SKU: SU.80101147
This anthem features an original carol tune, written in a lively 6/8 meter. The text is a joyful Christmas one by Rae E. Whitney. (The handbells required are 2-4 octaves, from G5 to G7.) Highly suitable for the Christmas season and easy to learn. The handbell part is available as a free PDF download from the Zimbel website (http://www.zimbel.com/). 12 pages Published by: Zimbel Press.
SKU: ST.CN7P
ISBN 9790220224645.
A tour de force of choral energy and expertise in rhythmic precision, this is aerial music, fleet and vibrant as voices proclaim Martin Luther's vision of universal peace above a torrent of cascading organ scales. The brightness of the Lydian mode matches this joyful proclamation, intoned chant-like in bold, clear intervals recalling the sounds both of medieval music and its refraction through the ears of modern masters like Stravinsky and Tavener. Cunningly constructed too, on a four-bar ostinato, the music reverses its opening scale figure for a quieter section before building again to an extrovert ending that repeats the chant against new organ figures in a clinching 'alleluia'.
SKU: HL.277282
UPC: 840126915006. 6.75x10.5 inches.
Program note:Looking Up is a piece for large chorus and orchestra, and is in three sections, played without pause. In the 16th century, a variety of psalters in meter were printed in England, with the idea of making psalm-singing something that could happen easily at home, with the rhyming meter being an aid to memorization. These translations are wonderful exercises in brevity and sometimes clumsy rhymemaking, and were usually prefaced by a lengthy explanation as to their merits; the title of one of the first such volumes in English is: The Psalter of Dauid newely translated into Englysh metre in such sort that it maye the more decently, and wyth more delyte of the mynde, be reade and songe of al men. I thought it would be appropriate to set one of these introductions, and the first section of Looking Up sets the preface to Thomas Ravenscroft's psalter (1621), in which he writes: “The singing of Psalmes (assay the Doctors) comforteth the sorrowfull, pacifieth the angry, strengtheneth the weake, humbleth the proud, gladdeth the humble, stirres up the slow, reconcileth enemies, lifteth up the heart to heavenly things, and uniteth the Creature to his Creator.”It begins meditatively, but eventually grows agitated and fervent, with a vision of the “quire of Angels and Saints” “redoubling anddescanting” - an ecstatic and terrifying vision of the skies opening up. Ravenscroft then encourages the use of instrumental musicfor worship, at which point, a long, acrobatic orchestral interlude with jagged edges antagonizes the choir, who sing a kind of private, anxious meditation on two pitches.One of the most delicious biblical texts is an Apocryphal prayer known as the Benedicite or the Prayer of the Three Children (the same who were rescued by an angel after King Nebuchadnezzar tried to have them burnt in an oven for not bowing to his image). The text is repetitive, obsessive, and a gift to composers - each line is an invocation of an element of the natural world, followed by the phrase, “blesse ye the Lord, praise him & magnify him for ever.” In Looking Up, the setting begins with three solo voices, and then grows to include the whole choir, itemizing the whole of creation. The idea that these boys are spared from the furnace and then five minutes later are saying, “O ye the fire and warming heate, blesse ye the Lord...” has always felt very loaded to me, and the orchestra plays with this conflict between joyful praise and a more terrible (in the 16th-century sense) awefor the divine.The text for the third, and shortest, section is taken from Christopher Smart's (1722-1771) A Song to David, purportedly written during his confinement in a mental asylum. This ode to King David points out how David, as the author of some of the Psalms, observes the whole world from the “clustering spheres” to the “nosegay in the vale.&rdquo.
SKU: CA.3106614
ISBN 9790007044015. Key: D major / f sharp major. Language: German/English.
The composition of this parody was begun in 1718 and completed with the final version in 1731. The original work (the basis of the parody) was Der Himmel lacht auf Anhalts Ruhm und Gluck, which was a cantata for the birthday of Count Leopold von Anhalt-Kothen (1718, BWV 66a), with a text by Christian Friedrich Hunold, alias Menantes. Score and part available separately - see item CA.3106600.
SKU: CA.3106649
ISBN 9790007206666. Key: D major / f sharp major. Language: German/English.
SKU: HL.374944
UPC: 196288017387. 6.75x10.5x0.029 inches. Ezekiel 11:19, I Peter 1:3, II Corinthians 5:17, Isaiah 40:31.
For Eastertide, this anthem of hope and challenge provides a noble gesture that will send hearts and voices soaring with praise. A confident hymnlike theme announces a new day for renewal, restoration and revival! Framed as a call to worship, the verses conclude with a distinctive mixed-meter pattern that overflows with joyful confidence. After a satisfying development section, the main theme returns transformed with a sweeping descant that touches the heights in a celebration of life. Glorious! Score and Parts (tpt 1-2, tbn 1-2, timp) available as a digital download. Part for Handbells (3 oct., 26 bells) also available as a digital download.
SKU: MN.CH-1184
Scripture: Jeremiah 12.
Phrases from Jeremiah 12 were selected for this choral setting because of the emphatically joyful celebration and expectation contained therein. Robert Shaw, shortly before his death, was quoted in The Choral Journal as saying that if he were to continue to compose, he would use more of the characteristics of the Jazz/swing genre. The composer states: This was right down my alley. While I am not captured by much of the current folk and rock type music being played in churches, I nevertheless like the themes of joy which are often found in it. Theological stances in lyrics are not meaningful to me. I am drawn by the human, emotional reaction to the sense of the Divine Being's presence in the writer's life. Sing for Joy! is an attempt to capture that reaction. Duration 2:12.
SKU: HL.346283
UPC: 840126923469. 6.75x10.5x0.029 inches.
Why do we love to sing? How does it affect us? The joyful answer is first stated youthfully, and becomes more mature as the song continues. The chorus unites everyone together in a rousing ending. Great for a spring concert, with the possibility of using multiple choirs of different ages (as it was first commissioned) or with various groups staged dramatically. Easy to medium in difficulty.
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