SATB Choir

SKU: HL.14020264

Composed by Elizabeth Maconchy. Music Sales America. Classical. Book [Softcover]. Composed 2002. Chester Music #CH55688. Published by Chester Music (HL.14020264).

8.25x11.75 inches.

'Still Falls the Rain' is perhaps Edith Sitwell's greatest poem. Maconchy set the poem for double choir, unaccompanied, with some antiphonal writing. The recurrence of the phrase 'still falls the rain' throughout the poem is echoed in the music and helps to give shape and coherence to it. After the impassioned and tragic character of the main part of the poem, it ends on a calmer, even hopeful note (the Dawn after the Night raids perhaps). It was commissioned by the Chelmsford Festival and first performed there on 22 May 1985 by the BBC singers, conducted by John Poole, in Chelmsford Cathedral.

SKU: HL.1115715

For Soprano, Speaker, and Electronics. Composed by Cheryl Frances-Hoad. Vocal. Softcover. Duration 180 seconds. Chester Music #CH88154. Published by Chester Music (HL.1115715).

ISBN 9781705179741. UPC: 196288105640. 9.0x12.0 inches.

Thinking I Hear Thee Call by Cheryl Frances-Hoad is inspired by the life of Florence Attridge, an Essex woman who, whilst working at the Marconi factory in Chelmsford during WWII, helped to make secret radio sets for spys. In this piece for soprano, speaker and electronics, we hear Florence recount her experiences, whilst, in another, secret location, in another time, a spy goes through the radio's (complicated!) set up instructions one last time before going on their first reconnaissance mission. The electronic element takes sounds that are associated with Florence's life and the history of Marconi, including morse code and Absent, the first song to be broadcast from the factory. The text for Florence's part was written by Frances M Lynch based on research by Patricia Fara, and the speakers text comes from the official manual for the The British Type 3 Mark II Spy Radio. The work was commissioned by electric voice theatre and first Performed Online during the Covid-19 Pandemic, Aug 24th 2020 as part of the 'Echoes from Essex'. The project was supported by the Arts Council Emergency Response Fund (National Lottery). The performers from electric voice theatre are: Frances M Lynch - Soprano (Florence Attridge) Margaret Cameron - Speaker (Spy). The performers recorded their parts individually in their homes and the final work was combined with the composer's electronic track and produced by Frances M Lynch & Herbie Clarke at Birnam Studios, London.

Choir Secular Countertenor Solo - Children's Chorus - SATB choir- 2 piano - percussion

SKU: PE.EP72698A

Cantata for Solo Countertenor, Children's Chorus, Adult Mixed Chorus, Two Pianos and Percussion. Composed by Jonathan Dove. Choral Works (inc. Oratorios). Edition Peters. Book. 92 pages. Duration 00:25:00. Edition Peters #98-EP72698A. Published by Edition Peters (PE.EP72698A).

ISBN 9790577010519. 210 x 297mm inches. English.

Commiss ioned by Making Music with funds from the Nicholas Berwin Charitable Foundation

First performance: 12th March 2016, Waltham Singers, conducted by Andrew Fardell, King Edward's Grammar School, Chelmsford.

Mus ic runs through the story of Arion, which begins with a singing competition in Sicily. Arion wins the prize, and this puts his life in danger: his newfound wealth excites the Greed of the sailors who are supposed to be bringing him back to Corinth, and they threaten to kill him.  They allow Arion to sing one last song, and the power of his singing attracts dolphins to the ship.  At The End of his song, he jumps overboard, and one of the dolphins carries him to safety.  So Arion’s musical gift gets him into trouble, but it is also his salvation.  

The idea of being rescued by a music-loving dolphin is very appealing.  In Robert Graves’ account of the myth, the dolphin could not bear to be parted from Arion, and accompanied him back to court, where “it soon succumbed to a life of luxury.”  However, Herodotus says that, after his rescue and return to Corinth, Arion failed to return the dolphin to the sea, and it died there.  Apollo placed the dolphin among the stars, and next to it, Arion’s lyre, in recognition of his musical skill.  This is one of the mythical explanations of the origins of the constellations Delphinus and Lyra.

It seems natural to sing a story that has singing at its heart.  When I was asked by the Nicholas Berwin Charitable Trust to write a choral work for Making Music, something that would be within reach of many choirs, and involve children, this story struck me as ideal: the men of the chorus could be the bloodthirsty sailors, and the women could create an atmosphere of mystery for the arrival of the dolphins, represented by children’s voices.  There would be one solo voice: Arion, the marvellous singer.  Andrew Fardell, the conductor who was advisor to this commission, had suggested that I might use the same instrumentation as a popular arrangement of Orff’s Carmina Burana, a work that, as well as using children’s chorus, features a solo countertenor.  I thought the magical, otherworldly quality of this voice would help to convey the extraordinary effect Arion’s singing had on all who heard it. 

- Jonathan Dove