Howells Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis Collegium Sancti Johannis Satb/Org

Herbert Howells is a giant of 20th century Anglican church music the remainder of whose oeuvre is in the process of gaining new appreciation. Over the course of his compositional life he created many settings for the Magnificat and the Nunc Dimittis. Howells made a practice of writing his settings for these texts and completed services specifically for the church buildings or cathedrals in which they were to be performed. In this way he wrote works for the cathedrals of St Paul’s Worcester and Gloucester as well as Westminster Abbey King’s College -- Cambridge New College -- Oxford and St John’s College --Cambridge among others. This setting was written for Francis Jacksonand the Choir of York Minster in 1973.

Herbert Howells’ Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis (Collegium Regale) for SATB and Organ accompaniment is a vibrant sacred work with beautiful voicings and a wonderful effervescence. This is rich and colourful church music with integrity he has successfully brought together Tudor church music and merged it with modern harmony and counterpoint. It is this best-of-both-world’s feature that makes Howell’s version of the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis a pleasing one and it is dedicated to King's College Cambridge.

St Peter In Westminster-Herbert Howells is a giant of 20th century Anglican church music the remainder of whose oeuvre is in the process of gaining new appreciation. Over the course of his compositional life he created many settings for the Magnificat and the Nunc Dimittis. Howells made a practice of writing his settings for these texts and completed twenty services generally specifically for the church buildings or cathedrals in which they were to be performed. In this way he wrote works for the cathedrals of St Paul’s Worcester and Gloucester as well as York Minster King’s College Cambridge New College Oxford and St John’s College Cambridge among others. This setting was written forWestminster Abbey in 1957.

Herbert Howells' Magnificat And Nunc Dimittis written for the choir of Worcester Cathedral in August 1951. Scored for SATB Choir and Organ Accompaniment.

Herbert Sumsion (1899-1995) was a highly skilled organist and conductor who began his musical life as a chorister under Brewer at Gloucester. After Brewer’s death he returned as organist to Gloucester and spent nearly 40 years there. Through the Three Choirs Festival he built close and fruitful relationships with composers such as Elgar Vaughan Williams Holst Finzi and Howells. As one would expect from a cathedral musician of such standing Sumsion’s contribution to the Anglican repertoire was immense. While not as well-known as his Full-Choir setting his arrangement of the Magnificat And Nunc Dimittis In G for Boy’s Voicesis a valuable addition to any choir’s library. It is scored for two Soprano or Treble parts with an Organ accompaniment although the second voice part is optional.

Sing, Choirs! is a library in miniature. It contains many of the Christian church's popular traditional anthems, including at least one example that will be suitable for each of the major services of the year. A number of Anglican chants (Psalms, Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis) are included, set out in a way that should enable those who are unfamiliar with the style to perform them easily. The selection of movements from the Mass can be used to enrich the music of the liturgy in services. Many of the works in Sing, Choirs! are presented in their original form, such as Bruckner's Locus Iste and Mozart's Laudate Dominum . Others are arrangements, adaptations or longer pieces, abridged to bring them into the scope of a useable anthem, including choral arrangements of Handel's Largo , the Ave Marias by Schubert and by Bach and Gounod, and Franck's Panis Angelicus amongst many others. This collection has practicability as a priority. The Organ parts can be played on either the Piano or the Keyboard. Much of the music in Sing, Choirs! will be suitable for special occasions, making this an indispensable volume for choirs singing at weekly church services, weddings, funerals and in the concert hall. / Choeur Mixte (SATB) Et Orgue

This exclusive collection brings together 12 of Nico Muhly?s sacred works for mixed-voice choir. These vivacious fresh and dramatic pieces will make an impact whether in the church or in the concert hall and range from the intimate Lord keep us modest when we claim to the effervescent Bright Star Carol alongside service music such as Muhly?s Third Service. All are accessible to learn and offer choirs a new slant on contemporary choral music at its very best.  'Choral music has always been at the emotional core of my musical output. Even when I?m writing large-scale orchestral works (or indeed chamber music) I alwaysfind myself returning to techniques and textures I?ve greedily stolen from centuries of music from Tye to Howells early and recent. I try to design my own choral music primarily for use in worship where the measure of the success of the piece is if it helps guide the listeners? ears upwards and elsewhere as sacred architecture and the various rituals of the church themselves are meant to do. The specificity of music heard only in certain seasons is for me an important and thrilling element of the choral tradition: a Beethoven Symphony is welcome at any point in the year but an anthem for Candlemas works only then at a certain time of day and on a certain day of the year. With this functional spirit at the heart of the compositional process I hope that the music collected here makes equal sense in a concert setting. These works range from ordinaries of the mass to hymns to motets and represent a decade and a half of output.' - Nico Muhly

Collegium Magdelenae Oxoniense-For SATB and Organ. Composed for Magdalen College Oxford.

A beautiful setting of the Evening Canticles in E for Men's Voices (ATB) and Organ.