Seen & Unseen

Composer's notes:The Fool is a time-honoured Orthodox religious figure: a Saint the highest of all who discards everything for Christ's sake. He discards all convention all decency all wealth actual and spiritual and turns himself into a figure of fun - defying all acceptable behaviour - and all religious decency. He stands in the square and lets down his trousers - he stuffs himself with food on Good Friday - he gets drunk - he 'appears'to fornicate wildly. There is a faint possibility (in not the highest of 'Fools') of gaining worldly popularity by such flagrant denial of all moral behaviour. Can such behaviour be too interesting? The true fool however embraces all of this and also (unseen) shrinks before the face of his God. By his behaviour he plucks out all hypocrisy false piety and corruption. He is a figure much needed in our times!!! The way I have tried to tacklethis extraordinary subject is to show him in seven stages from an obscene huge fat traditional clown who is drunk fornicating etc. through a stumbling frail agonized figure to a sallow-faced gaunt business man in a formalsuit staring at an empty glass. Having first revered him then mocked him the 'people' while they get drunk and jabber away at 'Christmas' and at the Feast of Feasts 'Easter' are no longer aware of him. But the audience seeshim - a tiny ragged scrap of mortality lying in a corner and faintly so faintly the voice of the Fool the true Fool for Christ's sake sings above the ribald crowd. 'He has given His life'. The Gogmagogs are the 'people' 'priests' 'singers' etc. and one male singer who can 'create' or 'uncreate' this vast role (singing and acting miming etc.) John Tavener Arranged for SSATBB chorus. Date of composition 2000. Chorus part only.

Vocal Score-Nico Muhly's Sentences for Countertenor and Chamber Orchestra. Composed: 2014 Duration: 30 minutes Composers Note: Sentences is a thirty-minute meditation in collaboration with Adam Gopnik on several episodes drawn from the life and work of Alan Turing. Turing lived in a sense many different lives but at the heart of his work was I think a very musical set of anxieties. Even the idea of code-breaking is inherently musical; the French for score-reading is déchiffrage: deciphering. His wartime work on the Enigma code translated later in life to a more nuanced relationship to code in the form ofa primitive but emotionally (and philosophically) complicated artificial intelligence. The piece uses a single voice not to speak necessarily as Turing but as a guide through these various episodes. I’ve always felt that the question of sentient computers is wildly emotional: we anthropomorphise the Mars Rover imagining its solitude on that dusty planet. Any act of communication in which the second person is unseen can be a one-way conversation. An email sent can never be returned — did it arrive or did it not? — or a text message can be delivered but never read. The thrill of a fast response is immediately tempered with the harsh but empty rudeness of an out-of-office reply. Anybody who has made a condolence phone call only to hear the voice of the deceased on the outgoing answering machine message knows the complexities of what could be a simple binary communication. 

from carousel-Rodgers and Hammerstein’s 1945 musical Carousel is one of the most revered and remembered of all Broadway shows bringing together fabulous tunes and a dramatic plot that were previously unseen. The highlight of this work is You’ll Never Walk Alone a charged and passionate number that remains popular today. One reason why it is so well known is that it has long been adopted as Liverpool F.C.’s unofficial anthem and the motto even adorns the hallowed Anfield gates. Renowned around the world for the supporter's rousing rendition which blasts out of the Kop a stirring and momentous event that takes place several times each Saturday! Thisshow-stopping Gospel arrangement by Mac Huff is a superb powerhouse from start to finish it is ideal for a graduation ceremony or spring concert feature or for fans of Liverpool F.C. who want to swap the stands for the stage! This is the instrumental Pak and includes parts for an ensemble performance. The parts included are Trumpet 1 and 2 Tenor Sax Trombone Synthesizer Guitar Bass and Drums allowing for a versatile and flexible arrangement.

The Associated Board's Jazz Piano series is a comprehensive introduction to the world of jazz. A pioneering set of publications and a rigorously planned syllabus provide the building blocks you need to play jazz with imagination understanding and style and to improvise effectively right from the start.The skill of playing unpreparedly in a lively musical creative and accurate way is at the very heart of every jazz performance. the quick study requiring the recreation of a previously unseen or unheard short head followed by an improvised response practices this crucial skill. It will give you the confidence to learn repertoire more effectively and toprepare for the very real demands of busking through those unrehearsed situations which are a regular feature in a jazz musician's life.As an accompaniment to the Board's jazz piano syllabus this book contains a set of practice quick studies for Grades 1 to 5. Covering a wide variety of jazz styles the studies will require you to play in both swing and straight quavers from Grade 1 and to use swing rock and latin grooves. An invaluable introduction to the book explains the concept behind quick study useful ways to extend and develop activities related to it details of the exam and what the examiner will be looking for.