Music played an enormous role in the works of William Shakespeare, while his own sonnets, poems and soliloquies have provided continuing inspiration for many composers through the years. The Novello Shakespeare Choral Collection, inspired by the 400th anniversary of the Bard's death in 2016, is an exciting anthology of choral works that are settings of Shakespeare's words. For choirs of all types and abilities, this collection has been edited by David Wordsworth so that all the pieces are fantastic both to sing and hear.The collection features some beautiful settings that have well and truly stood the test of time, such as Thomas Arne's Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind and Henry Leslie's How Sweet The Moonlight Sleeps. More recent settings from 20th century and contemporary composers include Ernest Moeran's Sigh No More, Ladies, Gary Carpenter's Lo, Here, The Gentle Lark and John Tavener's Fear No More and Look In Thy Glass.Not only this, the Shakespeare Choral Collection boasts several works that were specially commissioned, including John Joubert's Be Not Afeard, Richard Sisson's Light Thickens and Pawel Lukaszewki's Weary With Toil, I Haste Me To My Bed. Some pieces have never appeared before in print, such as those by Kevin Olsen, Bernard Hughes and John Gardner. These songs truly are a joy to perform, with some relatively simple arrangements that are purely fun to sing, while some more complex settings that will be thoroughly rewarding for choirs and audiences alike.A total of 26 fantastic works comprise The Novello Shakespeare Choral Collection, which would work as a wonderful concert programme on its own, or could provide a wealth of options for choirs looking to expand their repertoire with a range of unique settings. Also included is a fascinating introduction by editor David Wordsworth, and notes describing each piece.Words written by indisputably the greatest writer in the English language can only be matched with music by composers of talent and renown such as these. The Novello Shakespeare Choral Collection is an essential anthology of stunning settings of beautiful words which will be performed and enjoyed for many years to come. / Choeur Mixte (SATB)

A full anthem for Whitsunday for SATB Choir a cappella. Schirmer Edition. Piano accompaniment included for rehearsal only.

Ricordi, the well-known printer of classical opera, presents the works of the great opera composers in its CRITICAL EDITION · PRACTICAL SERIES. These revised definitive scores are produced by using all the currently available sources ranging from the original autographs to printed editions, in line with strict philological and critical criteria. Each edition has a brief introduction providing the historical context for the opera in question. This series combines the rigour of a critical approach and a practical, easy-to-follow editorial lay-out. The hidden sadness and frustration of living as a moral outcast, the attempt to simulate innocence in frivolous living and the desperate search for relief from pain and anguish, the destruction of all hope in an unrealistic love affair... this is Violetta Valery. Verdi penetrated the tormented sensitivity of her soul as he visualized her in his music, transforming her individual fate into a universal representation of human suffering. His compassion for her, however, met with bigoted censure: the bourgeois public, scandalized by the presence of a kept woman as a character on the stage, gave the opera an icy reception at its premiere in Venice (Teatro La Fenice, 6 March 183). Certainly an inferior cast for the occasion did little to help. Only the following year, when La traviata was revived for another production in Venice (Teatro San Benedetto), did the tale of Violetta manage to overcome this prejudice and win the unconditional esteem it so deserves. / Voix Et Piano

Rich Manners' compositional credits include film radio and TV but he has only recently started writing anthems for the church. His classical training is immediately evident in this stunning setting of Lamentations 3:23-26. Thekeyboard part is intentionally written for the piano and it is wonderful. This anthem about God's love and faithfulness presents an elegant statement of praise and thanksgiving. Available: SATB.

This little piece was commissioned by King's College, Cambridge in 2002 as the then-latest in their celebrated annual Christmastide service of Nine Lessons and Carols for their unique Chapel - it is dedicated to the choir and its director Stephen Cleobury. 'Little', but already a mini-cantata telling the start of the familiar story - Gabriel's Annunciation - praise to the Virgin before she too sings 'my soul doth magnify the Lord': the shepherds a-watching their flocks by night - the angelic chorus in the sky - the fusion of celestial and earthy around the crib holding the baby who is also 'lord of Time and Space'. Here we stop, for now. In fact this is only the first panel of a Christmas Sequence that continues and concludes the whole tale. Seeking out unhackneyed texts, I found such attractive material in the byways that I couldn't resist weaving together from it a composite tapestry, then setting the lot! The words of this section are from the Gospel account, anonymous carols of the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries, Edmund Bolton (1611, 'Sweet music, sweeter far...'), the Gloria from the Mass, a couple of lines from well-loved Anglican Christmas hymns - with neutral link-lines of my own. The music, also, has elements of such wider referencing, which will surely not be lost on the attentive hearer! / Choeur Mixte (SATB) Et Orgue