Nico Muhly's Looking Up for SATB and Orchestra. Programme note:Looking Up is a piece for large chorus and orchestra and is in three sections played without pause. In the 16th century a variety of psalters in meter were printed in England with the idea of making psalm-singing something that could happen easily at home with the rhyming meter being an aid to memorization. These translations are wonderful exercises in brevity and sometimes clumsy rhymemaking and were usually prefaced by a lengthy explanation as to their merits; the title of one of the first such volumes in English is: The Psalter of Dauid newely translated into Englysh metre in such sortthat it maye the more decently and wyth more delyte of the mynde be reade and songe of al men. I thought it would be appropriate to set one of these introductions and the first section of Looking Up sets the preface to Thomas Ravenscroft’s psalter (1621) in which he writes: “The singing of Psalmes (as say the Doctors) comforteth the sorrowfull pacifieth the angry strengtheneth the weake humbleth the proud gladdeth the humble stirres up the slow reconcileth enemies lifteth up the heart to heavenly things and uniteth the Creature to his Creator.” It begins meditatively but eventually grows agitated and fervent with a vision of the “quire of Angels and Saints” “redoubling and descanting” — an ecstatic and terrifying vision of the skies opening up. Ravenscroft then encourages the use of instrumental music for worship at which point a long acrobatic orchestral interlude with jagged edges antagonizes the choir who sing a kind of private anxious meditation on two pitches. One of the most delicious biblical texts is an Apocryphal prayer known as the Benedicite or the Prayer of the Three Children (the same who were rescued by an angel after King Nebuchadnezzar tried to have them burnt in an oven for not bowing to his image). The text is repetitive obsessive and a gift to composers

Sing Pop A Cappella is a collection of a cappella arrangements of fantastic pop songs old and new, by renowned teacher, singer and director Gitika Partington. Her arrangements are used by choirs across the UK, and she emphasises that being able to read music is not necessary. Rewarding and enjoyable, Book Three continues her project to bring people together through the power of song.What's great about Gitika Partington's Sing Pop A Cappella series is how she understands that to make great music or to sing a great song, it's not necessary to be able to sight-read. It may be useful, but she has learned that there are other ways to communicate music, namely through ear training, repetition and gesture. Her arrangements, five of which appear in this book, have enabled youth and community choirs to spring up across the country, making singing truly and universally accessible. Included in this book are wonderfully rich a cappella arrangements of Ain't No Sunshine by Bill Withers, Black Is The Colour Of My True Love's Hair, Rick Astley's Never Gonna Give You Up, Adele's Rolling In The Deep and a huge favourite, Sway (Quien Sera). Vocal scores for these innovative and enjoyable arrangements are included in standard notation, although Partington recommends learning by ear as something equally beneficial. To aid with this, the accompanying download card includes five tracks of audio for each song. One features a full performance demonstration while the other four each focus on either soprano, alto, tenor or bass. The easy download of these tracks makes learning efficient and fun, as you are able to listen wherever you are.The great thing about a cappella singing is that it can be done anywhere, with limited resources, with members who don't necessarily have any musical training. Partington has created a book that can be used by a cappella choirs who love pop music that sounds great and will thrill audiences. Sing Pop A Cappella is not just a songbook, though, it also includes an extensive introduction by Partington, as well as performance tips for each song and information on voice care and learning the tunes. It's a personal book for Partington, who is passionate about the power of music to bring people together, and enthusiastic about getting people who wouldn't believe they had the confidence or ability, to sing pop!Sing Pop A Cappella is a brilliant book for choirs of any type or size who would enjoy singing five incredible pop tunes without accompaniment. The fantastic sound of a group of people singing a well-known song in a completely new and interesting way is something that Gitika Partington knows well, and something that she wants to impart to groups across the country. Songs like this were made to be sung, so pick up Book Three and Sing Pop A Cappella! / Choeur Mixte (SATB) Et Piano

