Setting the text of Richardâ??s brother Thomas Music scored for unaccompanied SSATBB choir was commissioned by Judith Godsland for Commotioâ??s 20th Anniversary Concert in September 2019.

Music runs through the story of Arion which begins with a singing competition in Sicily. Arion wins the prize and this puts his life in danger: his newfound wealth excites the greed of the sailors who are supposed to be bringing him back to Corinth and they threaten to kill him. They allow Arion to sing one last song and the power of his singing attracts dolphins to the ship.  At the end of his song he jumps overboard and one of the dolphins carries him to safety.  So Arion’s musical gift gets him into trouble but it is also his salvation.   The idea of being rescued by a music-loving dolphin is very appealing. In Robert Graves’account of the myth the dolphin could not bear to be parted from Arion and accompanied him back to court where “it soon succumbed to a life of luxury.”  However Herodotus says that after his rescue and return to Corinth Arion failed to return the dolphin to the sea and it died there.  Apollo placed the dolphin among the stars and next to it Arion’s lyre in recognition of his musical skill.  This is one of the mythical explanations of the origins of the constellations Delphinus and Lyra. It seems natural to sing a story that has singing at its heart. When I was asked by the Nicholas Berwin Charitable Trust to write a choral work for Making Music something that would be within reach of many choirs and involve children this story struck me as ideal: the men of the chorus could be the bloodthirsty sailors and the women could create an atmosphere of mystery for the arrival of the dolphins represented by children’s voices. There would be one solo voice: Arion the marvellous singer. Andrew Fardell the conductor who was advisor to this commission had suggested that I might use the same instrumentation as a popular arrangement of Orff’s Carmina Burana a work that as well as using children’s chorus features a solo countertenor. I thought the magical otherworldly quality of this

Puer Pacis. Puer Pacis (The Dulwich Peace Carol) was jointly commissioned by Dulwich College and Dulwich College International, with the generous support of the Alvarez Family. First performed by the Choir of Dulwich College, directed by Richard Mayo, on 6 December 2019 at Southwark Cathedral. Scored for unaccompanied divisi choir, the text asks what can we offer to the baby in the manger when it is Mary's gift to humanity that is the greatest of all.

From Geistliche Chor-Music-Published in 1648 Heinrich Schütz’s “Geistliche Chor-Music” is still regarded as one of his seminal works. A two-volume performance edition based on Werner Breig’s revised new text is available (BA 5901/BA 5902).Now selected motets are being issued in separate volumes. They offer a modern notation and layout retain the original keys and include an integrated figured bass realisation.In keeping with contemporary performance practice the ‘choral’ parts can be performed by instruments as well as voices. Instrumental parts with underlaid words may be purchased separately for performances with instruments (seeperformance material for BA 5901 and BA 5902).- Verleih uns Frieden genädiglich No.4 SWV 372 from 'Geistliche Chor-Music'- Cantus Quintus Countertenor Tenor Bassus Basso continuo ad lib.

For Passion in 1680 Dieterich Buxtehude composed his largest work in the style of an oratorio the cantata cycle Membra Jesu nostri and he dedicated it to his friend the Swedish Court Music Director Gustav Düben. In each of the seven separate cantatas which in principle follow the scheme ?instrumental introduction ? choral movement with biblical texts ? vocal soli (aria) with a sacred text from the Middle Ages ? repetition of the choral movement ? the feet knees hands side chest heart and face of the crucified Christ are interpreted allegorically. The original scoring for strings in No. VI ('Ad Cor') consists of a consort of five gambas. If this group of instruments isnot available then violins I/II can be substituted for gamba I/II and the gamba V parts can be played by the violone (the music for these substitute parts is contained in each respective parts) so that in this case only two gambas (III IV) are needed. For such a performance only two copies of the Gamba performance score (Carus 36.013/16) are required.

Originally written as an up-tempo number for the musical Oh Kay!, Ira convinced George that it was better as a ballad. The lush, challenging harmonies in this arrangement prove that Ira was right! / Choeur Mixte (SSATB) A Cappella

O Saviour of the World. Composed for unaccompanied SSATB with an English text from the Book of Common Prayer. This five-minute anthem was written for the UK?s Thomas Tallis Society, having in mind Tallis?s famous work for 5 voices with latin text, Salvator Mundi. The music matches the sense of anguish in the text.

The harmonic turns and piano configurations in La vie ant?rieure ??? the ???former life??? ??? seem almost exuberantly lyrical. At the beginning the archaic sounds and words of the male choir conjure up a dream world that is soon flooded with the power of the waves and the rich polyphonic harmony of the choir and the piano. With the outcry ???C???est l? que j???ai v?cu!??? [I have lived there] which expresses the fervent yearning to return to a past life the collective desperately reinforces the longing for the past. Once more the women???s choir conjures up this lost paradise in an undulating soft sound before the desolate sadness is pierced by the power of the music of the piano postlude creating a moment that is completely in the present.

Instrumentation: SSATB a cappella Format: Sheet Music Details: 12 madrigals for 5 voices (Italian/German) Contents: Contents: Ch'ami la vita mia; A che tormi il ben mio; Non si levav' ancor; E dicea luna; S'andasse amor a caccia; O com' e gran martire; Ch'io non t'ami; Anima mia perdona; Che se tu se il cor mio; O Mirtillo; Era l'anima mia gia presso; M'e pi' dolce il penar

Aus: Israelsbrünnlein. Par SCHEIN JOHANN HERMANN. Johann Hermann Schein’s Israelsbrünnlein, published in Leipzig in 1623, is a supreme achievement not only among the works of this composer, who had been Thomaskantor in Leipzig since 1616, but also for the entire body of German music written during the first half of the 17th century. Among the 26 motets written “in the Italian madrigal manner” 23 are settings of Old Testament texts, a fact to which the collection owes its title. The source for the text of this collection is the “inexhaustible fountain” of the Psalms, the books of Moses, the Prophets, the Songs of Solomon, and other books of the Old Testament. / Mottet / Répertoire / Choeur SSATB

Aus: Israelsbrünnlein. Geistliche Madrigale. Par SCHEIN JOHANN HERMANN. Johann Hermann Schein’s Israelsbrünnlein, published in Leipzig in 1623, is a supreme achievement not only among the works of this composer, who had been Thomaskantor in Leipzig since 1616, but also for the entire body of German music written during the first half of the 17th century. Among the 26 motets written “in the Italian madrigal manner” 23 are settings of Old Testament texts, a fact to which the collection owes its title. The source for the text of this collection is the “inexhaustible fountain” of the Psalms, the books of Moses, the Prophets, the Songs of Solomon, and other books of the Old Testament./ Répertoire / Choeur SSATB