Judith Weir: Songs From The Exotic

Songs from the Exotic were commissioned by Josephine Nendick who gave the first performance with Michael Finnissy on 7th October 1987 in Cambridge. These four songs were inspired by folk traditions of Serbia Spain andScotland. In each case the text comes from a folksong source but the music is entirely invented. The duration is approximately 10 minutes.

The music for this piece was inspired by a short extract from a traditional melody sung by women cloth-workers in Barra in the Western Isles of Scotland. The Scottish folk music tradition is one that Weir has frequently drawn onin the past both in shorter works such as the songs of Scotch Minstrelsy and in her second opera The Vanishing Bridegroom and it is one she has completely assimilated into her technique. The modal feel of this piece however is as much a result of Weir's intuitive and idiomatic harmonic sense as of the original inspiration. Overture for Orchestra commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra in honour of the 50th anniversary of the Tanglewood MusicCentre in 1991; it received its first performance there on 3 August that year.

Distance and Enchantment is a musical essay considering the strikingly common occurrence of people who disappear from home never to return. It takes the form of two meditations on traditional songs which are playedtogether without a break amounting to a single movement of about eleven minutes duration. The first song The Dark Eyed Gipsy tells of a woman who of her own accord leaves her home to roam the unknown world with a band ofgipsies; and the second A ghaoil lig dhachaigh gu m'mathair mi tells of a girl who wanders a little too far from home on a dark night and is stolen away by the fairies. Scored for Violin Cello Viola and Piano. Scoreand parts included.

Music played an enormous role in the works of William Shakespeare, while his own sonnets, poems and soliloquies have provided continuing inspiration for many composers through the years. The Novello Shakespeare Choral Collection, inspired by the 400th anniversary of the Bard's death in 2016, is an exciting anthology of choral works that are settings of Shakespeare's words. For choirs of all types and abilities, this collection has been edited by David Wordsworth so that all the pieces are fantastic both to sing and hear.The collection features some beautiful settings that have well and truly stood the test of time, such as Thomas Arne's Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind and Henry Leslie's How Sweet The Moonlight Sleeps. More recent settings from 20th century and contemporary composers include Ernest Moeran's Sigh No More, Ladies, Gary Carpenter's Lo, Here, The Gentle Lark and John Tavener's Fear No More and Look In Thy Glass.Not only this, the Shakespeare Choral Collection boasts several works that were specially commissioned, including John Joubert's Be Not Afeard, Richard Sisson's Light Thickens and Pawel Lukaszewki's Weary With Toil, I Haste Me To My Bed. Some pieces have never appeared before in print, such as those by Kevin Olsen, Bernard Hughes and John Gardner. These songs truly are a joy to perform, with some relatively simple arrangements that are purely fun to sing, while some more complex settings that will be thoroughly rewarding for choirs and audiences alike.A total of 26 fantastic works comprise The Novello Shakespeare Choral Collection, which would work as a wonderful concert programme on its own, or could provide a wealth of options for choirs looking to expand their repertoire with a range of unique settings. Also included is a fascinating introduction by editor David Wordsworth, and notes describing each piece.Words written by indisputably the greatest writer in the English language can only be matched with music by composers of talent and renown such as these. The Novello Shakespeare Choral Collection is an essential anthology of stunning settings of beautiful words which will be performed and enjoyed for many years to come. / Choeur Mixte (SATB)