Par HARRIS RICHARD. A beautiful setting of Psalm 23 ('The Lord Is My Shepherd') as performed by the Hampstead Parish Church Choir at the 2003 Hampstead and Highgate Festival. This offers a wonderful alternative to more familiar settings. The Faber Choral Signature Series introduces a wealth of new or recently written choral music to choirs in search of fresh repertoire. The series draws in a rich …

In response to a continued interest in a scholarly facsimile of the Mass in B minor, a new cloth-bound facsimile edition (BVK 2194) has now been published. This replaces the original BÄRENREITER FACSIMILE edition (BVK 1911).

Johann Sebastian Bach completed the Mass in B minor in 1748/49 shortly after the Art of Fugue and shortly before his death. This late work is as concentrated and rich…

The Grade By Grade series draws on the rich and varied Boosey and Hawkes catalogue of classical, contemporary and educational repertoire, highlighting composers including Serge Prokofieff, Dmitri Shostakovich, Karl Jenkins, Carol Barratt and Christopher Norton, alongside arrangements of traditional music from around the world by Peter Wastall, Vera Gray and others. Carefully selected by Janet Way,…

This string quartet is in five movements, of which the second and fifth are by far the most elaborate. The remaining three movements are rather short, like brief vignettes.The second movement draws its inspiration from Schubert, albeit indirectly- the middle instruments in the quartet (violin 2, viola) play an accompaniment with a motif of two slurred notes, almost always in sixths.In spirit and s…

The piano sonatas are regarded as the central works of Alexander Skrjabin?s compositional output. No other composer after Beethoven reshaped this genre so radically, thereby reinvigorating the tradition of the sonata. Skrjabin?s desire not simply to continue the existing tradition, but to surpass it, is evident as early as his first sonatas. These are exciting works from the pianist?s perspective …

Par KELLY BRYAN. Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis for SATB and Organ. Kentucky Canticles pay homage to the unforgettable music of the deep south, and in particular to the legendary black singer Paul Robeson. Dancing spiritual rhythms infuse the Magnificat's energetic song of joy, and there are lively musical illustrations for the mighty, the proud, the rich, and the humble and meek before the return o…

The Grade By Grade series draws on the rich and varied Boosey and Hawkes catalogue of classical, contemporary and educational repertoire, highlighting composers including Serge Prokofieff, Dmitri Shostakovich, Karl Jenkins, Carol Barratt and Christopher Norton, alongside arrangements of traditional music from around the world by Peter Wastall, Vera Gray and others. Carefully selected by Janet Way,…

The Grade By Grade series draws on the rich and varied Boosey and Hawkes catalogue of classical, contemporary and educational repertoire, highlighting composers including Serge Prokofieff, Dmitri Shostakovich, Karl Jenkins, Carol Barratt and Christopher Norton, alongside arrangements of traditional music from around the world by Peter Wastall, Vera Gray and others. Carefully selected by Janet Way,…

The Grade By Grade series draws on the rich and varied Boosey and Hawkes catalogue of classical, contemporary and educational repertoire, highlighting composers including Serge Prokofieff, Dmitri Shostakovich, Karl Jenkins, Carol Barratt and Christopher Norton, alongside arrangements of traditional music from around the world by Peter Wastall, Vera Gray and others. Carefully selected by Janet Way,…

Sonata for Bass Clarinet and Piano was commissioned by virtuoso former Houston Symphony clarinetist Richard Nunemaker, and takes full advantage of his prodigious technique and the instrument's extraordinary range. Although the sonata is traditional in its structure - with three movements whose tempi are ordered as fast, slow, fast - it is highly original in its musical content.
The first move…