Par KNAGGS DANIEL. Blessed are Those Who Mourn arranged for unaccompanied mixed voice choir by Daniel Knaggs. Premiered by: Trinity College Choir, Stephen Layton, conductor on September 20, 2015 'This is one of the two motets I chose to compose in a contemporary response to Zarlino’s Le Istitutioni Harmoniche (1558). Caritas Dei diffusa est takes a more historical approach whereas Blessed are Those Who Mourn engages a more modern interpretation. The words are taken from the Communion Antiphon (5th Sunday Ordinary Time) but given the subject matter, this motet may be sung throughout the year for diverse occasions.' - Daniel Knaggs   / Choral Music / Répertoire / Voix Mixtes

Par SMITH PAUL. A beautiful and flowing work for SATB choir, SATB solo quartet and piano, with textures that celebrate love, cherishing our place among the stars. A New World is a musical story across five movements with texts by authors from Cicero and Ovid to George William Russel; from nursery rhymes to war poets. The music and texts link to form a narrative that questions what sort of ‘New Worlds’ have come into existence, or could be created in our future, and considers how we balance human traits of fear, displacement, isolation and conflict with equally human traits of love, hope, forgiveness and unity. The internationally-renowned British vocal ensemble VOCES8 is proud to inspire people through music and share the joy of singing. The celebration of diverse musical expression is central to the ensemble’s ethos, and this is shown in their versatile concert programmes and innovative educational work. The ‘VOCES8 singles’ series includes songs for which the group is particularly well known and which have been composed or arranged specifically for VOCES8. / Choral Music / Répertoire / Voix Mixtes SATB et Piano

Kantate Zum Epiphaniasfest. Par BACH JOHANN SEBASTIAN. This six-movement cantata uses the hymn of the same name by Ahasverus Fritsch, first recorded in 1698 in the Darmstädter Liederbuch. This places it amongst those chorale cantatas which use a hymn from the repertoire associated with Pietism. As was customary, the hymn text is retained in the outer movements, whereas the text for the inner movements - two secco recitatives and a tenor and a bass aria - are concerned with the contrast between the hostile world and the certainty of Jesus- the links between the cantata text and the Feast of the Epiphany are correspondingly tenuous. In the first movement the soprano sings the hymn melody complete, accompanied by mainly homophonic vocal parts, whilst the instrumental writing is largely influenced by the melody of the first line of the hymn. Remarkable is the tenor aria, with its contrasting central section and its chromatic twists and turns, in which Bach once again proves himself to be a master of harmony. The demands on the chorus are fairly modest, whereas the instrumentalists are challenged in the first movement and in both the arias./ Répertoire / Choeur Mixte (SATB) et Piano

Sing, Choirs! is a library in miniature. It contains many of the Christian church's popular traditional anthems, including at least one example that will be suitable for each of the major services of the year. A number of Anglican chants (Psalms, Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis) are included, set out in a way that should enable those who are unfamiliar with the style to perform them easily. The selection of movements from the Mass can be used to enrich the music of the liturgy in services. Many of the works in Sing, Choirs! are presented in their original form, such as Bruckner's Locus Iste and Mozart's Laudate Dominum . Others are arrangements, adaptations or longer pieces, abridged to bring them into the scope of a useable anthem, including choral arrangements of Handel's Largo , the Ave Marias by Schubert and by Bach and Gounod, and Franck's Panis Angelicus amongst many others. This collection has practicability as a priority. The Organ parts can be played on either the Piano or the Keyboard. Much of the music in Sing, Choirs! will be suitable for special occasions, making this an indispensable volume for choirs singing at weekly church services, weddings, funerals and in the concert hall. / Choeur Mixte (SATB) Et Orgue

Par CORP RONALD. Among the UK's most noted choral composers and conductors, Ronald Corp does not hesitate to bring his own musical vision to a much-loved poem by the sixteenth-century lutenist songwriter and 'Doctor of Physick' Thomas Campion, following the example not only of Campion himself but also of Charles Wood and Hubert Parry. Eschewing the manner of Parry's resonant polyphony for a simple harmonised setting in a flexible verbal rhythm reflecting the measure of the words, this is a heartfelt plea for spiritual release uttered in a quietly elegiac tone, in which the serenity of the entreaty rather than its pathos is to the fore./ Feuillet / SATB a Cappella

With a piano introduction that is both virtuosic and emotional, this Hebrew text, chosen by series editor Judith Clurman in memory of her parents, was the perfect vehicle for Michigan composer Paul Schoenfield to honor those who have lived a life of faith. With frequently changing and uneven meter, shifting tonal centers and an extended range for all voice parts, this is a concert work worthy of the finest choirs. Those choirs who choose it will experience the impact that such a work can impart. / Choeur Mixte (SATB) Et Piano

Par BEETHOVEN LUDWIG VAN. Beethoven's folk songs are given the VOCES8 treatment in these fantastic new arrangements made in the Beethoven 250th birthday year. The internationally-renowned British vocal ensemble VOCES8 is proud to inspire people through music and share the joy of singing. The celebration of diverse musical expression is central to the ensemble's ethos, and this is shown in their versatile concert programmes and innovative educational work. The VOCES8 singles series includes songs for which the group is particularly well known, in choral arrangements produced specifically for VOCES8. / Choral Music / Répertoire / Voix Mixtes

