James Whitbourn's Beatus Vir for SSATB choir with a Piano accompaniment for rehersal. Commissioned for the Choir of St Matthew’s Church Northampton. First performed on StMatthew’s Day 21 September 2017 conducted by Justin Miller. 'With the wedding season soon to be upon church musicians James Whitbourn’s new five-minute wedding anthem  Set me as a seal upon thineheart deserves a warm welcome. It would be easy to learn quickly if rehearsal time is limited with vocal lines that are not demanding and helpfully supported by the organ. But the music itself has a haunting intense beauty thatis very special. Judge for yourself with the performance on YouTube that appears to have been made at the wedding for which it was written. St Matthew Northampton for which Walter Hussey commissioned so notably continues an enterprising music commissioning policy most recently with Whitbourn’s setting of Beatus Vir. The commission was for the feast day of St Matthew last September and the published score describes the text asbeing the Gradual for St Matthew. But that rather limits what is simply the first two verses of Psalm 112 and deserves to be sung throughout much of the church year. Forget Monteverdi and other lively settings of Beatus vir:here we have a contemplation on how blest is the person who trusts in the Lord. Despite a dramatic outburst on ‘potens in terra’ (‘mighty in the land’) the work ends as it began with an extended gentlesetting of the word ‘Beatus’.' - Sunday by Sunday

POD Vocal Score-St. Mark Passion is a work by John Joubert for two Tenor and three Baritone soloists SATB Chorus Solo Cello and Organ. First performed in Wells Cathedral on Palm Sunday 20th March 2016 by Wells Cathedral Choir it was commissioned by 'Cathedral Commissions' of Wells Cathedral. A full performance lasts around 45 minutes and this is the Vocal Score. 'The work lasts about 45 minutes and rather like the St. Mark Passion by Charles Wood uses various pre-existant hymns to fulfill a similar function to the chorales in Bach's Passions. The scoring of solo Cello and Organ is skillfully handled so that the quasi-recitativenarrations feature both instruments to varying degrees the Cello often taking lead balancing the inevitably greater presence of the Organ in the hymns. Joubert's choice of hymns is impeccable (plainsong Bach Gibbons...) ending with 'When I survey the wondrous cross' and the idiom of the freely composed sections is given consistency through use of a gently undulating motif to accompany Christ's words (reminiscent of the opening of Vaughan William's Symphony no.5) and a chromatic motif in agitated sections (which happens to be the same as Shostakovich's DSCH theme). Although considerable demands are made on the instrumentalists and lead soloists the choral writing is rarely difficult and could be tackled by many choirs; I have no doubt that the work would be extremely effective in performance.' - Geoffrey Webber Choir & Organ Magazine

Invocation was written for the Choir of The Queen’s College Oxford and represents the culmination of the composer’s time as a research fellow at the college when he worked closely with the choir. Phillip had long been a devotee of Edward Thomas’s evocative poem Adlestrop with its dreamy pastoral feel invoking the very essence of a sultry English country afternoon. It seemed a natural choice to set not least because it mentions the two counties in which he has spent the last seven years Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire. Phillip wanted the workfurther to emphasise the link with everything we might class as a stereotypical English countryafternoon cricket on the green church bells birdsong and warm beer the mythical ‘middle-England’. His work in no way tries to depict this rather to distil the feeling it is a rhapsody on a theme of English country life that men went to war to preserve something very different from the more rugged landscape he grew up with in the Lake District. The work is called Invocation because it is precisely that a spell or charm something that bewitches the listener and that the composer hopes stays long in the mind rather like Adlestrop or indeed Adlestrop itself.The Novello New Choral Series is an inspiring selection of new works from a range of contemporary composers offering 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. This collection is perfect for choirs looking to broaden their repertoire and explore some of the best new music around.Phillip Cooke was born in Cumbria in 1980 spending his formative years there. He has had works played across the country by many of the country’s top choirs and ensembles. New works in 2011 were featured in the London Festival of Contemporary Church Music John Armitage Memorial Concert Series Choir

Remember Bethlehem was conceived after a conversation on the works of the late story-telling songsmith Jake Thackray. Thackray’s sometimes bawdy sometimes satirical and often hilarious lyrics are delivered in a lugubrious baritone and underpinned by a strong Yorkshire accent that led him to be dubbed the “North Country Noel Coward”. In his Remember Bethlehem heshows a more tender side and tells a story devoid of expletives and cutting social commentary of a “shabby little country girl” completely broken by the ardours of her journey arriving in Bethlehem as a distrusted foreigner to give birth to baby boy called Jesus. Whatstruck and moved me most about Thackray’s telling of the Nativity Narrative is the way he normalizes Mary. Rather than retrospectively beatifying her - telling her story full in the knowledge of the extraordinary thing she did (as most nativity stories do) – Thackray’s portrayal of her as young afraid and cold makes her achievement all the more astonishing. Indeed so out-of-the-ordinary is the gift given by this apparently ordinary girl that no one and no thing can ever forget it: “Even the stony old hills […] your shaggy old trees […] the sulky old sun Remembers Bethlehem.” My carol of the same name adapts a similar approach to telling Mary’s story. Musically I have only thinly veiled my affection for Peter Warlock’s miniature masterpiece Bethlehem Down and evidence of this can be seen not only in the choice of key triple metre and strophic setting but also in the resemblance of some of the cadential figures. A final strand of influence comes once more from Yorkshire and specifically Charlotte Brontë’s novel Jane Eyre. My wife is a literature scholar and pointed out to me the parallels between Mary’s plight in Thackray’s story and a scene from the novel in which Jane is lost up on the moors. Through her distrust of man she feels outcast and

Joseph Martin thoughtfully arranges one of the most enduring sacred songs of all time and choirs of every size and ability can sing and rejoice! Coupled with the spiritual “Give Me Jesus ” this special number isperfect for the journey of Lent or Stewardship Sunday. Made famous by George Beverly Shea this gospel evergreen will be a congregation favorite. Inspirational!

