Of the 11 surviving settings of the Mass by Charpentier the present work the Messe de minuit is without doubt one of the most popular. Although Charpentier's Parisian career is quite well documented little is known about the genesis and first performance of the Messe de minuit. It is likely however that it was commissioned by the Jesuits of the church of Saint-Louis (today Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis) for whom Charpentier had been working as maître de musique since 1687. The Messe de minuit belongs to the tradition of the parody-mass for which Charpentier adapted 10 noëls - whose titles are given in the autograph MS - to the text of the ordinary and theresulting music is fresh charming and jubilant.

An abundantly versatile composer Peter Foggitt in A Christmas Lullaby tunes in to the spirit of minimalism that has inspired so much remarkable music since Tavener Górecki and Pärt discovered a new gift to be simple in their ground-breaking works of the 1970s and 1980s. To the nativity scene painted in words by John Addington Symonds the unchanging-changing chords of the limpid accompaniment for Organ or Piano bring an aura of rapt intensity and communion. With the clarity of an icon this is a cradle song for an infant king who is also the Prince of Peace and a child in a manger and a study inexpressive and disciplined singing for SATB chorus.

From Quatre Motets Sur Des Themes Gregoriens-Duruflé grew up in Louviers in the northern French region of Haute-Normandie (Upper Normandy) where as a boy he was a chorister and studied piano. At the age of 17 he moved to Paris to study organ with Charles Tournemire. A year later Duruflé wasadmitted to the Paris Conservatoire where he studied organ piano and composition and was awarded five first prizes in various subjects. Upon graduation Duruflé became musical assistant to Louis Vierne at Notre Dame but soon after this wasappointed organist at Saint Étienne-du-Mont in Paris where he would remain for the rest of his life. In 1943 he was appointed professor of harmony at the Conservatoire a position he maintained for 27 years. From 1926 until 1977 Duruflé published 14compositions including the Requiem Op. 9 (1947). Duruflé traveled extensively as a concert organist and was active as a recording artist. Later in life he and his second wife often performed as an organ duo. The composer suffered severe injuriesin an automobile accident in 1975 which left him nearly bed-ridden for the final decade of his life.Composed in 1960 Quatre Motets sur des thèmes grégoriens Op. 10 (Four Motets on Gregorian Themes) were dedicated to Auguste le Guennant director of the Gregorian Institute in Paris. Each of the four motets begins with an incipit of Gregorianchant which serves as melodic inspiration for the composition that follows. The four motets are (in order): ?Ubi caritas ? ?Tota pulchra es ? ?Tu es Petrus ? and ?Tantum ergo.? ?Ubi caritas? is an early Christian antiphon traditionally used in the Maundy Thursday service during the washing of the feet an act of Jesus from the Last Supper. The antiphon has become closely associated with the Eucharist and is sometimes alsoused at weddings. Duruflé sets only the first of the four stanzas of the text.

Par WEILL KURT. Ces arrangements de chansons de l'opéra de quat seront accueillis par les directeurs chorals, cherchant quelque chose de tout à fait différente pour leur choeur. Hormis l'a cappella dispositions prévues, ils pourraient également être effectuées avec l'accompagnement au piano dans la partition vocale (UE 31544). Les instruments de la version originale pourraient également être ajoutés. Quoi qu'il en soit, ces chansons ferait un ajout intéressant à tout programme de concert. Chansons comprennent : la ballade de Mack the Knife, appel de la tombe Morning Hymn de Peachum, deuxième Finale quat et la chanson de l'insuffisance de l'activité humaine./ Répertoire / Choeur SATB

The 'Hallelujah' Chorus, arguably the most famous choral work of the western classical tradition, is the closing number of the second part of Handel's Messiah. Such is the strength of Handel's word setting that this empathic, triumphal paean retains its appeal in spite of the cultural overexposure and controversy to which it has been subjected, remaining a firm favourite with choirs. The premiere of Messiah was in Dublin in 1742 as the high point of a full season of Handel's work. It was a charity event, held in aid of local causes, and in order to get the maximum attendance at Neale's new music hall in Fishamble Street, men were asked to remove their swords, and ladies the hoops in their dresses. The tradition of standing during performances of the 'Hallelujah' Chorus, still indulged at some performances in Britains, is said to have been started by King George II at the work's opening run in London in 1743. / SATB Et Orgue

The 'Hallelujah' Chorus arguably the most famous choral work of the western classical tradition is the closing number of the second part of Handel's Messiah.Such is the strength of Handel's word setting that this empathic triumphal paean retains its appeal in spite of the cultural overexposure and controversy to which it has been subjected remaining a firm favourite with choirs.The premiere of Messiah was in Dublin in 1742 as the high point of a full season of Handel's work. It was a charity event held in aid of local causes and in order to get the maximum attendance at Neale's new music hall in Fishamble Street men were asked to removetheir swords and ladies the hoops in their dresses.The tradition of standing during performances of the 'Hallelujah' Chorus still indulged at some performances in Britains is said to have been started by King George II at the work's opening run in London in 1743.

