It is particularly in his choral music that Peteris Vasks reveals his strong attachment to his Latvian home country. Nature, customs and traditions and the idea of freedom are the central themes of the texts he sets to music, while carefully using modern techniques of choral singing as well. Alternating with traditional, even archaic singing, the music creates a multi-faceted, immediately effective sound image in the listener's mind.The poem 'Ziles zina' by the contemporary Latvian poet Uldis Berzins (*1944) centres on the themes of man, nature and transience in aphoristic brevity.Vasks wrote a piece of music on this poem which contains downright rewarding tasks for the choir and opens up to the listener a fascinating world of sound. / Choeur De Femmes (SSAA) A Cappella

A Choral Suite for Two Part (Soprano and Alto) Children's Chorus setting the text of George Mackay Brown. This enchanting 12-minute cycle is typical of the subtle and delicate way Maxwell-Davies approaches writing forchildren: straightforward tender affectionate yet with just a hint of the complexity found in challenging 'adult' works like the cycle Westerlings. George Mackay Brown's poetry with its haiku-like short stanzas and pointillisteallusive imagery leaves you constantly intrigued : who is the boy 'lost on the hill till sundown' and why is time 'a bird with white wings?' Is this perhaps the poet himself playing a bit of holiday truant?

Par RATHBONE JONATHAN. SSAA a cappella - / Contemporain / Feuillet / Travaux Pour Choeurs

Originally set for mixed voices with piano (HMC2409) this piece has become one of the most popular works in the Hinshaw catalog. It's energy has been a hit for both adult and high school choirs. Here Peter Anglea sets the piece for 4 part treble voices-a wonderful new addition for treble choirs.