Peter Warlock: Bethlehem Down: SATB: Vocal Score

Corpus Christi is an anonymous Middle English Carol first written down c.1500. It was re-worked as a carol for Soprano and Tenor Soloists with SATB chorus by Peter Walock (1894-1930) in 1919. It wasdedicated to Thomas Strong later Bishop of Oxford who had been Dean of Christ Church College during Warlock's brief time studying there and who is better known for encouraging William Walton's musicalcareer. While he is best remembered for his scandalous lifestyle and his large-scale Capriol Suite the Corpus Christi carol ranks alongside Bethlehem Down as one ofWarlock's most sensitive and beautiful creations.

In this seventh volume of Warlock’s Choral works there is a mixture of work. The Full Heart sets poetry of Warlock’s friend Robert Nicholas and is written for eight-part Chorus with a Soprano solo. A Cornish Christmas Carol is one of two Cornish carols Warlock wrote. This one is for Chorus SATB with SA divisi and a solo Soprano moment toward the end. Corpus Christi written in 1919 requires contrAlto solo and Tenor solo from the choir with an extremely demanding part for the contrAltos. The three dirges All the Flowers of Spring Call for the Robin Redbreast and The Wren and The Shrouding of the Duchess of Malfi were originally published as a set but are performedseparately. The first is for mixed Chorus SATB the second SSAA and the third TTBB with a first Tenor line of almost unequalled challenge.Composer writer and musical scholar Peter Warlock (Philip Heseltine) was active in the early decades of the twentieth century when he distinguished himself by his rediscovery and transcription of early English music his writing on Delius Gesualdo and other many other musicians and for his Choral works and songs among them the carol Bethlehem Down.

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

Noël 2 is an exciting collection of Advent, Christmas and Epiphany music for mixed voice choirs, which follows on from the highly acclaimed Noël! Volume 1 (Catalogue No. NOV310800). The contents range from the Renaissance to the present: from Byrd and Sweelinck, via Bach, familiar settings of traditional and lesser known carols through the ages to Howells and Leighton, and work by today's composers including Richard Rodney Bennett, Eric Whitacre, John Tavener Tarik O'Regan and Richard Allain. Mixed voice choirs of all levels will find here new arrangements of favourite carols as well as stimulating works for the Christmas season, from the easy to learn to the more challenging and unconventional. Selected and edited by David Hill, Choral Advisor to Novello, Chief Conductor of the BBC singers, Musical Director of The Bach Choir, Chief Conductor of The Southern Sinfonia and Music Director of Leeds Philharmonic Society. He was awarded an honorary Doctorate by the University of Southampton in 2002 in recognition of his Services to Music. 'Noël was a welcome addition to the Christmas list for decent standard choirs - Noël 2 adds even more to the repertoire in a handy volume... The main enticements are some fantastic new arrangements of old favourites, a number of works previously only available in single sheets (Whitacre's Lux Arumque among others) and some fantastic new surprises. Adrian Peacock's Venite, Gaudete is a wonderfully original and vibrant setting, Richard Rodney Bennet's I Wonder as I Wander is both reflective and effective, and there are plenty more. Some of the pieces here will challenge your choir, but there's a vast amount to get the Christmas inspiration flowing. ' - Jonathan Wikeley, Music Teacher November 2009 '?an outstanding resource for Advent, Christmas and Epiphany ' Andrew Stewart, Choir and amp - Organ November/December 2010 Noel! 2 Interview With David Hill by Musicroom / Choeur SATB Et Orgue (Ou Piano)