Par DAVIS TAYLOR. Solstice is by US choral composer Taylor Scott Davis and his regular collaborator, the US poet and writer Milton Brasher-Cunningham. Solstice is a three-minute piece for the dark of winter and the holiday season – a time when we naturally want to connect with those close to us. It was commissioned by VOCES8 for their LIVE From London festival in 2020 and is scored for unaccompani…

Par MENDONCA VASCO. 'Terrance Hayes? series of sonnets is an extraordinary collection of poems: his poetry captures the spiralling social and political chaos in America (and the world) in a way no newspaper article or scholarly essay has been able to; his words have the rare quality of clarifying a collective feeling that is messy and confusing, an elusive and disturbing combination of fear, hope,…

Par DUNPHY MELISSA. Melissa Dunphy is an original and exciting composer living in the USA, though of Australian background. Her piece Halcyon Days, written to a new text from her regular collaborator poet Jacqueline Goldfinger, creates a period of calm during winter storms where we reflect on what we have lost but rise up to face the new year with joy and grace. Written for SATB unaccompanied choi…

Motette Nr. 3 aus Israelsbrünnlein. Par SCHEIN JOHANN HERMANN. Johann Hermann Schein (1586 – 1630), a German composer and poet, was an important predecessor of Bach taking up the post of Thomaskantor in Leipzig in 1616 where he remained until his death. A gifted composer he was one of the first to import the Italian style onto the traditional elements of Lutheran church music. The 'Israelsbrünnlei…

Par RAMINSH IMANT. Arranged for SSAA with Piano Accompaniment, these two atmospheric pieces are based on lyrics from native Okanagan poet Ben Abel. The pieces were written on commission from the Bedford Park Junior Choir of Toronto./ Feuillet / 4 Parties Voix Aigües (SSAA) et Piano (en Partitio

Edward MacDowell (1860-1908) was America's most prominent nineteenth-century composer. Championed by Franz Liszt, he was one of the first U.S. composers to gain international recognition. A leading exponent of the Romantic tradition, he was a prolific composer for the Piano. This outstanding collection presents his best, most characteristic works, reprinted from original editions. They include: Wo…

Symphonic Fragment for Orchestra. Par SHCHEDRIN RODION. Emotional depth and riveting virtuosity - these elements are what characterise many compositions by Rodion Shchedrin. Even though he has been a cosmopolitan for a long time, the Moscow-born Shchedrin has remained an original Russian composer whose bond with the musical folklore and poetry of his home country has never been severed. This 'Symp…

Par SCHUMANN ROBERT. The Romances for female voices op. 69 and op. 91 are more filigreed, with highly poetic textural subtleties. These pieces may be sung either by soloists or by a choir; piano accompaniment may [to advantage] be omitted./ Répertoire / Choeur Mixte

Par ZARATE JOSE. 'Gabon' ('good night' in the basque language) (2001), is a work where the composer investigates and delves into his personal idealization of the relationship of the text and its interpretation as poetic-musical recital. The piece tries to propose to the musician certain meaningful poetical concepts, with the requirement of a meticulous willingness to sing, to recite, and to feel. …

Couverture Rigide. Par HAENDEL GEORG FRIEDRICH. Handel's 'Il pastor fido”, HWV 8a, is the most modest of his Italian operas: With over half of its numbers drawing from musical material of earlier Italian cantatas, the work deliberately reflects the pastoral style of the Italian serenata. In order to capture the simplicity of this approach to form, Handel made use of several different techniques, s…

This three-minute piece for string quartet unites the typical features of Elena Kats-Chernin's compositions: blues harmony, a motor-like rhythm driven by syncopes, bittersweet melodies and austere-poetic sonority. Silver Eucalypt was written in 2006 and recorded in 2012 by the Acacia Quartet on their CD 'Blue Silence' released by Vexations840. Now there is finally a printed edition which may be a …

Par KASHPEROVA LEOKADIYA. Leokadiya Kashperova (1872–1940), hitherto consigned to a footnote in musical history as Stravinsky’s piano teacher, is undergoing rediscovery. A double graduate of the St Petersburg Conservatoire, she emerged as a virtuoso pianist and composer in the romantic tradition. She was associated with some of the great musicians of her day, including Balakirev and Auer. She perf…

Par MAHLER GUSTAV. In this great work, first published in 1912, Mahler experimented with the four-movement symphonic form, producing a masterpiece of musical innovation, satiric writing and poetic drama expressed in purely instrumental terms. Now the full orchestral score of the Ninth Symphony is available in this inexpensive, high-quality edition, reprinted from an authoritative Viennese score. M…

Par PART ARVO. Arvo Pärt has been fascinated by the life and work of St Silouan of Athos (1866-1938) for many years. As early as 1991, the writings of Silouan inspired Pärt to his composition Silouan's Song, 'My soul yearns after the Lord ...' for string orchestra. Pärt's new work Adam's Lament is once again based on a text by Silouan, in which the monk laments Adam's pain over the loss of paradis…