VOCES8 Singles Series. Now winter nights by British composer and baritone Roderick Williams uses an evocative poem by Thomas Campion as its text, helping him to pinpoint the excitement of Christmas he felt as a child, and still holds on to. Written for SSAATTBB unaccompanied choir, Now winter nights is suitable for choirs wanting a Christmas/Holiday treat but which requires a medium to higher level of skill. Commissioned by VOCES8 for their LIVE From London festival in 2020.

Nr. 5 aus The Same Flame-Commissioned by the Somerset England based charity Churchill Music! The Same Flame was inspired by Pierre de Coubertin’s ideals of Olympism which gave rise to the modern Olympic and Paralympic values: Respect Excellence Friendship Courage Equality Determination and Inspiration. These seven values are celebrated in five movements so four of them had to double up – Friendship with Equality and Courage with Determination. Each movement is scored for slightly different choral forces so the work is varied. Also individual movements may suit different choirs giving the opportunity for individual performance or collaboration between choirs. All fivemovements of The Same Flame are published as individual octavos. A complete vocal score is available on request from the publishers.“Excellence” makes the not always popular point that excellence is not achieved overnight nor by accident. While spelling out the ‘doggedness diligence discipline [and] drudgery’ that go into achieving ‘poetry in motion’ the song also celebrates the attainment of those who achieve excellence and comes to the inescapable conclusion that the ‘unbegrudged drudgery’ is worth it! The (sometime tongue-twisting) language is very colourful and engaging and as the final movement of “The Same Flame” the music is equally exciting and explosive.