Among all Stabat Maters ever set to music by various composers over the centuries this one holds a special place as the most symphonic one and as the one that was the most clearly written by a classical orchestral composer. Arranged for Soli SATB Chorus and Piano reduction.

An original and exciting collection of anthems and other choral pieces written for the Orthodox Church and inspired by the Church in Russia selected by Ralph Allwood. Partly because of the re-emergence of the Church in the former Soviet Union interest in Christian musical sources alternative to the great body of the Anglican and other Western Christian traditions has grown sharply in recent years. Though the works presented here may be unfamiliar they are all masterly. Designed to appeal to choirs of various levels the collection includes a Kontakion and Ikos for the funeral service anthems by Great Russian Romantics: Tchaikovsky Rachmaninov Grechaninov; andcomposers from our age: Stravinsky Schnittke or Arvo Part speaking for a tradition outside the Orthodox Church as well as settings of the Lord's Prayer in both Russian and English by John Tavener.

This lullaby for large unaccompanied SATB chorus was commissioned by the Crouch End Festival Chorus in 1993. John Woolrich interweaves various folk texts in his lilting musical setting which juxtaposes the peacefulness of sleep with moments of anxiety and tension for the parent whose son is far from home.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.

Tudor and Stuart monarchs reigned during a period of political and ecclesiastical turmoil out of which occurred profound developments in musical style.Tudor Anthems (the term loosely applied to cover the years 1520 to 1640) anthologises some of the finest English musical works of that era. It includes sacred works of various lengths and standards of difficulty for mixed voice choir accompanied and unaccompanied by an array of composers including Byrd Dering Gibbons Morley Mundy Parsons Philips Smith Taverner and Tomkins.A comprehensive collection and indispensable resource for any choir's library prepared in an easilyunderstood performing edition by Lionel Pike.'This is an excellent book. It offers variety the familiar and the less so all levels of difficulty and excellent value. Choirs who invest in a set could cover this aspect of their repertoire for years to come.'Andrew Gant (Choir & Organ - March/April 2011) 'A new Tudor anthem anthology will inevitably invite comparison with the popular Oxford Book of Tudor Anthems but Lionel Pike's collection largely avoids overlap with the OUP book and its contents certainly do not disappoint.' Matthew O'Donovan (Early Music Today - March/May 2011)'For many choirs and choral societies the Oxford Book of Tudor Anthems has been a standard source for this wonderful repertoire since it was first published in 1978. This new edition from Novello is now a serious competitor (why have we had to wait so long!). At almost the same price as the OUP volume and with 50 anthems (OUP had 34) this anthology is remarkable value for money. Before considering the contents it is worth mentioning its weight. My choir complains at holding the New Church Anthem Book and this is the same weight as the NCAB paperback (i.e. over a kilogram) and almost A4 in size. Lionel Pike

In Flanders Fields is a series of poignant and evocative choral works with a theme of reconciliation and remembrance set to iconic texts by John McCrae and Rupert Brooke.Alan Smith was born in London in 1962 and spent his childhood in Croydon. He sang with various local choirs and attended the nearby Royal School of Church Music where he began organ lessons with Michael Fleming at the age of ten. He was appointed as Organist and Choirmaster of a local church at the age of 16 and later became Organ Scholar at Kings' College London where he studied from 1981 to 1984. As part of his music degree he specialized in composition studying with Nicola LeFanu David Lumsdaine and George Nicholson.Following postgraduate training at the London Institute of Education Alan began his teaching career. After working in various schools he became Head of Music at Hazelwick School Crawley in 1990 a post he continues to hold. In the same year he came to some prominence by winning the RSCM's annual composing competition. His successful entry Let the Peoples Praise You became his first published piece and continues to be widely performed. Since then his choral compositions have won several awards most recently the Thornesian Prize in 2003 and an honorable mention in the 2004 Vanguard Premieres Competition.Alan's output is predominantly of choral and vocal music much of it written for specific choirs or occasions and his catalogue runs to over 150 works. In the UK his music is published by Animus Curiad Cantiones Press Escorial Edition Fagus Music and RSCM while in America he is published by Abingdon Press CanticaNOVA OUP Pavane and Roger Dean.Since 1998 Alan has been Director of Music at St Andrew's church in Burgess Hill West Sussex where he lives with his wife and three children.

These editions taken from the acclaimed Tudor Anthems anthology represent some of the most popular musical works from the volume. They include sacred works of various lengths and standards of difficulty for mixed voice choir accompanied and unaccompanied by an array of composers including Batten Byrd Gibbons Philips Sheppard Tallis Taverner and Weelkes. The works are prepared in an easily understood performing edition by Lionel Pike.

These editions taken from the acclaimed Tudor Anthems anthology represent some of the most popular musical works from the volume. They include sacred works of various lengths and standards of difficulty for mixed voice choir accompanied and unaccompanied by an array of composers including Batten Byrd Gibbons Philips Sheppard Tallis Taverner and Weelkes. The works are prepared in an easily understood performing edition by Lionel Pike.

These editions taken from the acclaimed Tudor Anthems anthology represent some of the most popular musical works from the volume. They include sacred works of various lengths and standards of difficulty for mixed voice choir accompanied and unaccompanied by an array of composers including Batten Byrd Gibbons Philips Sheppard Tallis Taverner and Weelkes. The works are prepared in an easily understood performing edition by Lionel Pike.

These editions taken from the acclaimed Tudor Anthems anthology represent some of the most popular musical works from the volume. They include sacred works of various lengths and standards of difficulty for mixed voice choir accompanied and unaccompanied by an array of composers including Batten Byrd Gibbons Philips Sheppard Tallis Taverner and Weelkes. The works are prepared in an easily understood performing edition by Lionel Pike.

