Partitions de Stainer and Bell

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/ Recueil / Voix Mixtes

Par BROWN CHRISTINE. Score and Parts Standard: Elementary Christine Brown is a highly respected teacher and composer for young people, and in her Chandos Suite for violin, cello and piano she marries her wealth of practical experience in coaching elementary players in the art of chamber music with her distinctively tuneful way of writing for the three instruments. A wistful Prelude precedes a mysterious scherzo of plucked and bowed whole-tone scales. A Serenade gives all the players a chance to shine in cantabile melody before the pulsating rhythms of the final Dance bring the suite to a brilliant conclusion. The Chandos Suite is a worthy addition to Stainer &Bell's collection of classic piano trios for young musicians, including popular works by Frank Bridge, Adam Carse, Cornelius Gurlitt and Peter Martin./ Répertoire / Trio avec Piano

Par COCKER NORMAN. Angelus; Trio; Interlude and Paean The reissue of four pieces by Norman Cocker, celebrated organist of Manchester Cathedral in the inter-war period, further extends Stainer & Bell's library of English Cathedral music that also includes the complete solo works of Basil Harwood and pieces by Darke, Hollins and Bairstow. Detailed registrations by Henry Ley, himself a noted performer and Music Director of Eton College from 1926 to 1945, are of historical interest. Angelus, Trio and Interlude offer episodes of quiet reflection. Paean breaks the mood with flowing, euphonious counterpoint in ceremonial style./ Recueil / Orgue

Par VAUGHAN WILLIAMS RALPH. In the 50th anniversary year of the death of Ralph Vaughan Williams, this highly attractive arrangement for piano of one of his most popular works will surely find its way into the repertoire of many pianists. Treasured by organists, but no less admired in its orchestral arrangement often heard on Classic FM, this delightful prelude on the Welsh hymn tune known as Rhosymedre is a perfect union of the style of Bach and RVW. No less aptly known by the name of ‘Lovely’, the tune appears in the manner of a choral prelude, which Bryan Kelly has skilfully re-crafted for piano solo. Of intermediate difficulty, and well within the range of players of Grade 5 standard orabove, this new version of the piece also complements the arrangement for piano duet by Reginald Hadfield, already available in Stainer & Bell’s Easy Festival Duet series./ Répertoire / Piano

Publication of the complete English sacred music of George Jeffreys (c.1610–1685) opens a window on the achievement of one of the few pre-Commonwealth composers wholeheartedly committed to the contemporary Italianate stile nuovo. Besides a quantity of sacred works in Latin, there are 26 surviving English anthems and devotional pieces, plus three settings from the Communion Service, an impressive output for someone employed for most of his life primarily as a steward to the Hatton family. Though only one of his works was published in his lifetime, Jeffreys’s compositions are preserved in several autograph manuscripts that are the basis of this edition. / Historique / Stainer And Bell

Three movements for solo cornet in B flat. Ar y Mynydd Prydferth Cymreig (On The Beautiful Welsh Mountain) is a colourful, programmatic piece in three short movements, depicting scenes of Welsh mountains, valleys, caves and a hero, armed only with his trusty cornet, encounters a legendary red dragon. Ar y Mynydd Prydferth Cymreig was highly commended by the judges in the first Stainer & Bell Award for Brass Composition, held at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama in Cardiff in May 2010./ Recueil / Cornet

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 and Bell. / Date parution : 2021-11-03/ Répertoire / Brass Band

Par SIMPER CALEB. SATB and organ Caleb Simper (1857-1942) was for many years amongst the most performed of living composers by virtue of his anthems and services, which were 'sung throughout the civilised world'. To complement his ever popular voluntaries for the church year (still available from Stainer and Bell), five of his anthems are here reissued in a new edition by Simper's biographer, Christopher Turner. Material for the Advent, Christmas, Easter, Whitsun and Harvest festivals, dedications and general use is included. Easy and enjoyable to sing, the music should win new admirers for the work of this eminent musical Victorian. The anthems included are: He shall reign forever ; I will feed my flock ; If we believe that Jesus died ; O how amiable ; The Lord is in his holy temple./ Recueil / SATB et Orgue

Par CARTER SYDNEY. 17 songs with piano or guitar accompaniment. CONTENTS All alone and all together (D - B); Bell of creation (A - C); Better take a book to bed (C - C) Bitter was the night (C - E flat); Down below (B flat - E flat); Feeling sad and lonely (C - B) Friday morning (C sharp - E); Good literature (B - B); I want to have a little bomb like you (C - C) Lord of the Dance (D - D); Middle-aged, middle-class, mediocre (G - C) Mixed up old man (D - D); My last cigarette (C - E); Never can tell (A - D); Present tense (B - B); The Rat race (B - B); Silver in the stubble (B - D)/ Recueil / Voix et Piano ou Guitare