Both a dedicated carol singer and an authority on the history of English music Nicholas Temperley here offers a unique book of 37 carols dating from the fifteenth century to the present.For over fifty years he has sung edited and composed carols each Christmas and in Christmas is Coming the fruit of his enthusiasm is combined with his wealth of knowledge to produce an outstanding and original new collection. As John Rutter observes in his Foreword the book does not pointlessly duplicate what can be found in many other carol books but has a personality and purpose of its own.Twenty-two fresh and practical arrangements include carols from Austria France Germany Mexico Poland and the USA alongside music both rare and familiar from the rich heritage of the English carol tradition. As well as eight of his personal favourites from J. S. Bach to Charles Ives the author includes seven new compositions of his own settings of medieval and traditional texts that reveal his skill as a choral composer whose command of style ranges from the humorous to the profound.In addition to sample programmes and translations there are invaluable notes on the performance and history of individual items plus an historical summary of the genre as a whole: everything in fact to make Christmas is Coming an indispensable companion for singers who wish to enrich the seasonal repertoire for concerts churches and traditional Yuletide carolling.

This exclusive collection brings together 12 of Nico Muhly?s sacred works for mixed-voice choir. These vivacious fresh and dramatic pieces will make an impact whether in the church or in the concert hall and range from the intimate Lord keep us modest when we claim to the effervescent Bright Star Carol alongside service music such as Muhly?s Third Service. All are accessible to learn and offer choirs a new slant on contemporary choral music at its very best.  'Choral music has always been at the emotional core of my musical output. Even when I?m writing large-scale orchestral works (or indeed chamber music) I alwaysfind myself returning to techniques and textures I?ve greedily stolen from centuries of music from Tye to Howells early and recent. I try to design my own choral music primarily for use in worship where the measure of the success of the piece is if it helps guide the listeners? ears upwards and elsewhere as sacred architecture and the various rituals of the church themselves are meant to do. The specificity of music heard only in certain seasons is for me an important and thrilling element of the choral tradition: a Beethoven Symphony is welcome at any point in the year but an anthem for Candlemas works only then at a certain time of day and on a certain day of the year. With this functional spirit at the heart of the compositional process I hope that the music collected here makes equal sense in a concert setting. These works range from ordinaries of the mass to hymns to motets and represent a decade and a half of output.' - Nico Muhly

Waisenhausmesse (C)-This Mozart Mass (together with BA 7520 & BA 7522) have been arranged for solo voices chorus and organ from the Urtext of the ?New Mozart Edition? thereby making them accessible in all their beauty to choruses and church choirs with limited financial means at their disposal. Martin Focke has based the ?concertante? organ parts on the orchestral writing doing full justice to the timbre of the original. The solo parts and choruses of course leave the Urtext of the ?New Mozart Edition? entirely untouched.Mozart had barely turned twelve when he composed and conducted his Missa solemnis in C minor K.139 to inaugurate a new orphanage on Vienna?sRennweg in 1768.This astonishing early work adheres to the form of a Neapolitan cantata mass in which the separate movements (?Gloria? ?Credo? etc.) are themselves made up of self-contained choruses ariosos and ensembles.This frequently heard Mass is characterized by a sharp contrast between its cheerful underlying C major mood and gloomy dramatic passages in the minor mode.Self-contained version with organ instead of orchestra Straightforward and easy-to-play organ part Ideal for church services and concert performances Original version for soloists choir and orchestra BA4858

Every year, vocal soloists have a problem: In the concerts, parties, church services and other events do not sing the songs you already known, but interesting new that makes the listener sit up. Finally there is a collection of new or newly discovered songs for the Advent and Christmas season.Singers or church musicians can create with this collection on a wide range. Not only songs from Germany here, but from all over the world (in German language), such as Russia, France, England or America. / Chant/Vocal/Choeur

