Herbert Howells: A Collection Of Songs: Voice: Vocal Album

The works of composer Herbert Howells have long been staples of Anglican church services worldwide, with a number of his compositions hailed as some of the finest of the 20th century. This Collection Of Songs For Voice And Piano is a perfect opportunity to further explore more of Howells' sublime works.These songs are indicative of Herbert Howells' incomparable talent, expressing his unique ability to create entire landscapes and worlds through sound and music. Furthermore, the Herbert Howells sheet music is a joy to perform for musicians of all levels, whether professional, amateur or a beginner, there is something for everyone in the Collection Of Songs. The musicality of these expertly-composed pieces is simply a joy to hear, and audiences will continue to be impressed by the inventiveness and technique of each song. / Voix Et Piano

Taking a text from As You Like It for its lyrics Under The Greenwood Tree (Op.24 No.1) was written in 1917 by Herbert Howells. It is the first in a collection of 3 songs all of which are settings of poems from plays by Shakespeare. It is scored for two Voice parts (either soloists or choruses) with Piano accompaniment and dedicated to Brian.Herbert Howells (1892-1983) was an English composer and teacher who is perhaps best known for his choral music in the Anglican tradition.

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