SKU: PE.EP73182

ISBN 9790577017150. 190 x 272mm inches. English.

Winner of the inaugural Voces8/VCM Foundation Composition Competition, 2017, Toby Hession's 'She Walks in Beauty' is a setting for SATB choir of text by Lord Byron.

Series information

The internationally-renowned British vocal ensemble VOCES8 is proud to inspire people through music and share the joy of singing. The celebration of diverse musical expression is central to the ensemble's ethos, and this is shown in their versatile concert programmes and innovative educational work. The 'VOCES8 singles'; series includes songs for which the group is particularly well known and which have been composed or arranged specifically for VOCES8.

SKU: PE.EP73264

ISBN 9790577016849. 190 x 272mm inches. English. Traditional; VOCES8; Emily Dickens.

This 5 minute arrangement by Emily Dickens for VOCES8 draws together a pair of stunningly emotive melodic lines from the Scottish and Irish folk traditions: My Lagan Love and She Moved Through the Fair. The lower voices create a drone on which the tenor and upper voices explore the beautifully simple and instantly recognisable harmonies of these folk songs.

Also available to download.

SKU: PE.EP73267

ISBN 9790577016870. 190 x 272mm inches. English.

Arranged by Jim Clements for Worcester Cathedral Chamber Choir and adapted for VOCES8, this is a beautiful song of faith and hope which is as enjoyable to listen to as to sing.

Also available to download.

SKU: PE.EP68578

ISBN 9790300759630. English.

Of Time and Passing (2016) is a cycle of three choral songs written specifically for the London-based ensemble, VOCES8, taking into consideration their versatilityand ability to beautifully intone a range of vocal colors with precision and grace.

The first song, I. Life, sets my translation of the poem A Vida by Brazilian poet Olavo Bilac (1865-1918), a poet I discovered while studying Brazilian Portuguese at the University of Michigan. I was drawn both to the simplicity of the text and to the possibilities of teasing out dual contrasting moods. In the beginning and end, this song explores a texture that is very much alive: wave-like contours, throbbing sounds, and plenty of flowing movement. Rising eighth-note motives in particular emphasize the fleetingness of life. But in the middle of the song, the listener is given a slowed-down atmosphere to savor life's beauty.

II. To Everything a Season capitalizes on VOCES8's ability to effectively interpret popular genres a cappella. This ancient text is taken from Ecclesiastes (dated around 300 B.C.) but I set it to a modern, rhythmically-regular and percussive pop-style idiom. Since popular music in whatever era is designed
to appeal to a specific ?present time?, it is by its very nature ephemeral, and therefore seemed an apt metaphor to evoke the transitory nature of seasons.

III. Into Your Hands, confines the writing into no more than four parts, often with octave unisons.This creates a more direct and word-focused setting in which the Psalmist?s urgent words are placed at the forefront. Largely homophonic, this song is at times chorale-like, at times madrigal-like,
finally relinquishing it?s tension into peaceful rest, proclaiming ?You have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God??

- Daniel Knaggs

SKU: PE.EP73025

ISBN 9790577013404. 190 x 272mm inches. English.

Five dance-inspired movements for SATB and piano