African Sanctus (Vocal Score) (FANSHAWE DAVID)

Novello New Choral Series-A Gaelic Blessing is a simple and catchy piece by Craig McLeish. This piece will be particularly useful for school junior and community choirs and a tuneful introduction to singing simple contrapuntal lines.The second soprano part repeats the tune at bar 33 and should dominate here; the first sopranos and altos should support appropriately. Ease and beauty of tone should be of paramount importance throughout.An inspiring selection of new works from a range of contemporary composers the Novello New Choral Series offers pieces for all types of choirs including sacred and secular works from simple four-part settings to moreexpansive yet accessible repertoire in an exciting variety of styles.Craig McLeish began his musical life as a chorister at St Paul’s Cathedral under Barry Rose. He began composing at the age of ten and his preces and responses for four trebles are still in the repertoire. After a degree at York University he returned to London to study at the Guildhall and sang again at St Paul’s as a tenor. At the time he also arranged and copied music for West End shows such as Les Miserables and Miss Saigon and played bass guitar for various groups. This led to a spell in the cult pop band ‘Fat & Frantic’ who shaved the top 100 twice with the whimsical anthem Last night my wife hoovered my head. He also worked as musical assistant for David Heneker (Half a Sixpence) and David Fanshawe (African Sanctus).In 1992 Craig became director of the Methodist Association of Youth Clubs Orchestra and Singers performing concerts throughout the UK and becoming involved in a number of recordings and BBC broadcasts. During this time he arranged more than 250 orchestral scores ranging from Queen to Calamity Jane Stravinsky and Stevie Wonder. Alongside this he began arranging and writing songs for children’s collections (Big Blue Planet Love Shone Down) and producing recordings and string arrangements for various artists (Sheila Walsh

Ron Kean's Kyrie and Agnus Dei have led the way for this Sanctus setting. Dr. Kean has cleverly intertwined a new Sanctus melody (that is beautifully lamenting) with the African American Spiritual Swing Low Sweet Chariot. Selected for the ACDA NY reading session this stirring rendering contains the well-crafted vocal lines for which Dr. Kean has become famous. Excellent for church or school.