David Matthews's Y Deryn Du (The Blackbird) for Piano Quartet.The Blackbird for piano quartet was written in 1998 and is based on the Welsh folksong Y Deryn Du. In the song the blackbird gives advice to a young man in search of a wife. After rejecting the first three of the bird's suggestions he willingly accepts the fourth the bailiff's daughter. So in this instrumental setting the tune appears appropriately four times: on the viola then the cello then the violin and piano in canon. - David MatthewsCommission made possible by Mrs Elizabeth Salmon.

This setting of O Magnum Mysterium for double mixed voice choir is an ideal choice for Christmas services. Matthew Martin's soft yet intricate setting of the Matins Responsory for Christmas Day was written for Andrew Carwood and The Cardinall's Musick.  The Faber Choral Signature Series introduces a wealth of new or recently written choral music to choirs in search of fresh repertoire. The series draws in a rich diversity of contemporary composers and includes both lighter and more challenging contemporary works offering a thrilling array of varied styles.

An important new work by one of the UK's leading young composers. Based on one of Sir Malcolm Arnold's most haunting melodies: the theme from 'Whistle Down the Wind'. The composer describes it as a series of scenes in search of the tune which is heard in all its glorious beauty towards the end.

St John's College Service SATB with organ accompaniment was commissioned by St John’s College Cambridge and was first performed by the Choir of St John’s College in May 2012. This is energetic exciting music rhythmically intricate and harmonically diverse. It is suitable for use in services throughout the liturgical year. The Faber Choral Signature Series introduces a wealth of new or recently written choral music to choirs in search of fresh repertoire. The series draws in a rich diversity of living composers and includes both lighter and more challenging contemporary works offering a thrilling arrayof varied styles. 

Moments of Vision brings together six unaccompanied choral pieces each composed by David Matthews as gifts to friends. The music sets poems by Gerard Manley Hopkins John Keats DH Lawrence Geofrrey Hill and Thomas Hardy. Ideal as a concert suite or as individual pieces.The Faber Choral Signature Series introduces a wealth of new or recently written choral music to choirs in search of fresh repertoire. The series draws in a rich diversity of contemporary composers and includes both lighter and more challenging contemporary works offering a thrilling array of varied styles.

A beautiful setting of Psalm 23 ('The Lord Is My Shepherd') as performed by the Hampstead Parish Church Choir at the 2003 Hampstead and Highgate Festival. This offers a wonderful alternative to more familiar settings. The Faber Choral Signature Series introduces a wealth of new or recently written choral music to choirs in search of fresh repertoire. The series draws in a rich diversity of living composers and includes both lighter and more challenging contemporary works offering a thrilling array of varied styles.

Ode à la Musique (1961)for Baritone 4-part mixed chorus trumpet two horns three trombones piano and double bass Frank Martin (1890-1974) Frank Martin was born in Geneva Switzerland on 15 September 1890. He was the tenth and youngest child of a clergyman’s family. He played and improvised on the piano even before he went to school. By the age of nine he had composed charming children’s songs that were perfectly balanced without ever having been taught musical forms or harmony. A performance of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion heard at the age of twelve left a lasting impression on the composer for whom J.S. Bachremained the true master. He attended classical languages high school and to please his parents went on to study mathematics and physics at the University of Geneva for two years. Simultaneously he started studying piano and composition with Joseph Lauber who initiated him in the “craft” especially in instrumentation. Between 1918 and 1926 Frank Martin lived in Zurich Rome and Paris working on his own searching for a personal musical language. In 1926 he founded the “Société de Musique de Chambre de Genève” which he led as pianist and harpsichord player for ten years. He taught improvisation and theory of rhythm at the “Institut Jacques-Dalcroze” and chamber music at the Geneva Conservatory of Music. He was artistic director of the “Technicum Moderne de Musique” from 1933 to 1940 and president of the Swiss Association of Musicians between 1942 and 1946. In 1932 he became interested in the 12-tone technique of Arnold Schönberg. He incorporated certain elements into his own musical language creating a synthesis of the chromatic and twelve-tone techniques without however abandoning the sense of tone – that is the hierarchical relations between notes. Le Vin Herbé (1941) was the first important work in which he completely mastered this very personal idiom. Together with the Petite Symphonie Concertante (1944-45) it established his international reputation. Martin’s many musical activities in Switzerland interfered with the peace and

Hail Gladdening Light was written at the request of Matthew Owens for the choir of Wells Cathedral and was first performed at Candlemas 2006. The composer has long been an admirer of the setting by Charles Wood and so wanted to create a work with a completely different atmosphere particularly focusing on mystical light. The opening and closing sections make use of the Gregorian Chant for Candlemas – a troped setting of the Nunc dimittis. Where these chanted sections occur they should be unconducted and sung with the freedom and tempo of plainsong. The emphasis throughout the whole piece should be on luminosity. This piece isfrom Faber's Choral Signature Series which introduces a wealth of new or recently written choral music to choirs in search of fresh repertoire. the series draws in a rich diversity of living composers and includes both lighter and more challenging contemporary works offering a thrilling array of varied styles.