An original and exciting collection of anthems and other choral pieces written for the Orthodox Church and inspired by the Church in Russia selected by Ralph Allwood. Partly because of the re-emergence of the Church in the former Soviet Union interest in Christian musical sources alternative to the great body of the Anglican and other Western Christian traditions has grown sharply in recent years. Though the works presented here may be unfamiliar they are all masterly. Designed to appeal to choirs of various levels the collection includes a Kontakion and Ikos for the funeral service anthems by Great Russian Romantics: Tchaikovsky Rachmaninov Grechaninov; andcomposers from our age: Stravinsky Schnittke or Arvo Part speaking for a tradition outside the Orthodox Church as well as settings of the Lord's Prayer in both Russian and English by John Tavener.

Par SCHREKER FRANZ. Franz Schreker had a long and close association with choral music. As founder and director of Vienna's Philharmonic Chorus he led world premieres and first performances of works by contemporary composers. It is surprising, therefore, that Schreker wrote relatively few independent choral works; only three of these works [with various scorings] were published in his lifetime. Now, for the first time this critical edition, prepared by Christopher Hailey, director of the Franz Schreker Foundation, makes available a body of works that sheds new light on Schreker’s musical evolution and, in its own right, constitutes a notable addition to twentieth-century choral literature. / Mottet / Répertoire / Choeur Mixte

These editions taken from the acclaimed Tudor Anthems anthology represent some of the most popular musical works from the volume. They include sacred works of various lengths and standards of difficulty for mixed voice choir accompanied and unaccompanied by an array of composers including Batten Byrd Gibbons Philips Sheppard Tallis Taverner and Weelkes. The works are prepared in an easily understood performing edition by Lionel Pike.

Tudor Anthems-These editions taken from the acclaimed Tudor Anthems anthology represent some of the most popular musical works from the volume. They include sacred works of various lengths and standards of difficulty for mixed voice choir accompanied and unaccompanied by an array of composers including Batten Byrd Gibbons Philips Sheppard Tallis Taverner and Weelkes. The works are prepared in an easily understood performing edition by Lionel Pike.

These editions taken from the acclaimed Tudor Anthems anthology represent some of the most popular musical works from the volume. They include sacred works of various lengths and standards of difficulty for mixed voice choir accompanied and unaccompanied by an array of composers including Batten Byrd Gibbons Philips Sheppard Tallis Taverner and Weelkes. The works are prepared in an easily understood performing edition by Lionel Pike.

Tudor Anthems-These editions taken from the acclaimed Tudor Anthems anthology represent some of the most popular musical works from the volume. They include sacred works of various lengths and standards of difficulty for mixed voice choir accompanied and unaccompanied by an array of composers including Batten Byrd Gibbons Philips Sheppard Tallis Taverner and Weelkes. The works are prepared in an easily understood performing edition by Lionel Pike.

These editions taken from the acclaimed Tudor Anthems anthology represent some of the most popular musical works from the volume. They include sacred works of various lengths and standards of difficulty for mixed voice choir accompanied and unaccompanied by an array of composers including Batten Byrd Gibbons Philips Sheppard Tallis Taverner and Weelkes. The works are prepared in an easily understood performing edition by Lionel Pike.

These editions taken from the acclaimed Tudor Anthems anthology represent some of the most popular musical works from the volume. They include sacred works of various lengths and standards of difficulty for mixed voice choir accompanied and unaccompanied by an array of composers including Batten Byrd Gibbons Philips Sheppard Tallis Taverner and Weelkes. The works are prepared in an easily understood performing edition by Lionel Pike.

These editions taken from the acclaimed Tudor Anthems anthology represent some of the most popular musical works from the volume. They include sacred works of various lengths and standards of difficulty for mixed voice choir accompanied and unaccompanied by an array of composers including Batten Byrd Gibbons Philips Sheppard Tallis Taverner and Weelkes. The works are prepared in an easily understood performing edition by Lionel Pike.

Full Score- Tarik O'Regan's Mass Observation was commissioned for the University of Michigan Chamber Choir Jerry Blackstone conductor thanks to support from the William K. and Delores S. Brehm Choral Commissioning Fund and the Barbara Abramoff Levy Fund.   Composer's note:   Mass Observation is a meditation on the histories of our varied ambivalent relationships with surveillance in its myriad guises. The use of technologies that sate our desires to be watchedand heard (safety tracking empowerment and pride) has in some sense always been able to be weighed against our anxieties around invasions of privacy (physical and psychological harm hacking subjugation and embarrassment). The work takes its title from the British social research organisation Mass-Observation which aimed to record everyday life in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1937 Mass-Observation controversially paid investigators to anonymously record people's conversation and behaviour at work on the street and at various public occasions including public meetings sporting and religious events. Scored for chorus and percussion sextet  Mass Observation ebbs and flows between various polarities (human voices and percussion instruments pitched and unpitched sounds clear and opaque tonalities) over the course of its thirteen movements. There is a ritualistic nature to the overall pacing of the work reminiscent of a liturgical mass setting. The two groups of musicians are rarely aligned: for much of the piece they watch and listen to one another in silence.    Duration approximately: 40 Minutes  