Par MATHIAS WILLIAM. Written for the choirs of Chichester, Winchester and Salisbury Cathedrals, An Admonition to Rulers Op. 43 was composed shortly before Mathias's choral masterpiece, This Worlde's Joie, but has remained unpublished until now. Its powerful text from Wisdom 6 and 7, clothed in the composer's colouful, dramatic music, make it an ideal choice of anthem for Remembrance Sunday, or any occasion when justice, order, and the role of those who govern are the focus of worship. For SATB Choir with Organ accompaniment./ Feuillet / SATB et Orgue

A plaintive melody is skillfully passed between soloists and sections as we are reminded that only the nightingale understands the anguish of those in love. / Choeur Mixte (SATB) A Cappella

Respected film composer Hans Zimmer's wordless tribute to those who lost their lives or were affected by the 2012 shooting in Aurora, Colorado. A stunning addition to the repertoire for advanced choirs. / Choeur SATB A Cappella

These well-known words seem endlessly fruitful for the composer and conjure up such lovely images which strike each of us in our own way. For me it was the beauty of the language with its flower imagery which made me want to set the words with richly warm harmony and to temper that with gently imitative refrains. The important element in approaching the performance of this carol is the blend and balance of voices. With divisi writing and characteristically colourful harmonies, it is important that each note in the texture is given equal weight. It is also desirable that the tempo should be flexible and that phrase ends should be given a little time, especially at those moments marked either with a comma or tenuto. The final section starting with the upper voices should be ethereal and when the tenors and basses join they should do so gently to balance the upper parts. The bulk of the carol should be conducted in a minim beat, as indicated by the 2/2 time signature. Subdivisions should only be necessary at rallentandos. The piece should flow freely. 3/4 bars can be conducted in one to continue to encourage the carol's flow. Recommended recording: Come out, Lazar - The shorter choral works of Paul Spicer (Regent REGCD280) by The Chapel Choir of Selwyn College, Cambridge, directed by Sarah MacDonald. / Choeur Mixte (SATB) A Cappella

Par CORP RONALD. Part of the longer hymn 'Pange lingua' by Venantius Fortunatus (c. 540-c. 600), the Crux Fidelis features in the Adoration of the Cross during the solemn liturgical actions of Good Friday, and at Lauds during Passiontide. The reverence and awe of the words resonate in the poised strophes and silences of Ronald Corp 's new setting for SATB, a memorable addition to the repertoire of music for times of penitence, and to the surprisingly small corpus of interpretations, including those by Lennox Berkeley, Adrian Willaert, John Dunstable, and King John IV of Portugal (attributed), of this text in particular./ Feuillet / SATB a Cappella

Par MARTIN BARNABY. Philip Moore draws on a lifetime's experience of music for Anglican worship to present Bishop Ken's classic evening hymn in darker, more subjective hues than those of Tallis's Canon, to which it is usually sung congregationally. In particular, a penitential note of strained serenity is struck in this nocturnal plea for repose of body and soul. The voices move quietly in comfortable thirds and sixths to the accompaniment of a questioning five-note figure, a phrase which is rarely absent from the Organ part and which subtly questions their prayer for peace in its edgy harmonic and metric ambiguity./ Feuillet / SATB et Orgue

Par RUNSWICK DARYL. Symphony For Voices is for a large body of voices (60-80 people), but not necessarily a choir. The voices are divided into 4 groups, though not by voice-type or gender, but deliberately mixed up. The music is unorthadox, using mostly Extended Vocal Techniques, whispering, grunting, shouting, humming, and words from a variety of different languages. Ideal for those who want a different and exciting challenge!/ Répertoire / SATB

Music played an enormous role in the works of William Shakespeare, while his own sonnets, poems and soliloquies have provided continuing inspiration for many composers through the years. The Novello Shakespeare Choral Collection, inspired by the 400th anniversary of the Bard's death in 2016, is an exciting anthology of choral works that are settings of Shakespeare's words. For choirs of all types and abilities, this collection has been edited by David Wordsworth so that all the pieces are fantastic both to sing and hear.The collection features some beautiful settings that have well and truly stood the test of time, such as Thomas Arne's Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind and Henry Leslie's How Sweet The Moonlight Sleeps. More recent settings from 20th century and contemporary composers include Ernest Moeran's Sigh No More, Ladies, Gary Carpenter's Lo, Here, The Gentle Lark and John Tavener's Fear No More and Look In Thy Glass.Not only this, the Shakespeare Choral Collection boasts several works that were specially commissioned, including John Joubert's Be Not Afeard, Richard Sisson's Light Thickens and Pawel Lukaszewki's Weary With Toil, I Haste Me To My Bed. Some pieces have never appeared before in print, such as those by Kevin Olsen, Bernard Hughes and John Gardner. These songs truly are a joy to perform, with some relatively simple arrangements that are purely fun to sing, while some more complex settings that will be thoroughly rewarding for choirs and audiences alike.A total of 26 fantastic works comprise The Novello Shakespeare Choral Collection, which would work as a wonderful concert programme on its own, or could provide a wealth of options for choirs looking to expand their repertoire with a range of unique settings. Also included is a fascinating introduction by editor David Wordsworth, and notes describing each piece.Words written by indisputably the greatest writer in the English language can only be matched with music by composers of talent and renown such as these. The Novello Shakespeare Choral Collection is an essential anthology of stunning settings of beautiful words which will be performed and enjoyed for many years to come. / Choeur Mixte (SATB)