Par SHEPPARD JOHN. Edited by David Chadd The music of John Sheppard, who was about ten years younger than Tallis, dates from the uncertain times of the Reformation and the reigns of Edward VI and Mary. Perhaps his most impressive work is to be found in his cantus firmus responds, which reflect the considerable musical importance that some choral foundations attached to Matins and Vespers on special feast-days in the last decades of the Sarum rite./ Recueil / Chorale

Par BRALEY BERNARD. Bernard Braley This volume covers the lives of George Herbert, the seventeenth century religious poet and parson; Edward Plumptre, the nineteenth century educationalist and theologian who became Dean of Wells Cathedral; Robert Bridges, medical man, precentor in a village church, Poet Laureate and eccentric; and Fred Pratt Green, who took up hymnwriting seriously at an age when many retire, and whose twentieth century hymns are now sung across the world. Hymnwriters 3 ''has. . . . a classical and appropriate cover, featuring an organ and bench with portraits of hymnologists. Also the near-magazine format, featuring side-bars, boxed sections, photos and drawings and anumber of different typefaces, make it a really top-class production. This also has impressive indices: Index of Persons, Index of Place Names, General Index and, lastly, Index of Tunes. Anybody interested in the hymnology/poetry of all the people covered in this finely produced book should add it to their library. '' (Librarians' Christian Fellowship Newsletter) ISBN 0 85249 790 3/ Livre / Livre

The Boosey and Hawkes Concerts for Choirs series is an innovative approach to concert planning for choirs. Each volume contains a wealth of material to help the choral director assemble a concert programme - all from one volume. The anthology draws on the vast Boosey and Hawkes archive and also includes many specially-composed or newly-arranged pieces.'Christmas in Blue' is a collection of familiar and not-so-familiar festive songs brought together by Nigel Short, former member of the King's Singers and conductor of Tenebrae. His own new arrangements join those by Christopher Norton (Microjazz), Karl Jenkins, Will Todd, Goff Richards, Carol Canning (a former member of the Swingle Singers) and Ward Swingle himself. / Choeur Mixte A Cappella