Tarik O'Regan: Threshold Of Night: SATB: Vocal Score

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)

Threshold of Night (a setting one of Kathleen Raine's Three Poems of Incarnation) was commissioned by St John's College, Cambridge and was premièred under the direction of David Hill in the College chapel on 25th November 2006. Written for Advent, the work aims to highlight the yearning that all societies have, in their time of need, for guidance from beyond their community. By coincidence, however, this composition was completed on the eve of 29th August 2006, one year after Hurricane Katrina, one of the deadliest in the history of the United States, made landfall in Louisiana. Looking at Raine's words in this context ('Go back, my child, to the rain and storm', 'I will not go back for sorrow or pain'), the poem can be seen to echo the conflicted and anguished thoughts of displaced New Orleanians. The original Advent sense ofdesired guidance takes on a specific, if unintentional, significance with regards to the tragic outcome of that hurricane - this is emphasized by the bluesinflectedharmonies found throughout Threshold of Night . / SATB