Christmas Voices: SATB: Vocal Score

Brought together for the first time a comprehensive collection of timeless Christmas choruses newly engraved for mixed Voices. The Greatest Christmas Choruses encompasses an array of contrasting moods the grand the joyous and the ceremonial from the dramatic to the intimate or spiritual the Baroque the Romantic and the contemporary. Selected with introductory notes by Brian Kay.

for SATB and organ A celebratory carol in a lilting 12/8 metre Christmas Welcome sets a joyful fifteenth-century text by John the Blind Audelay. Whitbourn employs textural contrasts and call-and-response style pairings of voices to great effect as well as a characterful and soloistic organ part.

Christmas And Advent Motets For 5 Voices-A comprehensive series of Latin motets from the Renaissance period combining old favourites with lesser known works. This volume include works by Robert Ramsey Byrd Palestrina and Peter Philips.

A second set of innovative jazz arrangements of three carols originally created for a service of Jazz Carols at St Martin in the Fields London by Will Todd. Rich harmonies serve to bring new expression to familiar Christmas material written for SATB Voices and Piano with scope for optional congregational/audience singing. They can be performed using the supplied Piano part or embellished using the chord symbols above. Double bass may also be used in addition to Piano again following the supplied chord symbols. We three kings is also available in an arrangement for mixed voices and jazz ensemble (jazz trio and optional brass quintet) compatible with this vocal score.

Four Christmas carols that capture the distinctive contradictory and unmistakable choral style of Giles Swayne.Always plain-speaking challenging intense and emotionally honest Swaynes music also brims with wit melody and a sly playfulness that is both captivating and addictive. The Four Christmas Carols were written over several years. The first three are for unison voices with Piano and can be performed by the whole assembly. The fourth requires a larger SATB chorus and is a larger expressive and impressive setting of The Coventry Carol.This set of carols has it all - from grand unison melodies familiar tunes and rousing choruses to morepoignant challenging and unusual passages. It represents a hugely satisfying and entertaining addition to any festive performance or carol concert.

Bethlehem from Boublil and Schönberg’s 1996 musical Martin Guerre is a great addition to any Holiday repertoire this season. The lesser known historical musical from the same creative team that produced Les Miserables and Miss Saigon features similar vocal monumentality as its predecessors. This piece is the best of both worlds combining the grand sound of musical theatre with the festive atmosphere of carolling and will be a welcome change to often overplayed and dusty Christmas programmes. In this edition Bethlehem is arranged for SATB (Soprano Alto Tenor and Bass) Voices with Pianoaccompaniment.

A jolly Christmas carol-This lively carol was commissioned in 2005 by Lichfield Cathedral Special Choir (now called the Cathedral Chorus) to celebrate the birth of Hannah Scriven and Holly Mason the daughters of the two cathedral organists at that time. The words were specially written by Tony Barnard the then Canon Chancellor at Lichfield and a member of the choir. This carol whilst not entirely foreign to my normal style touches more ‘country and western’/popular buttons than I am in the habit of touching. But I wanted to write a tuneful piece which swayed and danced and reflected the colourful imagery of Tony Barnard’s text. Recommended recording: Comeout Lazar – The shorter choral works of Paul Spicer (Regent REGCD280) by The Chapel Choir of Selwyn College Cambridge and Claire Innes-Hopkins (organ) directed by Sarah MacDonald. Text: This child of God who’s born on Christmas day whom shepherds view to whom kings homage pay is called to be a shepherd and a king. Sing alleluias praise this wondrous thing. This child of God is shepherd born to lead through pastures green by banks of golden reed; nor left nor right but ever on the way which leads to Calvary and endless day. This child of God this Son of David’s line is root of tree a shoot a fruitful vine it shelter gives to all who see the way which leads them to the cross and Easter day. This child of God this many spangled star is light’ning flash which dazzles near and far; bright light to guide our feet along the way that leads to Calvary and endless day. This child of God is called to save mankind to open eye and ear the heart and mind; to heal and make the lame man leap and play along the road that leads to Easter Day. This child of God let angel voices praise. Give God the glory live his loving ways. Let peace on earth o’er come our worldly strife through all who walk his road throughout their life. Tony Barnard

This motet for unaccompanied voices with tenor solo was written for a BBC programme of words and music called A Poet’s Christmas broadcast on the Home Service on Christmas Eve 1944.