John Jacob Niles: Christmas Songs and Carols

This collection includes new arrangements for voice and piano of six songs originally published in Ten Christmas Carols from the Southern Appalachian Mountains collected by John Jacob Niles as well as familiar classicscomposed by Niles. The recorded performances will help all become familiar with these new settings. All selections are appropriate for student singers as well as more experienced singers for use in Christmas services. Contents:The Carol of the Birds ? The Cherry Tree ? Down in yon forest ? The Flower of Jesse ? I wonder as I wander ? Jesus Jesus rest your head ? Jesus the Christ is born ? Lulle Lullay ? SeeJesus the Saviour ? The Seven Joys of Mary ? Sweet little boy Jesus ? What Songs Were Sung.

Noël 2 is an exciting collection of Advent, Christmas and Epiphany music for mixed voice choirs, which follows on from the highly acclaimed Noël! Volume 1 (Catalogue No. NOV310800). The contents range from the Renaissance to the present: from Byrd and Sweelinck, via Bach, familiar settings of traditional and lesser known carols through the ages to Howells and Leighton, and work by today's composers including Richard Rodney Bennett, Eric Whitacre, John Tavener Tarik O'Regan and Richard Allain. Mixed voice choirs of all levels will find here new arrangements of favourite carols as well as stimulating works for the Christmas season, from the easy to learn to the more challenging and unconventional. Selected and edited by David Hill, Choral Advisor to Novello, Chief Conductor of the BBC singers, Musical Director of The Bach Choir, Chief Conductor of The Southern Sinfonia and Music Director of Leeds Philharmonic Society. He was awarded an honorary Doctorate by the University of Southampton in 2002 in recognition of his Services to Music. 'Noël was a welcome addition to the Christmas list for decent standard choirs - Noël 2 adds even more to the repertoire in a handy volume... The main enticements are some fantastic new arrangements of old favourites, a number of works previously only available in single sheets (Whitacre's Lux Arumque among others) and some fantastic new surprises. Adrian Peacock's Venite, Gaudete is a wonderfully original and vibrant setting, Richard Rodney Bennet's I Wonder as I Wander is both reflective and effective, and there are plenty more. Some of the pieces here will challenge your choir, but there's a vast amount to get the Christmas inspiration flowing. ' - Jonathan Wikeley, Music Teacher November 2009 '?an outstanding resource for Advent, Christmas and Epiphany ' Andrew Stewart, Choir and amp - Organ November/December 2010 Noel! 2 Interview With David Hill by Musicroom / Choeur SATB Et Orgue (Ou Piano)

Both a dedicated carol singer and an authority on the history of English music Nicholas Temperley here offers a unique book of 37 carols dating from the fifteenth century to the present.For over fifty years he has sung edited and composed carols each Christmas and in Christmas is Coming the fruit of his enthusiasm is combined with his wealth of knowledge to produce an outstanding and original new collection. As John Rutter observes in his Foreword the book does not pointlessly duplicate what can be found in many other carol books but has a personality and purpose of its own.Twenty-two fresh and practical arrangements include carols from Austria France Germany Mexico Poland and the USA alongside music both rare and familiar from the rich heritage of the English carol tradition. As well as eight of his personal favourites from J. S. Bach to Charles Ives the author includes seven new compositions of his own settings of medieval and traditional texts that reveal his skill as a choral composer whose command of style ranges from the humorous to the profound.In addition to sample programmes and translations there are invaluable notes on the performance and history of individual items plus an historical summary of the genre as a whole: everything in fact to make Christmas is Coming an indispensable companion for singers who wish to enrich the seasonal repertoire for concerts churches and traditional Yuletide carolling.

For the fairly advanced group a Christmas lullabyA single soprano voice sings over the accompaniment of the chorus an ideal concert piece