Spatzenmesse (C)-This Mozart Mass together with BA7520 and BA7521 has been arranged for solo voices chorus and organ from the Urtext of the “New Mozart Edition” thereby making them accessible in all their beauty to choruses and church choirs with limited financial means at their disposal. Martin Focke has based the “concertante” Organ parts on the orchestral writing doing full justice to the timbre of the original. The solo parts and choruses of course leave the Urtext of the “New Mozart Edition” entirely untouched. The “Sparrow Mass” is one of the most significant pieces of church music fromMozart’s years in Salzburg. Thanks to its clarity and largely homophonic texture it remains even today a work that is easily mastered in church and concert hall performances. Self-contained version with Organ instead of Orchestra Straightforward and easy-to-play Organ part Ideal for church services and concert performances

The Oxford Book of Flexible Carols is perfect resource for choirs of all types and sizes. Each piece is presented with flexible scoring options clearly explained throughout enabling performance by various combinations of singers. With carols for Advent Christmas New Year and Epiphany and a fabulous range accessible quality material this is a must-have collection for all choirs at Christmas.

. . . for Choirs Collections-Spirituals For Choirs is an exciting collection of 20 specially commissioned arrangements for a cappella and accompanied SATB choir. The contents reflect the richness and diversity of the spiritual tradition including many much-loved favorites alongside exquisite discoveries that are less well known. Each piece is bursting with freshness and invention to provide singers with inspirational moving and above all enjoyable repertoire. With a mixture of large and small-scale pieces there???s something here for every choir whatever its forces or levels of expertise.

There is no rose of such virtue is an anonymous mediaeval text, already well known through beautiful settings by Britten (in his Ceremony of Carols), John Joubert and others. The poem is 'macaronic' (it presents a verse in English, followed by a varying Latin refrain). This new version follows the illustrious examples above by remaining strophic and presenting broadly the same music in a succession of slightly different guises. The first verse is a straightforward four-part setting, the second gives the melody to the tenors and surrounds them with hushed, wordless writing for the other parts, and the third explores a freely canonic relationship between the tenor and soprano lines before carrying the previous verse-endings to a higher, more exalted pitch and mood. The fourth verse then expands its texture in a free climactic passage evoking the songs of praise sung by the angels. This subsides towards the final verse, where the texture of the music attenuates again to four parts, and canonic writing (based on the first four notes of the original melody) permeates all of them. This slightly extended statement leads to a hushed final cadence. Francis Pott (b. 1957) began musical life as a chorister at New College, Oxford. He held open music scholarships at Winchester College and at Magdalene College, Cambridge, where he studied composition with Robin Holloway and Hugh Wood while pursuing piano studies privately in London with the distinguished British artist, Hamish Milne. Throughout the 1990s Francis was John Bennett Lecturer in Music at St Hilda's College, Oxford, and a lay clerk in the Choir of Winchester Cathedral. In 2001 he became Head of London College of Music, University of West London, later leading research across the University's Faculty of Arts and acceding in 2007 to its first Chair in Composition. Francis Pott has become recognised particularly for his sacred choral and organ music. This has been performed in concert and on radio in over three dozen countries worldwide, published by four major UK houses and released extensively on CD. Winner of four national composition awards, in 1997 he received first prize in the piano solo section of the S. S. Prokofiev Composing Competition, Moscow. In 2006 and 2011 he was a nominated finalist in the BASCA/BBC Annual Composer Awards. In summer 2012 he was winner of the international composing competition of the Cheltenham Festival, which sought new piano variations on the arioso song Bist du bei mir, well known in the arrangement by J. S. Bach. Francis lives with his wife and two children on the outskirts of Winchester. 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. / Choeur Mixte (SATB)

Editeurs: Bush/Hurd. Par BUSH / HURD. Edited by Geoffrey Bush and Michael Hurd Four glees and madrigals by Pearsall, Stafford, Smith, Walmisley and S./ Recueil / SATB

