Nico Muhly Choral Collection

This exclusive collection brings together 12 of Nico Muhly?s sacred works for mixed-voice choir. These vivacious fresh and dramatic pieces will make an impact whether in the church or in the concert hall and range from the intimate Lord keep us modest when we claim to the effervescent Bright Star Carol alongside service music such as Muhly?s Third Service. All are accessible to learn and offer choirs a new slant on contemporary choral music at its very best.  'Choral music has always been at the emotional core of my musical output. Even when I?m writing large-scale orchestral works (or indeed chamber music) I alwaysfind myself returning to techniques and textures I?ve greedily stolen from centuries of music from Tye to Howells early and recent. I try to design my own choral music primarily for use in worship where the measure of the success of the piece is if it helps guide the listeners? ears upwards and elsewhere as sacred architecture and the various rituals of the church themselves are meant to do. The specificity of music heard only in certain seasons is for me an important and thrilling element of the choral tradition: a Beethoven Symphony is welcome at any point in the year but an anthem for Candlemas works only then at a certain time of day and on a certain day of the year. With this functional spirit at the heart of the compositional process I hope that the music collected here makes equal sense in a concert setting. These works range from ordinaries of the mass to hymns to motets and represent a decade and a half of output.' - Nico Muhly

Viola da Gamba Part for Nico Muhly's Malmesbury Motets.   Commissioned for the choir of Malmesbury Abbey Wiltshire by Revd Canon Neill Archer (vicar) and Dr Annie Davis (Lay Precentor). First performed on 26 & 27 November 2016 at the Advent Carol Services at Malmesbury Abbey by the Abbey Choir directed by John Hughes and Rebecca Saunders.   Duration approximately: 8 minutes.   '...one hopes there are enough good (Gamba) players available to take on the challenge so that Muhly's imaginative collection can be widely appreciated'. Choir & Organ  December 2017

Today's Choral Classics is a special collection of pieces from the most exciting talents in choral composition today. From the church to the concert hall it is the perfect volume for choruses seeking a contemporary choral repertoire rich in accessible modern arrangements in a variety of styles. Featuring Paul Mealor's Wherever You Are a Christmas No. 1 for The Military Wives choir and Ubi Caritas his specially commissioned piece for the royal wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge; serene miniatures by John Tavener and Eric Whitacre; simple gems by Richard Rodney Bennett and Richard Blackford; and more substantialworks by Judith Weir James Whitbourn Tarik O'Regan and Nico Muhly; choirs of all styles sizes and abilities will discover a wealth of variety of inspiring pieces to delight singers and audiences alike. Today's Choral Classics is a fantastic addition to any music library or choral resource and provides a solid and accessible basis for any contemporary choral concert programme.