Per Nørgård's 2 Nocturnes - for 12 voices (2003) 1. Summer's Sleep (text: Ole Sarvig) 2. Michael's Night (text: Ib Michael) English version. Programme note:These two choral pieces for 12 voices consists of radical recompositions on of earlier themes: in Summer's Sleep we hear new combinations of two 'Sarvig melodies' from the 1970s (one of which is now in the Danish Hymnbook under the title 'Året' The Year); Michael's Night is based on an earlier simple choral song (Star Mirror 1987) now for 12 voices and composed such that an originalidea of 'simultaneously displaced opposite motions' cf. the poem) comes out as desired. Of the Nocturnes Nørgård writes: 'Summer's Sleep was composed to stanzas of Ole Sarvig's poem The Year (from the collection Forstadsdigte ('Suburban Poems')) and forms the picture of 'the summer of life' which is asleep - while the 'heaven seed' waits for the summer wind ('invisible to every mind'). The many layers of text are expressed musically in a multilayered choral texture with 'looks' up and down through the various tempo and time-worlds: summer sleep summer dream. 'The second nocturne Michael's Night takes its name from the author Ib Michael whose poem Star Mirror (from the collection Himmelbegravelse ('Sky Funeral') (1986) I pushed/coaxed him to expand from one to nine stanzas. The four selected stanzas set in the nocturne focus on the pan-erotic elements of the moonlit starlit night. With the titles I have chosen I have stressed the mythic layer of the text the summer night not as a dream but as sensual reality. 'The two nocturnes are dedicated to Ivan Hansen on the occasion of his fiftieth birthday on 25th February 2003 out of gratitude for over a quarter of a century of inspiring collaboration'. Danish version available: KP01444

from Requiem-Last year Karl Jenkins' 'Requiem' for mixed choir and orchestra was a sensational success above all in Great Britain. Now Boosey & Hawkes publish some of the most beautiful movements of the work in separate editions for various choral combinations and piano.Farewell is an atmospheric movement from this chart-topping piece of music by the composer of Adiemus. Setting of the Latin Agnus Dei alongside Banzan's Haiku 'Mame de iyo' ('I pass as do all things like dew on the grass').

The Mask is a cycle of five poems by various authors set to music and arranged for SATB chorus and piano accompaniment. Composed in 1990 by William Bolcom these settings present a challenge to both the choir and the pianist. Available: SATB.

From Quatre Motets Sur Des Themes Gregoriens-Duruflé grew up in Louviers in the northern French region of Haute-Normandie (Upper Normandy) where as a boy he was a chorister and studied piano. At the age of 17 he moved to Paris to study organ with Charles Tournemire. A year later Duruflé wasadmitted to the Paris Conservatoire where he studied organ piano and composition and was awarded five first prizes in various subjects. Upon graduation Duruflé became musical assistant to Louis Vierne at Notre Dame but soon after this wasappointed organist at Saint Étienne-du-Mont in Paris where he would remain for the rest of his life. In 1943 he was appointed professor of harmony at the Conservatoire a position he maintained for 27 years. From 1926 until 1977 Duruflé published 14compositions including the Requiem Op. 9 (1947). Duruflé traveled extensively as a concert organist and was active as a recording artist. Later in life he and his second wife often performed as an organ duo. The composer suffered severe injuriesin an automobile accident in 1975 which left him nearly bed-ridden for the final decade of his life.Composed in 1960 Quatre Motets sur des thèmes grégoriens Op. 10 (Four Motets on Gregorian Themes) were dedicated to Auguste le Guennant director of the Gregorian Institute in Paris. Each of the four motets begins with an incipit of Gregorianchant which serves as melodic inspiration for the composition that follows. The four motets are (in order): ?Ubi caritas ? ?Tota pulchra es ? ?Tu es Petrus ? and ?Tantum ergo.? ?Ubi caritas? is an early Christian antiphon traditionally used in the Maundy Thursday service during the washing of the feet an act of Jesus from the Last Supper. The antiphon has become closely associated with the Eucharist and is sometimes alsoused at weddings. Duruflé sets only the first of the four stanzas of the text.

Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis-Nico Muhly's Second Service (Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis) sheet music arranged for SATB (Soprano/Alto/Tenor/Bass) Chorus and Organ accompaniment. This piece was originally commissioned by the Choir of Christ Church Christiana Hundred from Delaware USA and was first performed on 19th October 2014 by them. After its various premieres internationally the Second Service was met with resounding warm reviews praising its percussive qualities beautiful melodies and dynamic rhythms. The work is a pleasure to sing especially when beneficial acoustics complement the warmth of the vocalharmonies. Nico Muhly is a composer of many talents lending his skills to a number of diverse genres including Orchestra Choral and even Film Music. This work is arranged for SATB Chorus and Organ accompaniment and lasts around 14 minutes. With this composition Muhly has set the traditional Magnificat also known as the 'Song of Mary' joining the long list of composers who have set this work such as Mozart Tchaikovsky and Schubert. Next comes the Nunc Dimittis similarly a canticle found in the gospel of Luke. The Second Service (Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis) is presented here in an accurate transcription for SATB Chorus and Organ. Audiences will love this innovative and contemporary setting of such traditional words.