settings were added. I was particularly attracted to Rossetti's conflation of the dark, fallow winter landscape with that of the soul waiting for salvation. The cycle traces the long nights of watchfulness before Christmas, with the great event constantly deferred, only glimpsed periodically in different visions before the music turns inward again to contemplation. The opening carol embodies this spirit, with passages of diffuse, roving harmony interspersed with meditative, lyrical pedals, calling out the night watch and dreaming of a far-off summer of the spirit. Earth Grown Old is a kind of double carol, setting two complete poems, their lines at first presented separately as a still, expectant chorale and a jubilant dance, then progressively interwoven toward a fervent climax before once again receding into quiet. In the bleak mid-winter, which sets a highly compressed version of Rossetti's original poem, presents an enfeebled landscape frozen in time, in dire need of deliverance. A gentle melody weaves its way through static drones, broken by an angels' chorus announcing the joy to come. Love Came Down at Christmas ends the waiting, with its gently falling, overlapping lines building to a final revelation, the mystery of Christmas at last made real.