Composed in 2003 The Kestrel Road was jointly commissioned by forty-seven choirs all of which are members of Music Making a national society that links several thousand amateur choirs and orchestras. This work wascommissioned as a tribute to mark the seventieth birthday of Sir Peter Maxwell Davies and was performed nationwide throughout the 2004/5 season.The Kestrel Road is a song-cycle for SATB Choir and Piano settings ofpoems by the ‘Bard of Orkney’ George Mackay Brown (1917-96). The poems are highly evocative of Orkney life history and folklore with shepherds crofters fisher folk a laird a scarecrow King Barleycorn and the timeless figureof Ikey the Tinker who passes through many of Brown’s poems seemingly linking past and present. According to Maxwell Davies the music is suggestive of the ‘elusive land and seascapes’ of the islands and is much influenced bythe local folk music.

Peter Maxwell Davies' 1990 work for unaccompanied SATB choir written for the BBC singers. Words by George Mackay Brown.'Written for the BBC Singers this piece requires a high level of choral expertise in its rhythms intricate textures (though nearly always in four parts) wide-ranging vocal lines and characteristically dark but luminous harmony impregnated with tritones and seconds. Not for the first time Davies and George Mackay Browfollow the Stations of the Cross though the fourteen sections are joined into a continuous slow-fast-slow musical movement and the references to the events of Holy Week are oblique.Vocal score with piano accompaniment forrehearsal purposes.

Advent Calendar by the Master of the Queen's Music Peter Maxwell Davies sets the text of the former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams .  The work for SATB and Organ was commissioned by The Choirbook Trust for inclusion in the Choirbook for the Queen published to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Her Majesty the Queen in 2012.

Peter Maxwell Davies' 1994 work for unaccompanied SATB choir using text from George Mackay Brown's 1971 poem A Hoy Calendar.A girdle round the year in five minutes. In twelve clear simple images George Mackay Brown'spoem turns through the months of Orkney life and as it turns so the modal music for a modestly able school or amateur choir moves it on its way with images of matching lucidity.Vocal score with piano accompaniment forrehearsal purposes.

For unaccompanied SATB chorus to words by George Mackay Brown.Composer Note:In setting George Mackay Brown’s acrostic lines for the birth of Lucy Randall (the first child borne in Rackwick Hoy for 32 years) I set myself the uncharacteristic problem of banishing all ‘black’ notes – that is the work used only the ‘white’ notes on the piano – a symbolic ‘conceit’ I had not tried before. The music has the gentle rocking rhythm suitable for its purpose and I enjoyed writing the tune so much I repeated all of the text in order to hear it twice. -Peter Maxwell Davies

A solemn prayer setting by Peter Maxwell Davies of a text from Liber Usualis for unaccompanied SSATB chorus. The setting was first performed in May 2005 at the St. Magnus Cathedral Orkney conducted by Neil Price. A Pianoaccompaniment is provided for rehearsal purposes.

text from Christmas Poem by George Mackay Brown. Par DAVIES PETER MAXWELL. As Master of the Queens Music, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies has written a new carol for Her Majesty the Queen each Christmas since his appointment began in 2004. Kings and Shepherds is the fourth and like An Heavenly Song, Wonder Tidings and The Yule-tide Bell, will be published as part of the Schott Royal Collection. Written for the 2008 Christmas service and performed in the Ballroom of Buckingham Palace, Kings and Shepherds is a short traditional setting of Christmas Poem by George Mackey Brown, a poet who lived near to Maxwell Davies on the Orkney Islands. A wonderful addition to the carol repertoire and ideal for amateur choirs looking to programme new pieces./ Recueil / Choeur Mixte SATB

In celebration of Her Majesty The Queen's Diamond Jubilee this unique collection showcases the very best of the sacred music composed in the last 10 years. Not for 500 years has such a compilation been made: in the late 15th century the Eton Choirbook was made to record the best of early Tudor church music. Under the artistic direction of Sir Peter Maxwell Davies Master of the Queen's Music 45 anthems have been selected 12 of which are new commissions for this project including a setting of Rowan Williams' poem Advent Calendar by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies. During 2012 BBC Radio 3's Choral Evensong will feature anthems from this collection and a specially boundcopy will be presented to HM The Queen. Featured composers include John Tavener John Rutter Judith Weir Roxanna Panufnik Judith Bingham Richard Rodney Bennett Peter Maxwell Davies and othersFormat: Paperback: 2 volume set

Quelques-uns des morceaux les plus originaux de compositeurs contemporains de musique sacrée sont rassemblés ici, dans cette superbe collection. Ils sont plus particulièrement dirigés vers les directeurs de chorales qui cherchent à interpréter des morceaux spéciaux pour Noël. Dix-sept chants - dans des versions "a capella" et accompagné. Inclus entre autres "The Lamb" (Tavener), "I Sing Of A Maiden" (Berkeley), "The Holly And The Ivy" (Lutoslawski), "Jesus Christ The Apple Tree" (Poston) et "One Star At Last" (Maxwell Davies). / [Chester Book Of Carols] / Classique / Partition /

As a lily among thorns was composed as a wedding present for Katie Johnston and John Hillier in March 2004. It was performed at their marriage in Christ Church Cathedral Oxford and later performed publicly by Commotio directed by Matthew Berry. The words are taken from the Song of Songs.The Novello New Choral Series is an inspiring selection of new works from a range of contemporary composers offering 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. This collection is perfect for choirs looking to broaden theirrepertoire and explore some of the best new music around.Thomas Hyde (b.1978) studied at Oxford University where he gained a doctorate in composition in 2008 and the Royal Academy of Music. His teachers have included David Matthews Simon Bainbridge Peter Maxwell Davies and Robert Saxton. In October 2008 he was appointed Lecturer in Music at Worcester College Oxford and since September 2009 has been visiting lecturer in composition at City University London. Prizes include finalist in English National Opera’s young composer festival ‘New Visions New Voices’ (1992) the National School Band Association Prize (1993) and a Wingate Scholarship (2004-5). His music is performed regularly in Britain at festivals including Spitalfields City of London Presteigne Deal and Little Missenden as well as abroad and has been broadcast on BBC Radio 3. Recent works have included a string quartet for the Allegri Quartet and the one-man opera That Man Stephen Ward for the Hampstead & Highgate Festival.

A work for SATB soli SATB chorus and orchestra using a variety of texts selected by Alistair Grant who commissioned the work to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the Jacobite rising (1745-6). It was first performed inOctober 1997 in Glasgow by Lisa Tyrrell (soprano) Margaret McDonald (mezzo soprano) Neil Mackie (tenor) and David Wilson-Johnson (baritone) the Scottish Chamber Orchestra Chorus (chorus master Ben Parry) and the ScottishChamber Orchestra conducted by the composer.Vocal score with piano reduction of the instrumental score. Duration c. 40mins.

This motet for unaccompanied SATB choir was commissioned for the 500th anniversary of King's College Cambridge. This is a setting in Greek of an Orthodox prayer to Christ as Son and Word God and Man risen and saving. The prayeris led by a solo tenor and sung mostly by the men with the upper voices entering only for an appeal to Wisdom (sofia) and the final alleluia.It was first performed in 1991 in King's College Chapel by the choir of King's Collegeconducted by Stephen Cleobury.