A Gaelic Blessing is a simple and catchy piece by Craig McLeish. This piece will be particularly useful for school, junior and community choirs, and a tuneful introduction to singing simple contrapuntal lines. The second soprano part repeats the tune at bar 33 and should dominate here - the first sopranos and altos should support appropriately. Ease and beauty of tone should be of paramount importance throughout. An inspiring selection of new works from a range of contemporary composers, the Novello New Choral Series offers pieces for all types of choirs, including sacred and secular works from simple, four-part settings to more expansive, yet accessible, repertoire in an exciting variety of styles. Craig McLeish began his musical life as a chorister at St Paul's Cathedral under Barry Rose. He began composing at the age of ten and his preces and responses for four trebles are still in the repertoire. After a degree at York University he returned to London to study at the Guildhall and sang again at St Paul's as a tenor. At the time he also arranged and copied music for West End shows such as Les Miserables and Miss Saigon, and played bass guitar for various groups. This led to a spell in the cult pop band 'Fat and Frantic', who shaved the top 100 twice with the whimsical anthem Last night my wife hoovered my head. He also worked as musical assistant for David Heneker (Half a Sixpence) and David Fanshawe (African Sanctus). In 1992 Craig became director of the Methodist Association of Youth Clubs Orchestra and Singers, performing concerts throughout the UK and becoming involved in a number of recordings and BBC broadcasts. During this time he arranged more than 250 orchestral scores ranging from Queen to Calamity Jane, Stravinsky and Stevie Wonder. Alongside this he began arranging and writing songs for children's collections (Big Blue Planet, Love Shone Down) and producing recordings and string arrangements for various artists (Sheila Walsh, Kim Hill, Matt Redman). He is also well known as a conductor and arranger for Songs of Praise. Recently Craig has collaborated with composer Tolga Kashif writing orchestrations for the RPO's Seo Taiji Symphony, the Classic FM chart-topping CD by saxophonist Tyler Rix, and the Genesis Suite which was premiered at the Barbican. He has been musical director of Young Voices UK for 13 years, bringing large school choirs together to play with a live band and solo artists, and currently conducts the Milton Keynes Community Choir, Hart and Soul Community Choir and the Milton Keynes Youth Choir. / Choeur SSA

Recital Music has developed a large exciting and eclectic catalogue of Christmas music for choirs in recent years. Some works are published for the first time others are in new editions and we aim to provide accessible and enjoyable choral music for choirs of all ages and abilities. Enjoy!Shout for the King! is a joyous and vibrant carol for junior choir and piano. It's Latin-American influence has proved popular with choirs and audiences alike and a double bass and percussion can easily be added for extra energy and atmosphere.Chord symbols are included for optional double bass or guitar accompaniment.The composer writes: 'Shout forthe King! was composed one evening in December 2004. At the time I was training as a Primary School teaching assistant and involved in playing the piano for the school's various Christmas musical events and concerts. It was the first time I had written both lyrics and music which both came to me at the same time. I subsequently taught the song to the children in the days which followed which they loved and it was the first time a 'real' composer had written anything for them. A week later it was premiered at the school carol concert with me playing the piano.I have always wanted to write a new and catchy Christmas carol drawing influences from all the familiar ones we know and love every Christmas. I also wanted the melody of the verses and chorus to be catchy and repetitive and would be easy and enjoyable for junior choirs to learn. I have always had a fondness for Latin-American rhythms hence the happy groove which I think add to the appeal!'Born in Cardiff in 1975 and trained in piano and flute at school Jay Mackie studied composition as an undergraduate at Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama from 1997-2000 and completed an MMus gaining a distinction in Composition in 2004.At college Jayson received three scholarship prizes for composing where his Wind Quintet was a featured work at the ISCM's World Music Days

from Requiem-Last year Karl Jenkins' 'Requiem' for mixed choir and orchestra was a sensational success above all in Great Britain. Now Boosey & Hawkes publish some of the most beautiful movements of the work in separate editions for various choral combinations and piano.Three evocative and contrasting Haiku settings for upper voices from this chart-topping piece of music by the composer of Adiemus.

The traditional Welsh melody Deck The Hall was arranged for SSA Female Voice Choir by David Cox with a Piano reduction for rehearsal purposes. It is dedicated to Sheila Mossman and the Orpington Junior Singers: a highly regarded girls choir which appeared at the BBC Proms and gave several other high-profile performances in the 1950s 60s and 70s.David Vassall Cox (1916-1997) was a British composer pianist and music critic. He is best known for his choral and vocal works but also spent many years working for the BBC in various roles.