SKU: HL.2050306

ISBN 9781705151495. UPC: 797242334795. 6.75x10.5x0.307 inches.

Three gifts, gifts of great significance; gold, frankincense and myrrh were laid at feet of the Christ Child. These were gifts that could only comefrom royal treasures. The gifts we bring are of much greater value to the Lord; my life, my heart, my praise, all of my desires, all of my accomplishments, all of my failures, all of the thanksgiving I can comprehend, all of me, the surrender of my imagined authority to the Author of all life, the Giver of every good and perfect gift - Jesus. Messiah.

SKU: HL.275017

UPC: 888680742096. 6.75x10.5 inches. Stephen Bock/Luke Mayernik.

It all started with a romantic poem of love from the pen of Stephen Bock. Taken under the musical care of a young writer, Luke Mayernik exposes its fresh and sensuous side. The creativity caught the attention of Bruce Rogers, who asked for it in his dignified series. A well-crafted use of aleatory and intense, sumptuous harmonies captures our imaginations and our hearts.

SKU: BR.EOS-8047-15

ISBN 9790004789735. 8.5 x 11.5 inches.

Among Campra's Latin works, the ,Messe de mort' is perhaps one of the more successful and today it is one of the more frequently performed. It is also the most enigmatic score of his entire output. Despite extensive researches, no evidence of any sort has yet been brought to light to document its origin, purpose, date of composition, first performance or reception. A stylistic analysis indubitably supports the contention that the ,Messe de mort' is a late work, composed perhaps between 1722 and 1729.
The present edition is based on the manuscript from the Bibliotheque Nationale de France (Paris). It it the oldest known source of the work. The very few errors have been corrected.
(Jean-Paul Montagnier) Vokalensemble Stuttgart und den Kammerchor des Kopernikus-Gymnasiums Wasseralfingen. Fur diese beiden ganz unterschiedlichen Chorformationen hat Martin Smolka 2012 auch gezielt seine Partitur angelegt. Biografisch ist das Agnus Dei eine Art kleines Requiem fur seinen kurz zuvor verstorbenen Vater. Das liturgische Agnus Dei rahmt den deutschen Text Eh das Madchen entschlief ... der bei Auffuhrungen in anderen Landern durch eine Ubersetzung ersetzt werden soll.

Der SWR-Redakteur Hans-Peter Jahn schreibt dazu im Programmheft: Die fur Smolka typischen minimalistischen Taktzellen schaffen eine archaische Sinnlichkeit. Eine einfache und zugleich streng gebaute Vokalmusik mit Tiefenwirkung.

Nach der Urauffuhrung war die Esslinger Zeitung hellauf begeistert: Smolka ist ein Meister der Stimmbehandlung und der chorischen Klanggestaltung. Im Zentrum des Stucks gerat die Musik zum Stillstand: im leisen gleichmassigen Summen uber dem plotzlich fortissimo ein tschechisches Kinderlied erklingt eines das der Vater seinen Kindern haufig vorgesungen hat. Das alles war sehr beruhrend. Und eigentlich noch mehr als das. My father PhDr. Jaroslav Smolka (1933-2011) was a leading Czech musicologist author of books Czech Cantata and Oratorium Fuga in Czech Music Smetana's Orchestra Music Smetana's Vocal Music monography of Jan Dismas Zelenka and many others. He was a legendary teacher of Music History at Prague Music Academy critic recording producer composer; for almost 50 years he was an important and highly respected personality of Prague musical life.
My father devoted a lot of time and energy to musical education and activities of my sister and me using often quite original methods such as teaching of intervals and counterpoint through Bartok's Microcosmos ear training filling all imaginable moments of everyday life or lessons of harmony analysis starting with Overture to Tristan and Musorgsky's Catacombs. The Martinu song Wondering Maiden was his solo number in our home vocal productions which he used to sing with amazing devotion while his huge voice was audible in several neighboring streets.
My Agnus Dei is closely bound to all this history e.g. by using canon and preferring beauty of dissonant seconds like Bartok or quoting Martinu and his refined neoclassical harmony. Father would be probably a bit critical about the minimalistic monotony of the main body of the piece. Nevertheless firstly he would improvise a short lecture of history of Agnus Dei in Requiem in Czech Music naming by heart many dates and all examples of changes of order of the traditional text by composers. Examples would be sung probably.
(Martin Smolka).

SKU: HL.14023538

UPC: 884088826178. 6.75x10.5x0.026 inches.