The Novello Book Of British Folksongs For Mixed-Voice Choirs is an enjoyable collection of diverse tunes that have descended from the folksongs across the British Isles. A variety of arrangements are included both old and new of well-loved tunes as well as some lesser-known pieces. All 34 tunes are arranged for SATB Chorus some with Piano accompaniment making this a brilliant way to enhance your choir's repertoire. This Book Of British Folksongs offers a grand selection of favourite folk tunes arranged by composers such as Ralph Vaughan Williams Gustav Holst Paul Mealor and George Dyson.Tunes like A-Hunting We Will Go Auld Lang Syne Bonny At Morn Come Lasses And Lads and Scarborough Fair suggest the sheer diversity on offer here. From sad tunes to happy songs the arrangements here are at once beautiful and touching coming truly to life when sung by a Mixed-Voice Choir.  These thirty four folk songs will enrich a performance programme whether as one part or the entirety. Choirs of all types and abilities will be able to discover their favourite arrangements either the most beautiful the funniest or the most enjoyable to sing. With the country experiencing a revival in singing traditional folksongs this collection is a great way to experience the unabashed joy that performing these British tunes can bring. With a great number of favourite tunes as well as some lesser-known songs this collection includes songs like There Were Three Ravens Yarmouth Town My Love Is Like A Red Red Rose Dance To Your Daddy and The Rio Grande as well as an extensive and fascinating introduction by Jeremy Summerly. The wonderful thing about singing folksongs is they are like a window into our country's history. They are occasionally funny often dramatic but always enjoyable to sing and their diversity

Par PITTS ANTONY. The Naxos Book of Carols is collection of both the very old and the very new. Commissioned by the leading international classical music label, Naxos, these twenty-four arrangements of traditional and original carols tell the Christmas story - from the hope of Advent and the message of the Angels, to the humble birth of the baby in Bethlehem and the coming of the King of kings. This collaboration between Naxos and Faber Music has brought this volume, containing all 24 carols in four narrative sequences, in new arrangements for SATB choir with minimum divisi. There is a good mix of accompanied and a capella (even the latter have optional accompaniments) and there is practical guidance on how the carols may be used by congregations, as well as choirs with varied resources. The original CD, performed by the award-winning choir Tonus Peregrinus and directed by the composer Antony Pitts, is included within the book making it incredible value for money. / Choral Music / Recueil / Voix Mixtes

Sing, Choirs! is a library in miniature. It contains many of the Christian church's popular traditional anthems, including at least one example that will be suitable for each of the major services of the year. A number of Anglican chants (Psalms, Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis) are included, set out in a way that should enable those who are unfamiliar with the style to perform them easily. The selection of movements from the Mass can be used to enrich the music of the liturgy in services. Many of the works in Sing, Choirs! are presented in their original form, such as Bruckner's Locus Iste and Mozart's Laudate Dominum . Others are arrangements, adaptations or longer pieces, abridged to bring them into the scope of a useable anthem, including choral arrangements of Handel's Largo , the Ave Marias by Schubert and by Bach and Gounod, and Franck's Panis Angelicus amongst many others. This collection has practicability as a priority. The Organ parts can be played on either the Piano or the Keyboard. Much of the music in Sing, Choirs! will be suitable for special occasions, making this an indispensable volume for choirs singing at weekly church services, weddings, funerals and in the concert hall. / Choeur Mixte (SATB) Et Orgue

The Oxford Book of Flexible Carols is the 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 of accessible quality material this is a must-have collection for all choirs at Christmas. 56 flexibly scored carols Suitable for mixed choirs upper-voice choirs choirs with few men unison choirs small choirs and all other groups New flexible arrangements of traditional carols and modern favourites Brandnew carols written specially for the collection Variety of composers including Kerry Andrew Malcolm Archer Alan Bullard Bob Chilcott Stephen Cleobury Cecilia McDowall John Rutter Mack Wilberg and David Willcocks Wide range of material from Medieval to the present day and including wassails gallery carols world carols and spirituals Accessible keyboard accompaniments suitable for Organ (with or without pedals) or Piano

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. O Saving Victim was completed on 16th March, 2003, and was premiered by the choir of St Mary's Church, Goochland, VA, directed by Hope Armstrong Erb. The solo lines in this piece should blend with the rest of the chorus as much as possible. In large choirs, the solo lines in bars 21-22 and 26-30 may be sung by a pair or small group of people to preserve balance. This does not apply to the unaccompanied solos in bar 30-35. Zachary Wadsworth's 'vivid, vital, and prisimatic' music has established him as one of the leading composers of his generation, especially among those writing vocal, choral and operatic works. As winner of the 2011 King James Bible Composition Award, Wadsworth's anthem Out of the South Cometh the Whirlwind was performed by the choir of Westminster Abbey in the presence of Queen Elizabeth II. Other recent honours include awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, ASCAP, and the American Composers Forum, and performances by the Washington National Opera Chorus, Boston Metro Opera, Long Leaf Opera, the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Atlanta Philharmonic Orchestra. Wadsworth's music is widely broadcast and distributed, with a recent commission from Choir and Organ magazine, and frequent airings on the BBC, NPR and CBC. / Choeur SATB

