SKU: A0.1126313

A new Christmas carol by Philip Le Bas for unison voices (with occasional divisi) and piano, setting the words of William Blake's poem A Cradle Song from his collection entitled Songs of Innocence. The very title of Blake's poem calls out for it to be set to music. Indeed the poem is a straightforward lullaby for the first few stanzas, sung softly by a mother over her sleeping baby, as she marvels at the wonder of this beautiful infant and expresses her love for the child. Her own anxieties and weeping for the child remind her of the Christ-child who also wept as a vulnerable baby. But as God incarnate he wept for me, for thee, for all, and brought peace to heaven and earth. (Blake uses the word beguile perhaps to indicate the paradoxical nature of a weeping God bringing redemption to a suffering world by becoming a vulnerable human baby himself.) The composition aims to avoid unnecessary complexity in the vocal parts, so that it can be sung easily particularly by a parish choir. However, it also attempts to capture some of the beauty, drama and mystery of the scene expressed by Blake. The piece begins and ends in stillness, and there are gentle climaxes here and there, reflecting some of the rise and fall of the poem's lyrics. It could be sung by a mixed or single-voice choir, but note should always be taken of the predominantly quiet dynamics of the piece, especially in the first half. https://www.sheetmusicdirect.com/en-US/se/ID_No/1216185/Product.aspx https://plbmusic.blogspot.com A Cradle Song from Songs of Innocence by William Blake (1757-1827) Sweet dreams, form a shade O'er my lovely infant's head! Sweet dreams of pleasant streams By happy, silent, moony beams! Sweet Sleep, with soft down Weave thy brows an infant crown! Sweet Sleep, angel mild, Hover o'er my happy child! Sweet smiles, in the night Hover over my delight! Sweet smiles, mother's smiles, All the livelong night beguiles. Sweet moans, dovelike sighs, Chase not slumber from thy eyes! Sweet moans, sweeter smiles, All the dovelike moans beguiles. Sleep, sleep, happy child! All creation slept and smiled. Sleep, sleep, happy sleep, While o'er thee thy mother weep. Sweet babe, in thy face Holy image I can trace; Sweet babe, once like thee Thy Maker lay, and wept for me: Wept for me, for thee, for all, When He was an infant small. Thou His image ever see, Heavenly face that smiles on thee! Smiles on thee, on me, on all, Who became an infant small; Infant smiles are His own smiles; Heaven and earth to peace beguiles.

SKU: A0.1132080

An original setting, for SSABar choir and piano by Philip Le Bas, of Quiet Peace by Amy Carmichael (1867-1951), who worked as a Christian missionary among the poorest of the poor in India in the first half of the twentieth century. The poem is in the form of a prayer, and the music here has been been kept deliberately simple to perform, so that it canbe sung by a typical church choir. The piano here provides a constantly flowing ritornello throughout the verses, while the voices weave around it in a gentle wave of prayerful reflection. The poet feels an interior quiet peace while all around her there are storms and disquiet, because she knows that her Lord hears her voice. The setting is deliberately simple and undemanding, and it should be sung quietly, meditatively and without rushing. O Lord my heart is all a prayer, But it is silent unto thee; I am too tired to look for words, I rest upon thy sympathy To understand when I am dumb; And well I know thou hearest me. I know thou hearest me because A quiet peace comes down to me, And fills the places where before Weak thoughts were wandering wearily; And deep within me it is calm, Though waves are tossing outwardly. Amy Carmichael (1867-1951).

SKU: A0.818158

Setting of Isaiah 60:1-6 by Philip Le Bas for unaccompanied SATB choir. Particularly suitable for the feast of Epiphany.

SKU: A0.818187

An anthem composed by Philip le Bas especially suitable for church choirs during Lent (or Advent) and Holy Week. It might also be particularly suitable for Remembrance services.

The Jacobean poet Phineas Fletcher’s passionate prayer of repentance is here set to music for SATB choir and organ. In a series of pulsating descending scales the author’s words express heartfelt remorse for his sins, reflecting the story of Jesus and the weeping woman in Luke 7:36ff. This is real, deep sorrow and regret, looking to the Prince of Peace for forgiveness: at one poignant moment the music reaches a point of stillness as the slow tears continue to fall.

The weeping then turns to anger, crying for vengeance, because sin doth never cease. The music rises to an intense climax, but suddenly vanishes; the anger is, after all, self-directed. Finally the text returns to a prayer of supplication to drown all my faults and fears, and the harmonies end with a hope-filled hint of future healing.

Drop, drop, slow tears,
and bathe those beauteous feet,
which brought from heaven
the news and Prince of Peace.

Cease not, wet eyes,
his mercies to entreat;
to cry for vengeance,
sin doth never cease.

In your deep floods,
drown all my faults and fears;
nor let his eye see sin,
but through my tears.

 Phineas Fletcher (1623)

The composer acknowledges with gratitude the ideas and help received from the Composition Workshop of Morley College during the Spring term of 2021, and particularly from its tutor Dr Paul Sarcich.

SKU: A0.818165

Russian Dreams for solo piano by Philip Le Bas, 2018

 This 4-minute stand-alone piano piece has a very definite Russian flavour! It begins in a reflective, romantic manner, building layer upon layer of drifting ideas, leading to a brief falling theme which gradually fades away. A much more dramatic kind of dream then emerges, requiring some virtuoso piano technique, running helter-skelter through images of Cossack dance, becoming wilder and more and more out of control, until it finally runs itself out. The original theme then returns with the addition of a sort left-over turbulence, which gradually dissolves into a peaceful ending.

SKU: A0.1126955

A new composition by Philip Le Bas entitled Oshidori, a Japanese ghost story recorded by Lafcadio Hearn (Koizumi Yakumo) in 1904 as part of his book “Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things�, a collection that has been highly influential in expressing popular Japanese culture over the past century. The composition presented here forms part of a melodrama, telling the story with the help of incidental music for piano solo. The composition resulted from a challenge to composition students at Morley College in 2019, and the composer has interpreted the brief as an opportunity to express not only the principal events of the story, but also to give a sense of the thoughts and feelings of the characters involved (a hunter called Sonjo and two mandarin ducks, called oshidori.) Each section has a short synopsis within the score.