Vaughan Williams created this setting of Burnsâ?? later version of Caâ?? The Yowes with its original tune in 1922. This is a particularly atmospheric setting profiling lyrical solo male voices againstvery rich harmonies and varying this between the verses of the song. The Scottish folk song is arranged for Tenor solo and chorus of mixed voices with Piano accompaniment.Ralph Vaughan Williams was an Englishcomposer of symphonies chamber music opera choral music and film scores; as well as a collector of English folk music and song. He was one of the leading figures of the 20th century revival of English music and believed thatrestoring English music could only happen by studying and employing native resources rather than looking at foreign models. Today Williams is largely remembered for his â??musical nationalismâ?? although a greatercomplexity is attributed to it than in former times.

Both a dedicated carol singer and an authority on the history of English music Nicholas Temperley here offers a unique book of 37 carols dating from the fifteenth century to the present.For over fifty years he has sung edited and composed carols each Christmas and in Christmas is Coming the fruit of his enthusiasm is combined with his wealth of knowledge to produce an outstanding and original new collection. As John Rutter observes in his Foreword the book does not pointlessly duplicate what can be found in many other carol books but has a personality and purpose of its own.Twenty-two fresh and practical arrangements include carols from Austria France Germany Mexico Poland and the USA alongside music both rare and familiar from the rich heritage of the English carol tradition. As well as eight of his personal favourites from J. S. Bach to Charles Ives the author includes seven new compositions of his own settings of medieval and traditional texts that reveal his skill as a choral composer whose command of style ranges from the humorous to the profound.In addition to sample programmes and translations there are invaluable notes on the performance and history of individual items plus an historical summary of the genre as a whole: everything in fact to make Christmas is Coming an indispensable companion for singers who wish to enrich the seasonal repertoire for concerts churches and traditional Yuletide carolling.

Les Troyens - The Trojans: Opera in 5 Acts Berlioz composed Les Troyens towards the end of his life drawing on Virgil?s epic poem The Aeneid which he had admired since his childhood. In his Memoirs he recounts how his father a country doctor read Virgil to him and how the story of Dido?s tragic fate reduced him to tears which he tried hard to conceal. The score was finished in April 1858 but he was unable to persuade the Paris Opera to mount it (his earlier opera Benvenuto Cellini had been a failure there in 1838) and eventually he agreed to allow the last three acts to be performed under the title Les Troyens à Carthage. This took placeat the Théâtre-lyrique an enterprising but ill-equipped theatre in November 1863 and although it was much admired there were no more performances before Berlioz?s death in 1869. In the history of French music Les Troyens stand out as a grand opera that avoided the shallow glamour of Meyerbeer and Halévy but therefore paid the price of long neglect. In our own time the opera has finally come to be seen as one of the greatest operas of the 19th century. Urtext of the New Berlioz Edition Full score (BA5442) and vocal score (BA5442-90) available for sale Performance material (BA5442-72) available for hire

Reynaldo Hahn’s Songs And Madrigals for three- and four-part choir. The time machine has no secrets for Reynaldo Hahn (1874-1947). After plunging his contemporaries into the delights of Renaissance revelry with the ‘Bal De Béatrice D'Este’ the composer continued to explore the past with a tribute in 1907 to Rameau (in the final drumroll of the ‘Sonatine’ for Piano). He also published Songs And Madrigals composed on a selection of texts written by famous 15th and 16th century poets: Charles d’Orléans Jean-Antoine de Baïf and Agrippa d’Aubigné.Composed for three- and four-part choir (with optional Piano accompaniment duplicating the Vocals) these six Songs And Madrigals radiate a powerful charm that preserves them from affectation: Un Loyal Coeur envelops the listener in the polyphonic latticework of an enchanting melancholy while Vivons Mignarde borrows rhythmically from Lully to exalt the 'sweet life' that Coralie's lips promise to make even more voluptuous. With its seductive melody and expressive delays Pleurez Avec Moi! bestows heartrending accents upon the sighs of a desolate soul. En Vous Disant Adieu Comment Se Peut-il Faire Ainsi and Les Fourriers D'Eté round off this collection of deliberately archaic songs that exhale an irresistible freshness.

Jenkyns’s songs for children can best be described as art songs for the youngest singers. Their ranges and technical requirements are just right for the younger age groups and their lyrics as in The Bats are perfectly gauged for their performers.Peter Jenkyns was a 20th century British composer singer and educator who wrote a series of songs for primary-aged children sensitively arranged and with charming lyrics of his own creation. Jenkyns was the headmaster of two primary schools outside of London for whose choirs he composed songs for the St Albans’ Schools Music Festival. He was also a highly-regarded Gilbert and Sullivan patter-song singer and he founded a localGilbert & Sullivan society which is still thriving.

The ?Te Deum? (H 146) is unquestionably the best known composition of Marc-Antoine Charpentier (1643?1704) especially since its ? Prélude en rondeau ? was made the Eurovision signature tune. Although Charpentier set the ?Te Deum? altogether four times this is his only setting employing a ?military band? i.e. trumpets and kettledrums.This brilliant and magnificent piece was frequently played at victory celebrations and other occasions of public jubilation during the 17th century. Even today it is still ideal for festive church services and concerts.The present editionstands at the forefront of scholarship and provides a complete newly edited Urtext of Charpentier?s masterpiece.- Full score performance material (BA7593) and vocal score (BA7593-90) available for sale