Mozart?s Requiem has entered the realm of myth. This is surely the best-known of all sacred choral works and is performed all over the world. Now a new version for solo voices chorus and organ allows this legendary masterpiece to be performed without orchestra and thus without strain on the budget. The choral writing has been taken unaltered from the Urtext of the New Mozart Edition while the organ part by Martin Focke adheres strictly to the original orchestral writing. The result is a version as convincing as it is self-contained.Franz Xaver Süssmayr?s additions have been used to complete Mozart?s unfinished original.Self-contained version withorgan instead of orchestraIdeal for church services and concert performancesClear and well-presented organ partThe Bärenreiter Choir & Organ Series presents great choral works in arrangements for soloists choir and organ; no orchestra is needed.The original orchestral parts have been transcribed into easy-to-play organ reductions whereby the contemporary tradition of such arrangements has been taken into consideration. In some cases the original organ versions by the composer were used. The organ parts are presented on three staves. The choir and solo parts always remain true to the original. You need only one edition for soloists singers and organist alike.

In the winter of 1932 Duke Ellington; consummate jazz pianist composer and orchestrator; released It Don't Mean A Thing (If it ain't Got That Swing) which included live vocals by Ivie Anderson. A significant work that marked a shift in the fashionable style from the Hot Jazz of the 1920s to the Swing music of the 1930s. The song went on to define the era and became one of his biggest and most successful hits. This popular tune is supplied here with vocal arrangements for full mixed SATB choir with Piano accompaniment.

Acallam na Senórach by Tarik O'Regan was co-commissioned by the National Chamber Choir of Ireland The DeBartolo Performing Arts Center at University of Notre Dame Indiana and Peak Performances at Montclair State University Montclair New Jersey.First performed on 25 November 2010 at St Ann’s Church Dublin by the National Chamber Choir of Irelandwith Stewart French (Guitar) directed by Paul Hillier.The Guitar part was edited by Stewart French.Tarik O'Regan on the music:In writing this musical setting of Acallam na Senórach I was drawn to the evenness of the dialogue. Instead of St Patricksimply converting the pagan warriors he is encouraged to listen to Ca lte’s stories and poems of an earlier time in which the saint delights.This secular/sacred osmosis is maintained unwaveringly throughout the entire text. By the end of the narrative one has witnessed not only the arrival of a new religion in Ireland but also a richly-recounted secular narrative map of the entire island: the peaceful and enriching shaking of two great hands.In preparing the libretto (the sung text) I have focused on only a few of the shorter constituent tales. This decision was born of the practical constraints of duration. I have however kept the skeleton albeit smaller of the overall frame in place. Finally for the sake of simplicity Ois n is removed from the primary narrative.The characters are not assigned specific voices. The narrative as a whole is carried by a persistently changing combination of voices and guitar. The one exception is Cas Corach the musician of the s d (underworld) who is most closely embodied throughout this setting in the solo interludes for guitar.The music itself is not ethnographically inclined; that is I have not attempted to reconstruct theories on Irish music of the period from which Acallam stems. However the score generally and especially in the guitar writing is imbued with an air

'Yankee Doodle' with variations is the most concise way to describe the piece commissioned by the New Haven Symphony Orchestra to commemorate Conneticut's participation in The United States Bicentennial. 'Yankee Doodle' a tune dating back to the Middle Ages in Holland and England (and used by the British as early as 1755 to poke fun at untrained American troops in the French and Indian war) is interwoven with other folk and national melodies to stitch a patchwork or a musical collage. It is a personal view of American history.'To explain my approach to They All Sang Yankee Doodle I must explain my own background because the piece is made up ofmusical memories imprinted from early childhood.My earliest musical memories are a juxtaposition of sounds - hymns and Bach chorales from the church next door where my mother was choir director; early twenties jazz from my oldest brother's dance band; classical piano from my middle brother and my mother's piano studio; and cowboy songs and turn-of-the-century ballads that I have always identified with my father. Concord California where I was born was once part of a land grant from the Mexican government and the Spanish-Mexican influence remained strong even as the town expanded from a sleepy settlement into an American microcosmos with a wide variety of ethnic groups. Over fifty years ago most of us who sang 'Yankee Doodle' in Concord could not trace our ancestry to the founding fathers. Those of us with Anglo-Saxon names were at the end of the Westward push our forefathers having left behind the Eastern cities a few generations before settling for a time mid-continent then restlessly pushing further West. Little is known of my paternal grandfather for instance except that he had come to California from Indiana walking across Nevada desert to become one of the first settlers in Mordoc Indian territory.Of course the native American the Indian was there to greet each new migration and it is his