Nico Muhly

Nico Muhly's Magnificat and Nunc dimittis was written for the choirs of Clare College and Girton College Cambridge. This work was first performed in a provisional version in 2004 by the choir of Girton College conducted by Judith Clurman. The final version was first performed by the choir of Clare College conducted by Tim Brown on 16 February 2005 as part of the BBC Radio 3 evensong broadcast. With thanks to James McVinnie for his assistance in editing the Organ part. A review in the September 2015 issue of Sunday by Sunday for the Royal School of Church Music said that this piece 'is difficult but sung by a good choir withprecision and commitment...would delight an evensong congregation.'

Nico Muhly's Marrow composed for SATB choir unaccompanied with texts from Psalm 63 vv.1–3 6–8 Book of Common Prayer (1662). Commissioned by the Netherlands Chamber Choir for the project 150 Psalms to be premiered by the Tallis Scholars during Utrecht Early Music Festival September 1st 2017. Duration: c. 3 minutes. 'Last September in one weekend in Utrecht settings were sung of all 150 Psalms by 150 different composers covering 1000 years of choral music. The Tallis Scholars were one of the four choirs taking part and among their contributions was this new piece by Nico Muhly. The words are from the Book ofCommon Prayer version of Psalm 63 with the title teasingly taking one word from ‘My soul shall be satisfied even as it were with marrow and fatness.’ Cries of ‘O God’ provide a fluid background to an almost plainchant-like proclamation of the text at start and finish with other voices gradually joining the psalm text in the central section until all unite on ‘when my mouth praiseth thee with joyful lips’. For a choir happy to subdivide into 4S 2A 2T and 2B it is a setting of imagination and beauty.' - Sunday by Sunday

Lord Heare My Prayer Instantly is a composition by renowned contemporary composer Nico Muhly that was first performed on the 13th of December 2014 in the All Souls Episcopal Parish Church in Berkeley California. The piece lasts around 4 minutes and is arranged for unaccompanied SATB divisi chorus. This beautiful piece is a setting of an anonymous metrical version of Psalm 102:1-2 in which the speaker begs God to listen and hear his pleas. This work was first performed by The International Orange Chorus of San Francisco conducted by Zane Fiala in honour of their tenth anniversary. 

Vocal Score-Nico Muhly's Let All The World In Every Corner Sing for SATB chorus Cello and Organ. Vocal Score.Let All The World In Every Corner Sing was commissioned by Graham Ross and the Choir of Clare College Cambridge and first performed on 27 May 2014 by them with Peter Harrison Organ and Benjamin Michaels Cello.Rebecca Tavener in the March 2015 issue of Organist's Review states that Muhly 'has done more than merely set the text...it is an intriguing fresh response.'

Judith Clurman Choral Series-In the Jewish tradition the Song of Songs is associated with love and the coming of spring. This setting is a powerful example of the highly sensual and passionate love poetry. It has long been interpreted by both the Jewish and Christian traditions as an extended allegory for the relationship between God and God's people as well as between two people in love.

Whispered And Revealed is a setting of H. W. Longfellow's 'Snow-Flakes' by composer Nico Muhly. It is arranged for SATB Choir and Harp and this is the full score. The piece lasts approximately 3 and a half minutes. Nico Muhly himself states that the music of Whispered And Revealed reflects the delicacy of winter weather while the text and music hint at a certain anxiety. The piece was commissioned by Essential Voices USA and is dedicated to their conductor Judy Clurman and was composed in 2014.

Nico Muhly's All Our Works for unaccompanied SATB Choir.This piece incorporates words by Thomas Cranmer. It was commissioned by The Cardinall's Musick for their 25th Anniversary in 2014 with the support oftheir friends. The first performance took place on 26 July 2014 conducted by Andrew Carwood atWigmore Hall London.

Nico Muhly's In One Place for SATB chorus unaccompanied.This work incorporates words by John Donne paraphrasing Acts 2:1 Pentecost Antiphons.

Expecting The Main Things From You is a work by Nico Muhly for SATB Choir String Quartet Percussion and Organ. Commissioned by the Gabe Wiener Foundation and first performed in May 2005 at Central Synagogue New York U.S.A. the piece lasts around 24 minutes. These are the Instrumental Parts.

Muhly fell in love with Byrd’s setting of the Christmas words Senex Puerum Portabat as a chorister so much that the ‘fluidity of the lines the relentless lilting rhythm and the way Byrd both avoided and cradled the text’ that he was inspired to follow a life in music. Early in his career he set the same text in modern style. The first statement of the words is a capella with ecstatic brass entering in the restatement. The ancient Hodie Christus Natus Est follows on seamlessly in a new mood.Contemporary American composer Nico Muhly is a prolific writer and arranger who at 32 is the youngest composer ever to have been commissioned by the Metropolitan Operain New York. His oeuvre includes two operas and many solo pieces and works for small ensemble Orchestra and Chorus and he has collaborated widely.