I Wonder As I Wander by John Jacob Niles arranged by Keith Christopher for SATB chorus with Piano accompaniment and optional Flute.This Christian folk hymn was inspired by a song heardby Niles at a fundraising meeting for evangelicals which he attended in Murphy North Carolina. Niles wrote of the moment he first heard the tune:'A girl had stepped out to the edge of the littleplatform attached to the automobile. She began to sing. Her clothes were unbelievable dirty and ragged and she too was unwashed. Her ash-blond hair hung down in long skeins.... But best of all she was beautiful and in heruntutored way she could sing. She smiled as she sang smiled rather sadly and sang only a single line of a song'.Niles requested that the girl repeat the fragment seven times paying her a quarter perperformance and left with 'three lines of verse a garbled fragment of melodic material—and a magnificent idea'. He completed his composition on October 4 1933 and I Wonder As I Wander was firstperformed on December 19 1933 at the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown North Carolina.

The arrangements of these pieces use more jazz-based harmonies, rather than traditional. The effect is fresh and beautiful. / Choeur

Uses: General Communion Stewardship Lent Scripture: Philippians 3:8 Song of Solomon 2:1 Matthew 16:26 The coming together of a treasured text and an ancient melody is a surprising combination yet it is truly compelling. Perfectly wed this lyric finds a new home in the arms of the tune SLANE typically associated with the hymn Be Thou My Vision. Easy piano writing and thoughtful choral crafting make this a useful and beautiful addition to your choral folders. Amazing!

'Ave verum was commissioned early in 2011 by Edward Rowntree for the birthday of his father John Rowntree director of music at Douai Abbey in the UK. My aim was to write a piece both short and simple suitable for regular liturgical use. There are of course many wonderful settings of this text already not least those by William Byrd and Edward Elgar both of which I sang as a boy. In this instance I felt their presence as a fellowship and having their music in my head while writing I was encouraged rather than daunted. In fact if you listen with this in mind you may hear a phrase or two in homage to the great masters.' - JohnDugganAn 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.Born in 1963 John Duggan was a chorister at Westminster Cathedral and studied music at Oxford. While still a boy he dreamed of writing in the great European choral tradition of Victoria Tallis and Palestrina. His vocal music has delighted both singers and audiences across Europe and the United States and he composes regularly for film and dance. He has composed for a number of choirs including Commotio Westminster Cathedral Choir the Hildegard Choir and Sospiri and has written commissions for the Edington Music Festival Crossover Intergenerational Dance Group Oxford Youth Dance and The Oxford-Grenoble Association. John regularly performs as a singer and choral director and works as a recording engineer and producer. He has recently been appointed as a Creative Arts Fellow at Wolfson College Oxford.

Made popular by Billy Graham's evangelistic movement this tune was written by George Beverly Shea after reading the lyrics left by his mother on his piano. This medium easy arrangement will please the crowd.

The title comes from the Latin oblivio/oblivium meaning 'to forget ' or better 'the condition of being forgotten unknown.' Astor Piazzolla's (Argentinian) music originally written for instrumental ensemble perfectly depictsthis rather melancholy mood. Using carefully selected nonsense syllables this skilled arranger has given advanced high school college and community choirs the opportunity to include this much-loved music in their performances. Choirs will love performing (and rehearsing!) this one.SATB Unaccompanied.

Judith Clurman Choral Series-Jocelyn Hagen's Vespertilians (Bats) for SATB a cappella. This beautiful text from Ovid's Metamorphoses speaks of the creatures named for the time they first appear: vespertilians (bats). Notscary or to be feared rather here they ?slip into shadows? with ?translucent wings that sustain their flight? with ?diminished bodies? and ?the tiniest of voices.? The composer has crafted a soundscape that paints this mostbeautiful of images of the much maligned nocturnal flyer.

The antiphon 'O Sapientia' (with a text from the Old Testament Book of Wisdom) bears testimony to Pawel Lukaszewski's genuine artistry and to his fascinating very individual musical imagination as an academic composer (hestudied composition at the Music Academy in Warsaw where he is a lecturer at present) as well as to his vast knowledge and profound understanding of the immense wealth of choral church music tradition. He is a man deeplyinvolved in the development of new liturgical music the organiser of an association a competition and a festival of sacred music as well as founder of a choir in one of Warsaw's two cathedrals. 'O Sapientia' is neither eclecticnor experimental – it is rather a mature continuation of the tradition on the highest artistic level.For unaccompanied SATB chorus (with divisions) with a Piano accompaniment for rehearsal purposes.

Spiral Mass is a work by Nico Muhly composed in 2014 commissioned by Holland Festival and BBC Radio 3. The work is arranged for SATB Chorus and Organ Accompaniment and lasts around 15 minutes. Spiral Mass received its world premiere on 2nd June 2014 during the Holland Festival by the Nederlands Kamerkoor conducted by Risto Joost featuring James McVinnie on Organ.  According to Muhly this compositions is an attempt to set the text of the Latin Mass using a completely different harmonic structure from his previous works. The rhythms and melodiescan be seen as circular rather than linear becoming evident from both the Organ parts and the choirs initial phrases. As the piece progresses the dynamic tempo enhances the interplay of all parts all the while hinting at Stravinskian inspirations. 

Out of the depths is a reflective homophonic and beautifully written work. The choral parts are very accessible yet the resulting sound is rather sophisticated and thoughtful. This setting of Psalm 130 is suitable throughout the liturgical year but would be particularly effective during Lent and other reflective occasions.