Ein Lämmlein geht und trägt die Schuld-In the autumn of 1721 when Georg Philipp Telemann became cantor at the Hamburg Johanneum and music director of the city?s five principal churches he faced the challenge of composing and performing a new Passion setting every year. The ninety-minute St. John Passion of 1745 was written in a winningly clear and transparent style with two large choral numbers six chorales (probably joined by the congregation) and several turbae that pose interesting yet manageable demands on the chorus. The plain and unassuming recitatives and the eleven sharply defined yet contemplative arias give soloists broad leeway for artistic interpretation. This volume follows the Urtextof vol. 29 of the Telemann Edition thereby offering a reliable text at the pinnacle of modern scholarship. Contemplative setting of the Passion Urtext from the Telemann Edition Straightforward piano part

This Fantasia is founded on the following traditional English carols: The Truth Sent From Above (Herefordshire) words and tune; Come All You Worthy Gentlemen (Somerset) words and tune; On Christmas Night (Sussex) words and tune; There Is A Fountain (Herefordshire) tune only; together with fragments of other well-known carol tunes. The work is scored for ordinary full Orchestra with Organ and set of bells (ad lib.) or String Orchestra with Organ or Piano. Alternatively it may be accompanied by Organ or Piano alone played from the Vocal score with an optional solo Cello part (H212). A chorus part for performance bysolo Baritone and TTBB is also available (W41). The chorus is required to sing in four different ways:1. Singing the words.2. Singing with closed lips.3. Singing \'Ah\'.4. Singing with half-closed lips i.e. with a short \'u\' sound as in the word \'but\'. Watch Pasadena Master Chorale performing Ralph Vaughan Williams\' Fantasia On Christmas Carols:

Hail! Smiling Morn (Roud Index No 1346) was written by Reginald Spofforth in 1810. It has been described as the ?most popular glee in the entire repertoire? and remains a much loved concert item amongamateur choral groups all over the English-speaking world. It is presented here for SATB choir with a Piano reduction for accompaniment purposes. Reginald Spofforth (1769-1827) was a British composer organist andteacher. He wrote several dozen songs glees and hymns but no instrumental music. His music was performed at Covent Garden and successfully published during his lifetime but most of it has now been lost. Hail! SmilingMorn is undoubtedly his best known work.

Which singer or choral conductor has not on occasion been stuck for new ideas for warming up?Here are 200 ideas! With notes on posture limbering up etc.

Imogen Holst 1907-84 was a much-loved source of inspiration for countless musicians and students who encountered her over the years of her involvement with the Dartington Summer School of Music and the Aldeburgh Festival.This book conveys her infectious enthusiasm and insight as a choral conductor. Here she sets out clearly and concisely a wealth of practical information on the physical business of conducting which will be of particular value to the amateur conductor. She deals with the forming and training of a choir the presentation and rehearsal of the music and how to approach public performances and competitions. Her final chapter gives adviceon the rehearsal of specific choruses by Purcell Handel and Britten.Originally published in 1973 this edition has been corrected and updated by Lowinger Maddison Archivist for the Holst Foundation.

Here is an exciting easy-to-use sight-singing method for middle school/jr. high choirs that starts from square one assuming no previous training. It is presented in a logical sequenced order with harmonically combinable exercises to develop rhythmic and melodic independence. The collection offers a variety of a cappella and accompanied songs for 3-Part Mixed voices in two sequenced volumes. Volumes I and II are available in Teacher's Edition and Singer's Edition 5-Pak and contain complete vocal and piano parts. The Teacher's Edition additionally includes complete instruction for use of the method! Available: Teacher's Edition and Singer's Edition 5-Pak. For Gr. 6-9.

Jephtha is Handel’s last oratorio. Handel had to break off from composing several times because of his increasing blindness in 1751. The first performance at the Covent Garden Theatre in February 1752 was the last performance he conducted before he went completely blind. In Jephtha Handel succeeded in achieving the perfect fusion between a biblical plot and the spirit of classical tragedy. With great intensity and dramatic expression he highlighted in particular the fates of Jephtha and Iphis thereby portraying convincing and complex characters. The chorus How Dark O Lord are Thy Decrees at the end of parttwo is of crucial importance in the work and is regarded as the dramatic high point of the oratorio. The vocal score is based on volume I/30 of the Halle Handel Edition (BA 4014) which contains the complete critical version of the music of the oratorio for the first time. It contains a detailed foreword in German and English and a clear straightforward Piano reduction.