Par RENTZ EARLENE. Building Competence In The Choral Classroom/ Recueil / Choeur Mixte

Daniel Elder's Fresh and Fearless is a special and unusual take on the idea of spring. The driving Piano part captures the energy and wonder of the new beginnings of the season. Excellent Vocal writing that is simple in its construction but complex in its sound. / Choeur Mixte (SATB) Et Piano

Lully, Lullay was written at the request of Philip Reed, music director of the Bury St Edmunds Bach Choir, which gave the first performance on 17 December 2011 at Holy Trinity Church, Long Melford, Suffolk. Inspired by the familiar medieval text of the Coventry Carol , it is sung a cappella and invokes the sense of a lullaby through its metre and lilting melody. The fragility and bittersweet tonality of the opening verse is reflected in the continuous interaction between the tonic and dominant keys and resolving dissonances. This develops into broader passages of increased range and dynamics during the second and third verses, where the melody is passed between the upper and lower voices, clearly invoking the poignancy of the text. The last verse returns to the original theme with subtle harmonic changes and a reflective final cadence. An inspiring selection of new works from a range of contemporary composers, the Novello New Choral Series offers pieces for all types of choirs, including sacred and secular works from simple, four-part settings to more expansive, yet accessible, repertoire in an exciting variety of styles. Harriet Wybor was born in Leeds in 1986 and read music as an undergraduate at Durham University, followed by an M.A. in composition with Martyn Harry and António Pinho Vargas. Harriet's main compositional interests are sacred and secular contemporary choral and chamber music, and the relationship between music and time. Her work reflects a wide range of influences from renaissance choral music and medieval texts to 20th-century literature and art. Harriet has had works performed by the Northern Sinfonia (conducted by H K Gruber), Psappha, the Allegri String Quartet, St John's College Choir, Durham, the Bury St Edmunds Bach Choir and the Fishburn Band - broadcast on BBC Radio 2's Listen to the Band . After graduating from Durham University, Harriet continued her studies at the University of Edinburgh, where she read for an LL.M. in innovation, technology and the law. She has subsequently pursued a career in music publishing where she works in copyright and composes in her spare time. / Choeur SATB

Par VERDI GIUSEPPE. The first critical edition of Verdi's Requiem with complete performance material for sale. The edition is based on the autograph as the primary source and makes accessible one of the most important requiem settings of the 19th century in a modern scholarly edition. In particular, articulation, phrasing and dynamics are often indicated more precisely than in previous, well-known editions. By means of parallel passages, editorial additions attempt to make Verdi's intentions clearer through the judicious use of diacritical markings. A clearly organized disposition of the engraved music makes the full score and vocal score easy to read. Outstanding legibility of the parts. With an excellently playable vocal score by Paul Horn in tried and true quality. As a reasonably-priced alternative, a choral score is also available. With a foreword in three languages and a critical report. Among Verdi's many compositions, as a work of sacred music, the Requiem remains unique. It was composed as a musical memorial for the Italian national poet Alessandro Manzoni, deeply admired by Verdi, and was first performed on the first anniversary of his death on 22 May 1874 in Milan Cathedral. The exploration of many extremes places Verdi's tonal language wholly in the service of a dramatized liturgy./ Répertoire / Choeur Mixte (SATB) et Orchestre

The Queens Service. Par STANFORD CHARLES VILLIERS. SATB and organ Stanford's Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis in F was written in 1872, while the composer was a choral and organ scholar at Queens' College, Cambridge. Though early in date, the work already shows his remarkable talent for composition and his gift for writing large-scale choral music. Edited by Ralph Woodward, a latter-day organ scholar of Stanford's old college, the setting is entitled The Queens' Service to distinguish it from the more well-known service in the same key. The work has been recorded by Queens' College Chapel Choir on Mirabilis Records (MMSCD4)./ Répertoire / SATB et Orgue

