Par WOOLRICH JOHN. This lullaby for large unaccompanied SATB chorus was commissioned by the Crouch End Festival Chorus in 1993. John Woolrich interweaves various folk texts in his lilting musical setting, which juxtaposes the peacefulness of sleep with moments of anxiety and tension for the parent whose son is far from home. The Faber Choral Signature Series introduces a wealth of new or recently written choral music to choirs in search of fresh repertoire. The series draws in a rich diversity of contemporary composers and includes both lighter and more challenging contemporary works, offering a thrilling array of varied styles./ Recueil / Piano, Chant et Guitare

Messa d'morti. Par DURANTE FRANCESCO. The Requiem in C minor by Francesco Durante (1684–1755) is one of the most important works of this genre written in the first half of the 18th century. In his Messa de’ morti, Durante shows great creativity in combining traditional elements of church music with new ideas originating from instrumental writing and opera. The quality and originality of his Requiem make it an exciting rediscovery with the potential to establish itself as a core repertoire work of sacred choral music. Mainly known today as the teacher of Pergolesi and Paisiello, Durante spent much of his life working as music director at various conservatories in Naples and enjoyed great renown as achurch composer well into the 19th century. Despite its widespread popularity, indicated by the number of manuscript copies to be found across Europe, his Requiem never appeared in print. For this first publication, editor and leading British choral director Stephen Darlington has consulted many of the approximately 50 surviving sources of the work, presenting a critical edition which for the first time makes Durante’s Requiem available to a wider musical audience. - First publication - Urtext edition - Particularly suitable for smaller choirs and ensembles: soprano and alto solo, double choir (SSATB ATB) and strings (plus 2 horns in the Tuba mirum) - Full score and orchestral material also available (EP73044) The Requiem in C minor by Francesco Durante (1684–1755) is one of the most important works of this genre written in the first half of the 18th century. In his Messa de’ morti, Durante shows great creativity in combining traditional elements of church music with new ideas originating from instrumental writing and opera. The quality and originality of his Requiem make it an exciting rediscovery with the potential to establish itself as a core repertoire work of sacred choral music. Mainly known today as the teacher of Pergolesi and Paisiello, Durante spent much of his life working as music director at various conservatories in Naples and enjoyed great renown as achurch composer well into the 19th century. Despite its widespread popularity, indicated by the number of manuscript copies to be found across Europe, his Requiem never appeared in print. For this first publication, editor and leading British choral director Stephen Darlington has consulted many of the approximately 50 surviving sources of the work, presenting a critical edition which for the first time makes Durante’s Requiem available to a wider musical audience. - First publication - Urtext edition - Particularly suitable for smaller choirs and ensembles: soprano and alto solo, double choir (SSATB ATB) and strings (plus 2 horns in the Tuba mirum) - Full score and orchestral material also available (EP73044)./ Répertoire / Solistes, Choeurs et Piano

Par MACMILLAN JAMES. A setting of passages from the Book of Revelation, with particular reference to the angels who appear with seven trumpet blasts, heralding a series of apocalyptic scenes. Commissioned by Jeffrey Skidmore, director of Ex Cathedra, and first performed by them at Birmingham Town Hall in 2015. The composer states, ?There is a vividness and strangeness in these dramatic texts, which are endlessly fascinating and disturbing. The instruments used here are based on the various instrumental types mentioned throughout scripture ? trumpets, harp, bells, cymbals, tabor, rebec.? These are scored for mostly in their modern forms, but shofars (Jewish ritual temple trumpets) and early trumpets are also used. The choral writing shows a similar contrast between traditional and contemporary scoring, with polyphony and homophony alongside extended vocal techniques, including Sprechstimme. Leading choral director Paul Spicer comments, ?This is an extremely dramatic work which draws the listener into the apocalyptic story line ? The ending is cataclysmic.? / Niveau : Difficile / Date parution : 2022-11-08/ Répertoire / Choeur SATB et Piano

Welcome is a work composed by Edward Gregson, arranged for Upper Voices and Piano. It was originally composed for boys' voices, Organ, Brass and Percussion in 1996, but ten years later Gregson created a new version especially for the Kinder Children's Choir of the High Peak. This latter version appears here, and lasts around 4 minutes.The text of Welcome consists of the word 'Welcome', repeated numerous times in a variety of languages , from English to various European languages, to Hebrew and Arabic. Gregson's idea was to provide a fitting way to welcome a new and diverse audience into a new concert hall designed for a new Millennium.The voices are divided into as many as six parts in certain places, but it's left to the conductor to decide on how to distribute these parts, depending on the size and make-up of the choir. The work is suitable for performance by any mixture of upper voices, from children's choirs to female voices.In the January/February 2016 issue of Choir and Organ, Geoffrey Webber calls Welcome 'an ear-catching start for any concert programme.' / Choeur Et Piano

Oratorio in three parts. Par HAENDEL GEORG FRIEDRICH. In quite characteristic fashion for the times, Handel's opera ; Alessandro looks at various episodes in the life and rule of Alexander the Great (356 323 BC). This legendary warrior and military commander conquered large parts of the world before meeting an untimely end at the age of 32. A central conflict in Handel's opera is Alessandro being in love with two women, Lisaura and Rossane, who compete for his favour. In addition, his claim to be of divine parentage is underlined, occasioning him to demand the subservience of his followers, which meets with vigorous disapproval. Handel composed ; Alessandro for the Royal Academyof Music to a libretto by Paolo Antonio Rolli in the 1725/26 season. The work was premiered at the King's Theatre in London on 5 May 1726. ; Alessandro was the first of five operas for the Royal Academy, operas which saw Handel compose for three of the most famous singers of his time: Francesco Bernardi (called Senesino) Francesca Cuzzoni and Faustina Bordoni. Ortensio Mauro's libretto ; La superbia d'Alessandro, which was performed for the first time in Hanover in 1690 in a musical setting by Agostino Steffani and staged again in the city the following year under the title ; Il zelo di Leonato but with numerous alterations, served as the source text for Handel's ; Alessandro. One of the main aspects Rolli had to consider when preparing the libretto for the London performances was to keep the roles of the famous singers of the Royal Academy well balanced, yet at the same time to engineer a musical contest between the prima donnas Cuzzoni and Bordoni (Lisaura and Rossane) as well. From a business point of view, it made good sense, for such rivalry would surely increase public interest in the opera. It is no longer possible to ascertain which changes Handel made during the following performance series of the 1727/28 season. For the performance series of 1732/33, Handel made substantial revisions to the opera: six numbers were deleted in their entirety, the finale in part as well, and the recitatives were made much shorter, with the parts of Cleone and Leonato omitted / Oratorio / Répertoire / Choeur Mixte