Try A Little Tenderness is the perfect choice for amateur choirs seeking an elegant and sophisticated centrepiece to their choral pop repertoire. A classic song of love and longing this is based on Otis Redding's smooth and soulful take on the song and is bursting with rich harmonies and jazzy chord progressions. Try A Little Tenderness has been arranged by Jeremy Birchall for SATB Chorus with Piano accompaniment this piece opens with a reasonable challenging intro setting the scene for beautiful and tender song that is sure to captivate and touch audiences. Originally composed by Jimmy Campbell Reg Connelly and Harry M.Woods the song was radically changed for Otis Redding's version featuring an incredible introduction backed by the ever-so-subtle instruments of Booker T. and the M.G.'s before breaking into a more upbeat slowly evolving rhythm and blues climax. With legendary producer and songwriter Isaac Hayes working on Redding's arrangement this soulful blues ballad will sound simply stunning sung by an SATB chorus the interplay of the different voices' harmonies will breathe new life into this classic love song. 

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)

Fifty Christmas Carols-The volumes of Carols For Choirs have established themselves as the quintessential carol books for carol-singers around the world.Carols For Choirs 1 includes 50 varied carols for every occasion including newly-arranged classics as well as original compositions written specially for this compilation.

Pop-Arrangements für Kirchenchöre zum EG Chor 1–4 stg, in der Regel besetzt mit Piano, Bass, Drums, Trb und Instrumenten in C, Bb, Eb. „Chöre, die neue Lieder des Evangelischen Gesangbuches im poppigen Stil singen möchten, sind hier richtig . . . Es ist das erste Chorbuch dieser Art und soll dem Trend der Chöre hin zu Pop und Jazz Rechnung tragen. Die stilistische Bandbreite reicht von Swing über Pop und Rock bis hin zum Latin. Die Chorpartien sind leicht bis mittelschwer, farbige Sätze mit rhythmischem Pep bereichern die Lieder. . . . Die Liste der Arrangeure bürgt für eine gute Qualität der Arrangements. Ein Chorbuch für all diejenigen, die einmal in die Welt des Swings und Popsschnuppern wollen. “ [Musik im Bistum Essen I/2000]/ Répertoire / Choeur Mixte

A Winter Service of Hope and Healing - Preview Pack (Book/Listening CD)-The Longest Night is a unique winter service of devotion that has a very special ministry focus. This introspective smaller work is intended to be a worship experience that encourages those going through times of sorrow and grief during the holidays. Inspired by the solstice winter's longest night this service of music scripture and prayer brings light into the darkness and offers hope to those in deepest need. A small consort orchestration adds a fragile intimacy and brings a healing ambience to this singular service of song. Songs include: Prelude (In the Bleak Midwinter) - Be Still and Know - The Winter Weeps in Snowfall - He Shall Feed His Flock - The Healing Place - IThank My God for You - In the Bleak Midwinter. Score and Parts (fl ob/eng hn fr hn vibes pno vn vc) available as a Printed Edition and as a digital download.

Anthems for the Chapel RoyalO sing unto the Lord a new song HWV 249a for Soloists (AB) Chorus (SATB) Flute 2 Oboes 2 Trumpets Strings Continuo BA 4263I will magnify thee HWV 250b for Soloists (SATB) Chorus (SATB) Oboe Strings Continuo BA 4264As pants the hart HWV 251e for Soloists (SAATBB) Chorus (SAATB) 2 Oboes Strings Continuo BA 4265Let God Arise HWV 256b for Soloists (AB) Chorus (SATB) Oboe Strings Continuo BA 4266Handel?s four anthems were all composed during his London period in the Chapel Royal. ?As pants the hart? his fifth setting of this Psalm text waswritten in March 1738 for performance at a benefit concert for the King?s Theatre in the Haymarket.Until just before Handel?s first visit to England the only instrument permitted to accompany the service in the Chapel Royal was the organ. These four works with their orchestral accompaniments thus represent something akin to a new genre in English church music.The four anthems are presented in clearly laid out vocal scores with straightforward piano reductions based on the Urtext from the Halle Handel Edition. Their enticingly varied and self-sufficient orchestral writing provides a suitable framework for the festive chorus and equally festive solo numbers. Today they sound as splendid as ever!The full scores and vocal scores also contain a German translation along with the original English text.

'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