Vincent Novello was a British composer and Organist who gave the Novello publishing company its first embryonic form. Here he arranges Rule, Britannia! for Voice SATB with Piano accompaniment to introduce some contrapuntal interest in the verse.When 18th century British composer Thomas Arne included his song Rule, Britannia! in a masque based on the life of Alfred the Great that was presented at Cliveden, the country home of Frederick, Prince of Wales, he could not have imagined that more than two hundred seventy years later his ditty would be known throughout the British Isles and beyond. Rule, Britannia! is widely used in the Royal Navy and British Army and is featuredeach year at the Last Night of the Proms in the Royal Albert Hall as a national sing-along.At the time of writing, the Dutch actually 'ruled the waves,' so this song was more an exhortation than a status report. The lyrics were also a statement of civil liberty. Since Cromwell's time, Britain had had a standing army which could be turned against the native population. A standing navy, however, existed solely to protect the nation from invaders, protecting a free populace.

SKU: PL.0122

This imaginative setting of words by John White Chadwick creates a feeling of eternal strength from its constant musical flow. Peter Pindar Stearns is well known for his sensitivity to text and choir alike and this anthem reflects his keen imagination as well. The first verse is set in unison with a lovely soaring melody while the second verse supports the melody in four-part writing. A brief organ interlude ensues before the final verse which is for two part women and men's voices concluding in a spirit of unity.

Peter Pindar Stearns has surpassed even my highest expectations for him with his Eternal Ruler, a tribute to Edwardian and post-Edwardian hymn anthems. Where to begin? Imagine the finest, broadest melody Gustav Holst could write, add the impassioned fervor of Balfour Gardiner's Evening Hymn or Stanford in B-flat, and hold all that together with Stearns's ultimate integrity and infallible taste. Every time I play and sing through this, it leaves me in tears, and I haven't even mentioned the amazing subtlety of Stearns's harmony, the genius of his part writing, and the overwhleming sweep of his lines. This is gorgeous, glorious music. - Dr. John Hooker AAM Journal November 2001.

SKU: HL.2050263

UPC: 080689139895. 6.75x10.5x0.334 inches.

Christmas is a celebration steeped in paradox. We celebrate a Sovereign who chooses to be a subject, a Prince who dons the trappings of a peasant, a spotless Lamb who possesses the lineage of a Lion, a birth that will extinguish death and ultimately a death that will offer everlasting life. It is a spectacular story, it is an irrefutable reality. It is a love story beyond imagination. The great mystery of the incarnation is the fact that Jesus chose to come. It was the initiative of love conceived in the heart of the Father, born in the person of the Christ Child and revealed to us through His Spirit. Although the coming of the Messiah went unnoticed by the world He came to save, it was heralded by heaven's angels. On the evening of the incarnation, the lowly Judean hillside radiated with the glow of Shekinah glory. It was a night of miraculous transformation. A host of angels became a choir, a band of lowly shepherds were presented to Royalty, a trio of kings became seekers of truth, a star became a beacon, a stable became a shrine, a manger became a throne, a virgin became a mother and God became a child. Gloria in Excelsis Deo!

SKU: FG.55011-857-7

Žibuoklė Martinaitytė tells about the background of Aletheia (2022) for mixed choir (SSSSAAAATTTTBBBB): Aletheia is variously translated from Greek as unconcealedness, revealing or unclosedness. It is uncovering of the Truth - the one we are afraid to face, the truth that can only be expressed directly through the pre-verbal communication. How do you find words for the horrors of the war, for all unimaginable global atrocities? How do you even allow yourself to feel it out? Solely through art, through music that offer a safe space and a formalized framework for processing these accumulated complex emotions and sharing them with others in a moment. This piece has no verbal text and it is based on various combinations of vowels and consonants, thus connecting us on a deeper level through the immediate emotional experience.

The war in Ukraine in spring of 2022 had an impact on all of us and shattered my deeply rooted Lithuanian identity. When the freedom is threatened and innocent people are dying, it is hard to make sense out of the reality. Yet there is poetry even in the worst nightmares. I was imagining that the only instrument people have even in situations of destruction, in the midst of the war, is their VOICE. It brought back memories of my youth when Singing revolution was taking place in the Baltic countries. Human voice was the only weapon that people used to express their determination for freedom and independence. Voice is our first and the very last instrument we have in our lifetime. Thinking in these terms brings almost a sacred dimension to the voice as an expression of the life itself - from the very first baby's scream until the last breath and whisper.

Duration c. 15'

The works of New York -based Lithuanian composer Žibuoklė Martinaitytė (b. 1973) have been lauded as breathtaking and profoundly moving. Her stimulating music bristles with energy and tension and revolves often around the subject of beauty, which she calls both a guiding principle and an aesthetic measure for sonic quality.