SKU: BT.MUSM570366033

English.

A genre-defying collection of songs for female vocal trio, Songspin Songbook is a collaboration between Juice Vocal Ensemble and UYMP, funded by an Arts Council England grant. Described as “the 21st century’s answer to the Swingles or King’s Singers” (The Times), Juice have emerged as the face of a revitalised experimental scene for vocal music. Songspin Songbook publishes songs from their debut album, Songspin. The album was released on Nonclassical in 2011 to critical acclaim, winning an international Independent Music Award for Best Contemporary Classical Album in 2012. Featuring remixes by the likes of Camille producer MaJiker and Björkcollaborator Mikhail Karikis, the album was reviewed by The Observer as “eighteen immaculately achieved tracks, spanning Elisabeth Lutyens to Gabriel Prokofiev via folk song and avant garde, enchant and enthrall”. Songspin also featured the premiere recording of Elisabeth Lutyens' Of The Snow, which The Telegraph described of a performance by Juice as an amazing sustained piece of virtuosity.  Songspin Songbook was edited by James Whittle and Paul Sild.  Artwork designed by Christopher Leedham and Martin Scheuregger.

SKU: BT.MUSM570366088

English.

Kerry Andrew 's Lullaby For The Witching Hour for three voices (SSA). Duration: 4 minutes Composed: 2004 Also published as part of UYMP's Songspin Songbook, ISMN M 57036 603 3. This piece was written as an introduction to a gig we did at the York Spring Festival in 2004. It sets my own text and is influenced by 'Our Prayer', heard on Brian Wilson's album Smile, as well as the Belgian/Central African a cappella group Zap Mama and the soundtrack to the film Belleville Rendez-Vous. It was first performed by Juice at York Spring Festival in May 2004.

SKU: HL.14042254

8.25x11.75x0.066 inches.

Glossa by James Weeks was first performed by the Choir of St John's College, Cambridge, directed by Andrew Nethsingha, 30 June 2010. Glossa by James Weeks was first performed by the Choir of St John's College, Cambridge, directed by Andrew Nethsingha, 30 June 2010.

SKU: BT.YKM570369270

A Hymn to the Thames was commissioned by James Turnbull and the Music Director of the St Paul’s Sinfonia, Andrew Morley. It was begun in 2019 and completed early in 2020. There are four movements played without a break, which follow the Thames from its Cotswold source to the North Sea. As the first performance took place in St ALfege’s Church, Greenwich, this seemed appropriate. The solo oboe represents both a wanderer along the river path and the spirit of the river. The pitch centres of the movements spell out the musical letters of the river (tHAmES—B natural, A, E and E flat) so that the river’s name is projected across the whole work. In addition, the musical letters found in James Turnbull, Andrew Morley and my wife, Teresa Cahill ( who was born in Maidenhead and brought up by the river in Rotherhithe) are entwined in various guises. The first movement grows from the depths, the soloist entering with fanfare-like gestures, followed by lyrical music and breaks into a dance as the river gathers momentum. The third movement is slow and sustained and geographically the Thames flows through Oxford. The music is based on the well-known In Nomine ‘head motif’ from the Gloria tibi Trinitas Mass by the early Tudor composer, John Taverner, who was the first Director of Music at Christ Church, Oxford. The orchestra provides a screen or veil above which the solo oboe dreams and ruminates. This leads directly into the fourth and final movement which begins in the depths once more, interrupting the oboe’s held note from the end of the third movement. The waters’ increasing intensity and power are represented throughout by a moto perpetuo of quick, steady semiquavers. Near the close, the woodwind play O Nata Lux by Thomas Tallis, the great Tudor composer who, with his wife Joan, is buried in St Alfege’s. Beneath this, the lower strings continue the fast semiquaver movement of the river and, above, the violins are heard as a halo of harmonics. At the close, the oboe rises, opening out to the future, and celebrating its voyage, while the orchestra fades as the river meets the sea. A Hymn to the Thames lasts approximately 17 minutes.

SKU: BT.MUSM570362240

English.

Metamorphoses after Britten was written for Melinda Maxwell, for UYMP's Signals volume of new music for Oboe. It was first performed by Melinda at York University on 24th November 2010. I - A Mountain II - Fixation III - Flowers IV - Fountains Metamorphoses after Britten by philipvenables Metamorphoses after Britten are just that: four miniatures, each inspired by one of Benjamin Britten’s Six Metamorphoses after Ovid for solo oboe. Each movement, over its short course, transforms gradually from one thing to another, ending, with the exception of Fountains, in a short, cathartic coda. Some of the movements also take specific musical elements from Britten’s pieces. I verymuch viewed these pieces as musical Haiku, and in that sense I hope they embody a sense of peace, brevity and simplicity. The oboe version of Metamorphoses after Britten is dedicated to Melinda Maxwell. The saxophone version of Metamorphoses after Britten, with an additional movement, is dedicated to Vicki and Andrew Vaughan      - Philip Venables     .

SKU: BT.MUSM570364107

English.

Time And The Seasons: A Song Cycle was commissioned by Sholto Kynoch, with funding from the Britten Pears Foundation and Truffle Hunter, for Roderick Williams and Andrew West to perform at the 2013 Oxford Lieder Festival.