Music played an enormous role in the works of William Shakespeare, while his own sonnets, poems and soliloquies have provided continuing inspiration for many composers through the years. The Novello Shakespeare Choral Collection, inspired by the 400th anniversary of the Bard's death in 2016, is an exciting anthology of choral works that are settings of Shakespeare's words. For choirs of all types …

Par WEIR JUDITH. This suite for chorus and string orchestra was commissioned by the Addison Singers, London, and dedicated to their conductor David Wordsworth. It is a setting of texts by three American poets - E E Cummings (O Sweet Spontaneous), William Carlos Williams (Peace on Earth) and Emily Dickinson (I reason, Earth is short ) - each reflecting on the Earth and mankind’s experience of livin…