These editions taken from the acclaimed Tudor Anthems anthology represent some of the most popular musical works from the volume. They include sacred works of various lengths and standards of difficulty for mixed voice choir accompanied and unaccompanied by an array of composers including Batten Byrd Gibbons Philips Sheppard Tallis Taverner and Weelkes. The works are prepared in an easily understood performing edition by Lionel Pike.

These editions taken from the acclaimed Tudor Anthems anthology represent some of the most popular musical works from the volume. They include sacred works of various lengths and standards of difficulty for mixed voice choir accompanied and unaccompanied by an array of composers including Batten Byrd Gibbons Philips Sheppard Tallis Taverner and Weelkes. The works are prepared in an easily understood performing edition by Lionel Pike.

The world loves to sing. From barbershop groups to madrigal choirs to vocal rock bands there are tens of thousands of vocal groups in America. The success of mainstream television programs such as Glee and The Sing-Off not only demonstrates the rising popularity of vocal music; it reflects how current trends inspire others to join in. In addition through various online and on-the-ground vocal music societies the ???a cappella market??? is well defined and well connected. Like singing itself a cappella is a global phenomenon.At the heart of every vocal group is the music it performs. This often means writing its own arrangements of popular or traditional songs. This book is thelong-awaited definitive work on the subject wide ranging both in its scope and in its target audience - which spans beginners music students and community groups to professional and semi-professional performers vocal/instrumental songwriters composers and producers - providing genre-specific insight on a cappella writing.The tone of the book is instructive and informative yet conversational: it is intended to stand alongside any academic publication while remaining interesting and fun. A Cappella Arranging is a good textbook - and a ???good read??? - for every vocal arranger whether amateur or professional; every vocal music classroom and any professional recording studio.

The six collections of 'Vierstimmige Motetten und Arien' published by Johann Adam Hiller offer a selection of motets, mostly from the second half of the 18th century. They show us the products of a new age of achievement in which the motet was again able to flourish after this genre had led only a shadowlike existence for more than a century. The editor of those collections, Johann Adam Hiller, was active as a composer of Singspie, editor of various musical periodicals, leader of the Gewandhaus concerts, University Director of Music, musical director of the Neukirche, and finally, from 1789, Thomaskantor in Leipzig. Upon Hiller's assumption of the office of Thomaskantor theolder motets were replaced in Leipzig church services by contemporary compositions. Printed texts which have been preserved show that Hiller's collections were used widely. A Critical Report from the editor, Uwe Wolf, with additional information concerning the motets and their composers, will be published to cover all the collections. / Mottet / Répertoire / Choeur Mixte

Tarik O'Regan's Mass Observation was commissioned for the University of Michigan Chamber Choir Jerry Blackstone conductor thanks to support from the William K. and Delores S. Brehm Choral Commissioning Fund and the Barbara Abramoff Levy Fund.   Composer's note:   Mass Observation is a meditation on the histories of our varied ambivalent relationships with surveillance in its myriad guises. The use of technologies that sate our desires to be watchedand heard (safety tracking empowerment and pride) has in some sense always been able to be weighed against our anxieties around invasions of privacy (physical and psychological harm hacking subjugation and embarrassment). The work takes its title from the British social research organisation Mass-Observation which aimed to record everyday life in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1937 Mass-Observation controversially paid investigators to anonymously record people's conversation and behaviour at work on the street and at various public occasions including public meetings sporting and religious events. Scored for chorus and percussion sextet  Mass Observation ebbs and flows between various polarities (human voices and percussion instruments pitched and unpitched sounds clear and opaque tonalities) over the course of its thirteen movements. There is a ritualistic nature to the overall pacing of the work reminiscent of a liturgical mass setting. The two groups of musicians are rarely aligned: for much of the piece they watch and listen to one another in silence.    Duration approximately: 40 Minutes  

To Nocturner (2001) - for Chamber Choir (12 or 24 Voices). Texts by Ole Sarvig and Ib Michael. English version available: KP01444E Programme note: These two choral pieces for 12 voices consists of radical recompositions on of earlier themes: in Summer's Sleep we hear new combinations of two 'Sarvig melodies' from the 1970s (one of which is now in the Danish Hymnbook under the title 'Året' The Year); Michael's Night is based on an earlier simple choral song (Star Mirror 1987) now for 12 voices and composed such that an original idea of 'simultaneously displaced opposite motions' cf. the poem)comes out as desired. Of the Nocturnes Nørgård writes: 'Summer's Sleep was composed to stanzas of Ole Sarvig's poem The Year (from the collection Forstadsdigte ('Suburban Poems')) and forms the picture of 'the summer of life' which is asleep - while the 'heaven seed' waits for the summer wind ('invisible to every mind'). The many layers of text are expressed musically in a multilayered choral texture with 'looks' up and down through the various tempo and time-worlds: summer sleep summer dream. 'The second nocturne Michael's Night takes its name from the author Ib Michael whose poem Star Mirror (from the collection Himmelbegravelse ('Sky Funeral') (1986) I pushed/coaxed him to expand from one to nine stanzas. The four selected stanzas set in the nocturne focus on the pan-erotic elements of the moonlit starlit night. With the titles I have chosen I have stressed the mythic layer of the text the summer night not as a dream but as sensual reality. 'The two nocturnes are dedicated to Ivan Hansen on the occasion of his fiftieth birthday on 25th February 2003 out of gratitude for over a quarter of a century of inspiring collaboration'.