SKU: BT.MUSM570208449

English.

For full Orchestra. Published 2004. 3(3rd+picc).3(3rd+ca).3(3rd+bcl).3(3rd+cbn) / 4.3.3.1 / pf.hp.cel.acc.perc(4) / str First performance: Slovenian Radio/TV Orchestra, conducted by Sian Edwards, ISCM/Zagreb Biennale Festival, 21st April 2005 Score.

SKU: BT.YKM570369270

A Hymn to the Thames was commissioned by James Turnbull and the Music Director of the St Paul’s Sinfonia, Andrew Morley. It was begun in 2019 and completed early in 2020. There are four movements played without a break, which follow the Thames from its Cotswold source to the North Sea. As the first performance took place in St ALfege’s Church, Greenwich, this seemed appropriate. The solo oboe represents both a wanderer along the river path and the spirit of the river. The pitch centres of the movements spell out the musical letters of the river (tHAmES—B natural, A, E and E flat) so that the river’s name is projected across the whole work. In addition, the musical letters found in James Turnbull, Andrew Morley and my wife, Teresa Cahill ( who was born in Maidenhead and brought up by the river in Rotherhithe) are entwined in various guises. The first movement grows from the depths, the soloist entering with fanfare-like gestures, followed by lyrical music and breaks into a dance as the river gathers momentum. The third movement is slow and sustained and geographically the Thames flows through Oxford. The music is based on the well-known In Nomine ‘head motif’ from the Gloria tibi Trinitas Mass by the early Tudor composer, John Taverner, who was the first Director of Music at Christ Church, Oxford. The orchestra provides a screen or veil above which the solo oboe dreams and ruminates. This leads directly into the fourth and final movement which begins in the depths once more, interrupting the oboe’s held note from the end of the third movement. The waters’ increasing intensity and power are represented throughout by a moto perpetuo of quick, steady semiquavers. Near the close, the woodwind play O Nata Lux by Thomas Tallis, the great Tudor composer who, with his wife Joan, is buried in St Alfege’s. Beneath this, the lower strings continue the fast semiquaver movement of the river and, above, the violins are heard as a halo of harmonics. At the close, the oboe rises, opening out to the future, and celebrating its voyage, while the orchestra fades as the river meets the sea. A Hymn to the Thames lasts approximately 17 minutes.

SKU: KN.8143

UPC: 822795081435.

William Billings' illustrious hymn Chester is scored here in a very playable concert setting that allows for a full sound and interesting lines in all parts. The simple nobility of the melodic line and its strong, solid harmonies are major factors in the enduring popularity of this song. Duration 2:55. Available in SmartMusic.

SKU: TM.05484SET

Hymn of Praise Movements 1-3 only. See #07482 (Complete Hymn of Praise) for 4th movement.