Love me sweet was composed for the occasion of the composer's wedding in July 2010. The text consists of four verses taken from Elizabeth Barrett Browning's ironic poem A Man's Requirements which ends with the couplet, 'I will love thee - half a year - As a man is able.' This setting responds to the purer sentiments of the earlier verses, employing a lilting metre, a harmonic idiom and a piquant sprinkling of dissonance. An inspiring selection of new works from a range of contemporary composers, the Novello New Choral Series offers pieces for all types of choirs, including sacred and secular works from simple, four-part settings to more expansive, yet accessible, repertoire in an exciting variety of styles. Tom Wiggall is a London-based composer writing mainly for voice, stage and screen. In recent years Tom's work has taken in large-scale community opera projects, numerous anthems and songs, and music for film and television including Melvyn Bragg's ITV1 series Faith in the Frame and Channel 4's The Art Show. Tom is also Director of Music at Highgate School. / Choeur SATB

In Bright Mass With Canons, the canonical motifs are present right from the beginning and carry through almost every bar of the work.There are echoes of early English Choral writing and abstracted sections with flurries of sound interspersed with more Choral writing, all in the most modern idioms.Contemporary American composer Nico Muhly is a prolific writer and arranger who, at 32, is the youngest composer ever to have been commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera in New York. His oeuvre includes two operas, and many solo pieces and works for small ensemble, Orchestra, and Chorus, and he has collaborated with artists such as Philip Glass, Björk and Sigur Rós. / Choeur Mixte (SATB) Et Orgue

' Ave verum was commissioned early in 2011 by Edward Rowntree for the birthday of his father, John Rowntree, director of music at Douai Abbey in the UK. My aim was to write a piece both short and simple, suitable for regular liturgical use. There are, of course, many wonderful settings of this text already, not least those by William Byrd and Edward Elgar, both of which I sang as a boy. In this instance I felt their presence as a fellowship and, having their music in my head while writing, I was encouraged rather than daunted. In fact, if you listen with this in mind, you may hear a phrase or two in homage to the great masters.' - John Duggan An inspiring selection of new works from a range of contemporary composers, the Novello New Choral Series offers pieces for all types of choirs, including sacred and secular works from simple, four-part settings to more expansive, yet accessible, repertoire in an exciting variety of styles. Born in 1963, John Duggan was a chorister at Westminster Cathedral and studied music at Oxford. While still a boy, he dreamed of writing in the great European choral tradition of Victoria, Tallis and Palestrina. His vocal music has delighted both singers and audiences across Europe and the United States, and he composes regularly for film and dance. He has composed for a number of choirs including Commotio, Westminster Cathedral Choir, the Hildegard Choir and Sospiri, and has written commissions for the Edington Music Festival, Crossover Intergenerational Dance Group, Oxford Youth Dance and The Oxford-Grenoble Association. John regularly performs as a singer and choral director and works as a recording engineer and producer. He has recently been appointed as a Creative Arts Fellow at Wolfson College, Oxford. / Choeur SATB

Par PEIRSON RICHARD. The sense of rare and beautiful magic encountered in the early verse of Yeats is perfectly captured in this setting of He Wishes For The Cloths Of Heaven which, like the no less evocative texts selected by Warlock for 'The Curlew', is among the outstanding items from the early collection 'The Wind Among The Reeds'. To the rich symbolism of the poet's work, smoothly euphonious and finely balanced choral harmonies add their own 'golden and silver light', making in words and music a sonorous image of the profound vision, part romance, part mystery, at the heart of this unique poem./ Feuillet / SATB a Cappella

Par SAMUEL RHIAN. Music for SATB chorus occupies an important place in Rhian Samuel 's catalogue of works, from the early carols written in the USA, 'Jolly Wat the Shepherd' of 1970 and 'So Long Ago' (1st Prize, Greenwich Festival, 1979) to her most recent anthems for the Choir of New College Oxford. In her songs, vocal chamber music and choral compositions she has explored an impressive range of poetry, from anonymous 14th-century Welsh texts and traditional Japanese verse to Emily Dickinson, Samuel Beckett and contemporary poets including Anne Stevenson. Samuel 's three 'Jacobean Lyrics' of 1979 included a simple canonic account of George Herbert's 'I got me flowers'. Thisnew a cappella setting returns to the poet's sublime devotional verse, reflecting the dialogue structure of ' Love Bade Me Welcome ' through expressive contrasts of material and vocal ensemble./ Feuillet / SATB a Cappella

