Energetic and driving rhythms emphasize the urgent need to go forth and preach the gospel. Contrasting legato verses with a syncopated refrain stresses the importance of Jesus' command to his disciples with a memorable melody andexciting accompaniment. Go Ye into All the World is a directive to us all and this catchy anthem will make you want to go out and do just that.

Composer's Note'The words of this piece are taken from the poem They are all gone into the world of light by Henry Vaughan. The music came to me after attending the beautiful and moving funeral of MarianneYacoub wife of the eminent heart surgeon Sir Magdi Yacoub who has been such a great support to me over many years.'             - JohnTavenerThey Are All Gone Into The World Of LightThey are all gone into the world of light!And I alone sit ling’ring here;I see them walking in an air of glory Whoselight doth trample on my days:My days which are at best but dull and hoary Mere glimmering and decays.Dear beauteous Death! the jewel of the just Shining nowhere but in the dark;Could man outlookthat mark!And into glory peep.Either disperse these mists which blot and fillMy perspective still as they pass:Or else remove me hence unto that hill Where I shall need noglass.             - Henry Vaughan

In preparing for publication the 1935 orchestral version of Britten's Te Deum in C it became clear that there were a number of discrepancies between the manuscript and the original 193 vocal score. Some of these were minor:different articulation and dynamic markings something Britten was later very fussy about but perhaps left unchanged on proof because of his relative inexperience at this stage of his career with the processes of musicpublishing. Others were more important: wrong pedal notes for example which Britten failed to notice on proof and which have been perpetuated in performances and recordings for nearly seventy years. These have been corrected inthe new edition of the vocal score and in the orchestral score (Britten clearly used the published vocal score to prepare his orchestral version). The two versions have been made consistent in other details - rehearsal cues andbar numbers for example - since Britten intended choristers to use the vocal score to perform the orchestral version. This would have been an easy task for these is little discrepancy in essential details between versions (arare departure occurs in bars 53 to 56 where the works 'Lord God of Sabaoth' are unaccompanied in the orchestral version but doubled by Organ in the original). Sustained Organ chords are often filled out with arpeggiated stringwriting while the spacing of chords is frequently much wider in the string version with melodies transposed into different octaves. Although harmony in both versions is identical voice leading is sometimes altered in the latterto make it better suited to the idioms of the instruments concerned.So although in essence the two versions are the same the soundworld explored in each is quite distinct. Britten's orchestral version should neither beviewed as an occasional piece nor considered solely a liturgical work like many of his choral pieces from the 1930s and 1940s it is equally at home in church and concert hall.

Composer's notes:The Fool is a time-honoured Orthodox religious figure: a Saint the highest of all who discards everything for Christ's sake. He discards all convention all decency all wealth actual and spiritual and turns himself into a figure of fun - defying all acceptable behaviour - and all religious decency. He stands in the square and lets down his trousers - he stuffs himself with food on Good Friday - he gets drunk - he 'appears'to fornicate wildly. There is a faint possibility (in not the highest of 'Fools') of gaining worldly popularity by such flagrant denial of all moral behaviour. Can such behaviour be too interesting? The true fool however embraces all of this and also (unseen) shrinks before the face of his God. By his behaviour he plucks out all hypocrisy false piety and corruption. He is a figure much needed in our times!!! The way I have tried to tacklethis extraordinary subject is to show him in seven stages from an obscene huge fat traditional clown who is drunk fornicating etc. through a stumbling frail agonized figure to a sallow-faced gaunt business man in a formalsuit staring at an empty glass. Having first revered him then mocked him the 'people' while they get drunk and jabber away at 'Christmas' and at the Feast of Feasts 'Easter' are no longer aware of him. But the audience seeshim - a tiny ragged scrap of mortality lying in a corner and faintly so faintly the voice of the Fool the true Fool for Christ's sake sings above the ribald crowd. 'He has given His life'. The Gogmagogs are the 'people' 'priests' 'singers' etc. and one male singer who can 'create' or 'uncreate' this vast role (singing and acting miming etc.) John Tavener Arranged for SSATBB chorus. Date of composition 2000. Chorus part only.

22 International Songs of the Season-The Christmas Choirbook is a collection of up-to-date colorful arrangements of 22 Christmas songs from throughout the world. Among classics dressed in new harmonic sounds you will enjoy jazz and pop intonations as well as gospel renditions of Go Tell It and Joyful. The skandinavien Christmas songs are particularly special: contemplative and musical even droll as in the story about the Christmas troll in the finnish Tomtarnass Julnatt.The Christmas Choirbook offers many stylistic choices for the Christmas and Advent season choir music so let the available CD (ED 9896-50) inspire you in the joyful singing of these pieces. Of course the recordings meant only as a first andhopefully appealing impression represent only a few of the many possible interpretations you will bring to the arrangements.Full verses were intentionally not recorded although we did overlay simple instrumental accompaniments to the a cappella movements. In addition the CD includes pure choire versions as well as some sing-a-longs i.e. instrumental tracks for you to use as half-playback.

When the BBC commissioned this work for the Last Night of the Proms 2018 I was given quite a detailed brief. First the work should be for the BBC Singers and BBC Symphony Chorus (with the BBC Symphony Orchestra) and the two choirs should be quite independent of each other. Secondly the words should acknowledge the centenary of the end of World War I but look optimistically to the future. For the centenary I chose In the Underworld by World War I poet Isaac Rosenberg written in 1914. Originally about unrequited love it can read if you do not know its context as a prophetic look at the next four years with the sense that the women left at home cannot begin tocomprehend the horrors their men face in the trenches. The BBC Singers represent Rosenberg and their music is based on a beautiful Ashkenazi-Jewish prayer mode â?? also known as the â??Ukrainian Gypsyâ?? mode. While I was reading The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran (written in 1923) I came across these lines which seem to answer and assuage the fears expressed in Rosenbergâ??s poem. The BBC Symphony Chorus take on the role of Gibran singing in a beautiful melismatic Maronite Syriac chant into which faith Gibran was born in Lebanon. Later in his life he became very interested in Islam particularly Sufism; therefore the whole piece is in the form of a Sufi Zikr with Sufi devotional rhythms in the percussion starting quiet and low but slowly becoming higher faster and louder. The two choirs start separately but merge into a â??conversation â?? sometimes overlapping and ending on a positive note: Rosenbergâ??s Creature of light and happiness over Gibranâ??s We shall build a tower in the sky. Quite by accident all three Abrahamic faiths are represented in this piece â?? but as Kahlil Gibran famously said: â??You are my brother and I love you. I love you when you prostrate yourself in your mosque and kneel in your church and pray in your synagogue. You and I are sons of one faith â?? the Spirit.'

Uses: General Missions Confirmation GraduationScripture: Philippians 2:15Here is a contemporary credo for the worshipping church. The chorus affirms our trust in God with soaring moments of solidharmonies and foundational affirmations in the poetry. “We believe we are called to be God's light into the world so all may see we believe we are called to share the promise of God's Word.”

Uses: General Stewardship World Communion Call To Worship UnityScripture: James 1:17; Psalm 113:1; Ephesians 1:3This arrangement is a great addition to the sacred ?world music?repertoire as it brings a fresh joy into the traditional sanctuary. Filled with rhythmic and melodic invention this is a splendid choice for Sundays that celebrates the diversity of the Body of Christ. Incorporating theDoxology (OLD 100th) and combining it with an African Praise Chorus was an inspired touch. Percussion part included (woodblock djembe/conga). Available separately: SATB LiteTrax CD. Duration: ca. 2:59.