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Choral – with orchestra
A Mass of a Thousand Ages
SATB/children’s choir/mezzo-soprano and
bass soloists/brass quintet & wind quartet/organ (70'0")
A large scale setting of the mass – with a difference – fusing
together the timeless Latin text with four specially commissioned poems
by Jan Purcell, Philip Owens, Jonathan Hill and Eleanor Cooke. The overall
theme reflects our thoughts as we meditate on the importance of this unique
period of history – looking back on man’s journey through the
past age, looking forward to our curatorship of the world in a new age,
and through it all, our continuing search for spirituality in an increasingly
materialistic world. The world premiere of the Mass was given on April
8th. 2000 by Nantwich Choral Society with soloists Sarah Castle
(mezzo-soprano) and Richard Strivens (bass), orchestra, organ,
and a significant semi-chorus sung by the Nantwich Youth Choir.
The youth choir symbolises the role that this generation will play in
the crucial years ahead, and it is the echoes of these young voices that
bring the whole work to its dramatic and haunting conclusion – A
Thousand Ages in thy sight are like an evening gone – from Isaac
Watts’ famous hymn “O God our help in ages past ”
superimposed over the the closing words of the mass – Dona Nobis
Pacem (Grant us peace).
i) Kyrie Poem: Lord, have mercy
– Jan Purcell
10 seconds (40kb)
click here for a longer extract
ii) Gloria Poem: Praise Him
– Philip Owens
10 seconds (40kb)
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iii) Credo (1)
10 seconds (40kb)
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iv) Credo (2)
10 seconds (40kb)
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v) Sanctus and Benedictus
Poem: First and Second Truths – Jonathan Hill
10 seconds (40kb)
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vi) Agnus Dei Poem: Agnus Dei
– Eleanor Cooke
10 seconds (40kb)
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Vocal Score £9.00 – order
this piece
Full Score and Parts for hire or purchase
Live CD recording available of first performance Nantwich Choral Society
Appearing, Shining, Distant or Near
SATB/high soprano solo/organ/piano & celeste/tubular bells/gong
(20'0")
Patrick Larley evokes the world of ancient Egypt in his dramatic three
movement setting of words from the great Hymn to Aten, written by the
revolutionary theologian, Pharaoh Ahkenaton in 1350BC. This new cult paid
homage to the orb of the sun (Aten) stripped of its mythological accretions.
Aten is shown in Egyptian art only as a sun-disc with its rays, each ending
in the form of a hand, giving life to the earth.
“…lyrical music and sonorous phrases one found oneself humming long after the performance had ended”. (Shropshire Star)
i) Thou art gracious, great, glistening.
ii) Thou makest a Nile in the Underworld
iii) The World came into being by thy Hand
The world came into being by thy hand
(extract 1)
10 seconds (40kb)
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The world came into being by thy hand
(extract 2)
10 seconds (40kb)
click here for a longer extract
Vocal Score £4.50 – order this piece
Available on the CD Praise for Creation Ludlow Choral Society
Stone Circles
SATB/SA semi-chorus/Soprano solo/Brass and
Organ/Percussion (65'0")
Composed for the 30th Anniversary of Stone Choral Society in Staffordshire,
the witty and often moving libretto (Roger Savage) depicts the history
of the Choral Society over a background of the religious and secular aspects
of the town. Local folk songs of this canal town are woven together with
Gregorian based melodies depicting the town’s religious foundation.
Choral Score £5.00 – order
this piece
Instrumental parts for hire or purchase.
Available on the CD Stone Circles (Stone Choral Society)