SKU: LO.20-1907L

ISBN 9780787748739.

Kevin McChesney crafted lush and innovative harmonies for this haunting and contemplative arrangement of GREENSLEEVES. From the popular collection Season of Joy (20/1116L), this beautiful piece is perfect for a quiet or meditative moment in your Christmas Eve service.

SKU: CA.5199200

ISBN 9790007186647. German. Text: van Swieten, Gottfried.

Joseph Haydn's oratorio Die sieben letzten Worte unseres Erlosers am Kreuze is probably one of the most frequently performed settings of music for Good Friday. Haydn set these Seven Words in a dramatic, extremely gripping emotional style which is utterly compelling. Originally the work was conceived as a purely instrumental composition - as meditative music in seven slow movements with an introduction and concluding movement (Il Terremoto - the earthquake) for a Passiontide church service. From the outset, Haydn had composed the themes of the movements with a vocal spirit in mind, so when he heard a vocal arrangement of his work in 1794 in Passau with a German singing text - an obvious idea - it inspired him to write his own vocal version. The first performance took place in 1796 in Vienna. With the flourishing of choral societies in the 19th century, this vocal version of the Seven Words became one of the most frequently-performed Passion music settings of all. The critical Urtext edition of the work now published offers a revised musical text reflecting current scholarly standards.

SKU: PE.EP73479

ISBN 9790577019888. 297 x 210mm inches. English.

At First Light was commissioned by Eric Bruskin, a resident of Philadelphia, USA, in memory of his mother. Eric had a longstanding enthusiasm for my work, and I was touched to be the person he approached for a task which is both a privilege and a daunting responsibility. In a sense, no music can ever measure up to the weight of love or the hope of consolation vested in it under such circumstances - but in memory I carry the deaths of both my own parents, and I was able to draw upon that. Eric's fondness for my Cello Sonata (itself written in memoriam) led him to ask that I include a solo 'cello part in the new work - but his attachment also to my polyphonic sacred choral writing meant that he wanted a centrepiece which would be both a showcase of that approach and the celebration of a life well lived. Therefore, the seven movements of At First Light arrange themselves as a series of slow meditations surrounding an exuberant 9-minute motet in which the lamenting cello falls temporarily silent.

Eric's Jewish faith meant that approaching an agnostic humanist brought up within the Anglican tradition was hardly free of problems! Gradually, though, I was able to win his approval for a collated mosaic of texts. This embraces some liturgical Latin (necessary for the motet) as the shared preserve of broad western culture in general, but balances it with a secular approach to loss, celebration, remembrance and the many shades of our mourning those whom we see no longer. Eric was adamant that he did not want the title Requiem; but what has emerged is still a form of semi-secular Requiem in all but name, taking its title instead from a phrase in the poem by Thomas Blackburn set as the third movement. This seemed to suggest succinctly how the loss of one very close to us is an awakening into an unfamiliar world where everything is changed. Following the exuberant central movement, the texts by the Lebanese-born Kahlil Gibran and the US, Kentuckian poet Wendell Berry first address the departed loved one directly, then place us within an imaginary funeral cortege, where the perennial and universal in human experience become personal without subscribing explicitly to any particular faith (or lack of it). The final text of all is a translation of a Hebraic prayer, requested and provided by Eric Bruskin, which serves to mirror its Latin counterpart heard at the outset.

Throughout, the lamenting cello represents a commentary on the experience articulated in the text. It evokes and, in a sense, tries to embrace and sanctify the individual existential journeys of the bereft, as they in turn seek to make their own sense of what the short-lived Second World War poet Alun Lewis called 'the unbearable beauty of the dead' (movement 5).

In a modern world hostage to ever greater menace, displacement, bloodshed and anguish, I hope fervently that this music not only brings a measure of solace to the person who commissioned it, but also makes its own small contribution to bailing out the sinking ship of humanity.

SKU: FG.55011-230-8

ISBN 979-0-55011-230-8.

This Palmgren's own string orchestra arrangement of the popular cradle song from his 24 Piano Preludes is available again. Its haunting, restful melody is given a richly harmonious treatment in this version which is equally at home in a wide variety of concert programmes.

SKU: HL.4008610

ISBN 9798350112597. UPC: 196288183204.

Nico Samitz has been composing for chamber ensembles since his school days. For over ten years he has been writing works in a wide variety of genres for the “BlechReiz BrassQuintett” ensemble, in which he himself plays trumpet and piano. His field of expertise ranges from classical pieces to jazz and meditative music—and even to pop-oriented compositions. While honing his skills in ear-training and composition at the Mozarteum, Salzburg, Nico became acquainted with a wide repertoire of works as a trumpet player with the Munich Symphony Orchestra, The Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Bavarian State Opera, all of which have influenced his writing style. The driving force behind his creative work is a winning combination of passion, the fun of music-making and a desire to express, through the medium of music, feelings that are difficult to put into words. Like many of his works, Nico composedThe Joy of Freedom for the “BlechReiz BrassQuintet”. The catchy tune is reworked in a variety of styles throughout the entire work, giving it the quality of a true 'earworm'.

SKU: HP.1332

UPC: 763628113322. 2 Timothy 2:5, 2 Timothy 4:8, Hebrews 11:9, Isaiah 61:10, Psalms 46:4, Revelation 2:10, Revelation 22:1, Revelation 4:6, Revelation 6:11.

Traditional hymn Basically a 3-octave piece with five optional notes from the 4th-octave Interesting, rich harmonies give a meditative feeling. Dynamic control is important.