Nico Muhly's Dominus Regnavit for SATB choir and Organ.This work was commissioned by the Master and Fellows of St John's College Cambridge supported by a generous donation from Paul and Joanna Lindsell. It was first performed on 24 May 2014 by the Choir of St John’s College Cambridge Andrew Nethsingha (conductor) and Edward Picton-Turbervill (organist).The Lord is King and hath put on glorious apparel : the Lord hath put on his apparel andgirded himself with strength.He hath made the round world so sure : that it cannot be moved.Ever since the world began hath thy seat been prepared : thou art from everlasting.The floods are risen O Lord the floods have lift up their voice : the floods lift up their waves.The waves of the sea are mighty and rage horribly : but yet the Lord who dwelleth on high ismightier.Thy testimonies O Lord are very sure : holiness becometh thine house for ever. - Dominus Regnavit Psalm 93 Book of Common Prayer

Version With Two Pianos and Percussion-Bright Mass With Canons by composer Nico Muhly was originally composed for SATB chorus and Organ Accompaniment but this arrangement features Two Pianos and Percussion. This is the set of Parts for this unique arrangement of a wonderful composition. This work was arranged by Buck McDaniel in 2014 and features an intriguing mix of percussive instruments like the Triangle Glockenspiel and Vibraphone together with the Two Pianos creating a wholly new piece that takes the original composition and transforms it with an entirely new sound and dynamic. The work is divided into four sections Kyrie Gloria Sanctus& Benedictus and Agnus Dei.

Nico Muhly's Looking Up for SATB and Orchestra. Programme note:Looking Up is a piece for large chorus and orchestra and is in three sections played without pause. In the 16th century a variety of psalters in meter were printed in England with the idea of making psalm-singing something that could happen easily at home with the rhyming meter being an aid to memorization. These translations are wonderful exercises in brevity and sometimes clumsy rhymemaking and were usually prefaced by a lengthy explanation as to their merits; the title of one of the first such volumes in English is: The Psalter of Dauid newely translated into Englysh metre in such sortthat it maye the more decently and wyth more delyte of the mynde be reade and songe of al men. I thought it would be appropriate to set one of these introductions and the first section of Looking Up sets the preface to Thomas Ravenscroft’s psalter (1621) in which he writes: “The singing of Psalmes (as say the Doctors) comforteth the sorrowfull pacifieth the angry strengtheneth the weake humbleth the proud gladdeth the humble stirres up the slow reconcileth enemies lifteth up the heart to heavenly things and uniteth the Creature to his Creator.” It begins meditatively but eventually grows agitated and fervent with a vision of the “quire of Angels and Saints” “redoubling and descanting” — an ecstatic and terrifying vision of the skies opening up. Ravenscroft then encourages the use of instrumental music for worship at which point a long acrobatic orchestral interlude with jagged edges antagonizes the choir who sing a kind of private anxious meditation on two pitches. One of the most delicious biblical texts is an Apocryphal prayer known as the Benedicite or the Prayer of the Three Children (the same who were rescued by an angel after King Nebuchadnezzar tried to have them burnt in an oven for not bowing to his image). The text is repetitive obsessive and a gift to composers

Johannis Cantabrigiense-Nico Muhly's Third Service (Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis) is a work for SATB Choir and Organ Accompaniment. Commissioned by the Master and Fellows of St John's College Cambridge it was first performed by St John's College Choir on 29th May 2016. A full performance lasts around 7.5 minutes. 'The American composer Nico Muhly has often spoken of his love of the early English church music which he sang as a choirboy and his recent choral works include a Third Service composed for St John's College Cambridge. (Given his love of music by Thomas Weelkes we can perhaps hope for at least six more.) This setting though has nothing to do with the early English repertoire and is in a bold modern idiom more akin to Tippett's famous setting for St. John's. The Organ plays a varied and independent role throughout sometimes with dynamics that are quite different to those in the voice parts. The Organ part is sometimes written on two staves without further comment and it's not entirely clear what is required between pages 3 and 4 where three staves become two. The vocal parts include some modest vocal effects and there are Soprano and Alto solos in the Nunc dmittis. The Gloria of the Nunc is a varied repeat of the Magnificat Gloria together with a subtly reworked conclusion to match the general mood of the movement. - Geoffrey Webber Choir & Organ Magazine 

The sheet music of Nico Muhly's work Recordare Domine for unaccompanied SATB (Soprano/Alto/Tenor/Bass) Chorus. Originally commissioned by The Tallis Scholars from the Lincoln Center of the Performing Arts and Lafayette College the composition had its world premiere on the 15th November 2013. The piece is a unique setting of a Bible verse from Lamentations and is as haunting as it is beautiful. Nico Muhly is a world-renowned contemporary composer who works in a dizzying number of genres. He has composed works for popular cinema Piano small ensemble Orchestra andChorus. This piece is for an unaccompanied four-part chorus consisting of a Soprano Alto Tenor and Bass and lasts about 5 minutes. Our Recordare Domine sheet music is the most accurate transcription available of this contemporary choral piece by versatile and virtuouso composer Nico Muhly.