Ralph Vaughan Williams: Five Mystical Songs: 1. The Call (Excerpt)

The Vocal Score for Ralph Vaughan Williams: Five Mystical Songs. A lovely set of evocative and beautifully haunting songs with words by George Herbert. For Baritone Solo Full SATB Choir and Piano accompaniment.

Par VAUGHAN WILLIAMS RALPH. In his Prelude ? The Truth from Above, outstanding arranger and curator Paul Hindmarsh has distilled the essence of a timeless Christmas classic by Ralph Vaughan Williams into five minutes of ravishingly unforgettable music for brass band. The variants of the Herefordshire tune popular from the Fantasia on Christmas Carols and The Oxford Book of Carols are skilfully and stylishly woven together, from an evocative opening to an ecstatic, multi-layered coda. Unerringly true to the timeless spirit of the original, with the added beauty of the brass-band sound at its most sonorously grave and haunting, Prelude ? The Truth from Above may be performed separately, or as the first of two preludes, preceding Paul?s arrangement of Rhosymedre from the Three Preludes Founded on Welsh Hymn Tunes, also available from Stainer

Paperback-Vaughan Williams fist encountered the old English folk song Dives and Lazarus when he was 21 and here presents five variants that are in his own words 'not exact replicas of traditional tunes but rather reminiscences of various versions in my own collection and those of others'. The work was premiered in Carnegie Hall as part of the 1939 New York World's Fair and is a wonderful example of the sumptuous string textures and modal tonalities that have become the composer's trademarks.

Paperback-Vaughan Williams fist encountered the old English folk song Dives and Lazarus when he was 21 and here presents five variants that are in his own words 'not exact replicas of traditional tunes but rather reminiscences of various versions in my own collection and those of others'.The work was premiered in Carnegie Hall as part of the 1939 New York World's Fair and is a wonderful example of the sumptuous string textures and modal tonalities that have become the composer's trademarks.

Paperback-Vaughan Williams fist encountered the old English folk song Dives and Lazarus when he was 21 and here presents five variants that are in his own words 'not exact replicas of traditional tunes but rather reminiscences of various versions in my own collection and those of others'.The work was premiered in Carnegie Hall as part of the 1939 New York World's Fair and is a wonderful example of the sumptuous string textures and modal tonalities that have become the composer's trademarks.

Paperback-Vaughan Williams fist encountered the old English folk song Dives and Lazarus when he was 21 and here presents five variants that are in his own words 'not exact replicas of traditional tunes but rather reminiscences of various versions in my own collection and those of others'.The work was premiered in Carnegie Hall as part of the 1939 New York World's Fair and is a wonderful example of the sumptuous string textures and modal tonalities that have become the composer's trademarks.

Originally composed for and dedicated to Henry J. Wood on the occasion of his Jubilee in grateful recognition of his services to music by Vaughan Williams. This charming serenade is set to the words from Act five scene one of Shakespeare's The Merchant Of Venice. It may be sung with four soloists - SATB with Chorus or all the solo parts may be sung in chorus.

Par VAUGHAN WILLIAMS RALPH. On his return to civilian life after five years Army service in the First World War, Vaughan Williams revised some pre-war works, such as The Lark Ascending and his opera Hugh the Drover , and embarked on new compositions - the Pastoral Symphony , the one-act Bunyan episode The Shepherds of the Delectable Mountains and the Mass in G minor - all of which have outwardly in common a serene tranquillity. But beneath the surface, especially of the symphony, is a requiem-like mood, a legacy of the war. This ambiguity can also be sensed in the three songs -or rondels - for voice and string trio which he called Merciless Beauty. The texts are attributed to Chaucer./ Répertoire / Chant et Piano

A Hymne To God My God is a composition by renowned composer Michael Ball arranged for quadruple SATB choir as an a cappella performance. The piece is a setting of texts by English poet John Donne and it was commissioned in 1984 by the BBC for the 30th anniversary of the BBC Northern Singers.   This wonderful work includes a wealth of lush harmonies created by the sizeable sixteen voices. The solid interplay of 4 different bass melodies lay an immense foundation for the 8 different soprano and alto voices lending an exquisite weight to the lyrical beauty of Donne's poetry. A joy to sing this unique a cappella piece is sureto be the highlight of any performance.    Composer Michael Ball was a Ralph Vaughan Williams Trust Scholar at the Royal College of Music and in 1970 he was one of four students selected to take part in master classes with Nadia Boulanger. A prolific composer Ball's works have been played and broadcast internationally and he has received numerous commissions including five from the BBC.    

Even for Ralph Vaughan Williams the prospect of two world premieres within 24 hours must have been something of a rarity. Such was the case however on the first two days of June 1953 when his now classic arrangement of The Old Hundredth Psalm was sung at the Coronation of Elizabeth II in Westminster Abbey being preceded the evening before by the premiere of 'Silence and Music' fourth of ten partsongs of A Garland for the Queen commissioned from leading British composers by the Arts Council of Great Britain to honour the new monarch.Long unavailable except as separate items from individual publishers this historic collectionis now reissued complete by Stainer & Bell in its original single-volume format allowing conductors and singers to choose from a rich collection of choral music with which to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and in 2013 the 60th anniversary of the Coronation itself.In addition to VW's contribution A Garland for the Queen includes important settings by Bax Berkeley Bliss Finzi Howells Ireland Rawsthorne Rubbra and Tippett. The collection moreover draws on the work of poets whose names likewise feature prominently in the annals of mid-century British literary talent: Clifford Bax Edmund Blunden Paul Dehn Christopher Fry Christopher Hassall James Kirkup Louis MacNeice Walter de la Mare Henry Reed and Ursula Wood.Intended as a counterpart to The Triumphs of Oriana of 1601 the celebrated madrigal volume published in praise of Elizabeth I by Thomas Morley A Garland for the Queen emulates its distinguished predecessor in its variety of moods and vocal combinations. There is material here to fit every aspect of celebration from the airy five-part ensemble of Bax's 'What is it like to be young and fair?' and the soprano solo with SATB of Rawsthorne's Canzonet to the lustrous contrasting of male and female timbres in Bliss's Aubade and the rapturous eight-part setting of

The Piano Quintet in C is a substantial and superbly written work lasting some 30 minutes. The first movement marked Allegro con fuoco is expansive loquacious and filled with late romantic passion its harmonies Brahmsian for the most part but tinged with modality in the quieter passages. The expressive romantic melody of the Andante second movement is fully characteristic of the composer and resembles the song Silent Noon that he composed in the same year. The finale is a set of five well-differentiated variations ending with a beautiful bell-like coda. This work was written in 1903.

This engaging work was composed in 1929 and premiered the following year by its dedicatee the legendary Spanish cellist Pablo Casals. The five folk songs on which the work is founded are 'Salisbury Plain' 'The Long Whip' 'Low down in the broom' 'Bristol Town' and 'I've been to France'. This arrangement for solo Viola and Orchestra is compatible with the original Orchestral accompaniment materials for which are available on hire.