In addition to his vast output of German poetry, Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926) composed nearly 400 poems in French. His poems on roses struck me as especially charming, filled with gorgeous lyricism, deftly crafted and elegant in their imagery. These exquisite poems are primarily light, joyous and playful, and the musical settings are designed to enhance these characteristics and capture the delicate beauty and sensuousness of the poetry. Distinct melodic and harmonic materials recur throughout the cycle, especially between Rilke's poignant 'Contre qui, rose? (set as a wistful nocturne) and his moving 'La rose complète.? The final piece, 'Dirait-on,? is composed as a tuneful chanson populaire, or folksong, that weaves together two melodic ideas first heard in fragmentary form in preceding movements. / Choeur Mixte (SATB) Et Piano

Par PERGOLESI GIOVANNI BATTISTA. In 1732 Giovanni Battista Pergolesi composed a setting of the Vespers in honor of St. Emidius, Naples’s patron saint and protector against earthquakes. All that has survived are the introit Domine ad adjuvandum and three psalm settings: Dixit Dominus, Laudate and Confitebor. Malcolm Bruno’s reconstruction consists of Pergolesi’s Hymnus, Magnificat, several short instrumental interpolations, and the contrafactum of a secular cantata for the Salve Regina, thereby presenting a full cross-section of Pergolesi’s artistic evolution. The reconstructed Vespers ranges from the early Confitebor, with its allusions to Vivaldi, to the late Salve Regina with its reminiscences of thefamous Stabat Mater; from contrapuntal choral writing to operatic arias; and from the magnificently scored Dixit to the almost intimate Laudate. The present edition follows the original sources as closely as possible and contains an appendix with detailed notes on performance practice. Performance material available for hire Effective reconstruction of a full-length work Cross-section of Pergolesi’s sacred music Clear and easy-to-play piano reduction/ Répertoire / Solistes, Choeur Mixte (SATB) et Orchestre

Par PINKHAM DANIEL. American composer, organist and harpsichordist, Daniel Pinkham (1923-2006) studied the Organ and music theory at Phillips Academy in Andover before studying at Harvard. His Christmas Cantata is an exciting addition to the choral repertoire. Pinkham was famously moved by a concert in Andover given by the Trapp family singers in 1939, soon after they had escaped Austria. He quoted, 'Here, suddenly, I was hearing clarity, simplicity. It shaped my whole outlook. ' Pinkham ''s career saw him teach at the Boston Conservatory and the New England Conservatory of Music, as well as being organist of King''s Chapel inBoston for 42 years. His compositions varied from symphonies to art songs, althought predominantly his music was religious in nature, frequently incorporating a choir and Organ. Christmas Cantata represents Pinkham ''s influence of 20th-Century trends, often embracing plainchant, joining Stravinsky and Hindemith''s revival of early music. For all aspiring choirs seeking varied modern repertoire, Christmas Cantata provides an exciting performance work./ Répertoire / Ensemble de Cuivres et Voix

Par HARVEY JONATHAN. Remember, O Lord was written to mark the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Coronation of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Harvey's dark and sonorous tone creates an intense and majestic atmosphere. This piece was written as a contemporary equivalent to Howells' 'Behold O God Our Defender' written for the coronation fifty years earlier. / Musique religieuse / Répertoire / Choeur

O Aula Nobilis is a festive work, composed for the opening of the Natalie L. Haslam music center at the University of Tennessee. After the opening unaccompanied chant in the women's voices, the music, though clearly based on the chant melody, takes on a highly rhythmic, asymmetrical and angular character, with a bright and resonant quality. / Choeur Mixte (SATB) Et Piano