Oxford University Press

Snow Angel is an evocative five-movement work exploring themes of love, rebirth, and beauty. It may be performed with narration and features a haunting cello line. The emotive and pictorial musical la...

Three songs make up this cycle entitled Western Songs - 'Buffalo Gals', 'Green Grow the Lilacs', and 'Ol' Chisholm Trail'. The arrangements by turn spin contrapuntal and antiphonal textures then relax...

This lyrical setting of a text by Colin Coppen has an elegant melody and flowing piano accompaniment. It would make a charming addition to any concert or service, and is also available in a version fo...

Truly uplifting and appropriately joyful, this carol is ideal for a Christmas service or concert. Instrumental material is available on hire.

In Grown about by fragrant bushes, Skempton sets a poem by Robert Louis Stevenson using gentle, lilting melodies. The theme of loss is sensitively conveyed in a tonal language that is made more expres...

The strong homophonic opening of this motet, in honour of St Michael the Archangel, the defender in battle against all things evil, makes an impactful statement, before exploring the intricate weaving...

The text of this motet is taken from the Palm Sunday antiphon, which celebrates the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. The repeated 'hosanna' phrases at the end of the motet bear witness to Palestrina's m...

Ante luciferum genitus is the first antiphon of Lauds for the Feast of the Epiphany and culminates with cascading, descending 'alleluia's. Originally scored for lower voices, the motet is presented he...

Likely to date from the early part of the composer's career, this motet has a relentlessly dense texture, but the clever use of well-shaped phrases and dynamics, informed by the text, leads to an exci...

Victoria captures the sorrow of the Passion by sustained homophonic writing from the start and subtle points of imitation. The use of a descending melodic line depicting the sorrow of the text is one...

The darkness evoked in this piece mirrors not only the title word 'Tenebrae', but also the intense grief of the crucifixion, as Jesus gives up his spirit.

Sun Dance is a slightly modified version of the fifth movement from the composer's Organ Dances. The music is for the most part celebratory in character, its spiky rhythms driven along by the pervasiv...

This joyful motet begins with a compelling homophonic opening, before exploring imitative writing between all voices. A contrasting motif of descending scales is introduced halfway through to reflect...

The piece is suitable for regular worship services but most often at special praise services, choral liturgies, and musical feasts, and for recognizing the work of church musicians.

The compositional style of this motet demonstrates word-painting and madrigal-like features. It opens with a duet that may reflect the word 'Duo' in the title, and the use of three voices at the start...

Jackson's Cantus Maris Baltici ('Songs of the Baltic Sea') is a rich and imaginative setting of poems from each of the three Baltic countries. It displays innovative choral textures and is a rewarding...

The motet Jesu, Rex admirabilis is largely homophonic, with only one phrase incorporating imitation. Its simplicity, however, makes it a useful Eucharistic motet in contemporary liturgy. It has been t...

A spirited carol, colourful and highly original.

The vocal ranges of the Marian motet Ave Maria are best suited to two sopranos, due to the frequent crossing of the two upper parts, and an alto. The composer's notation has been transposed up a fourt...

Pulsating rhythms underpin this energetic arrangement of a traditional spiritual. The voice parts progress from a forthright rendition of the famous tune at the beginning to bold and exciting harmonie...

This French traditional carol includes optional English lyrics which are translated by John Rutter himself. Orchestral scores and parts are also available. Offprinted from the collection Twelve Christ...

Sheppard's Magnificat for four voices is found only in the Gyffard partbooks. Its structure uses the alternatim technique, rotating choral sections with the Tone I chant. The chant provided here is th...

A lilting 3/4 metre carries the listener through this familiar Christmas story, beautifully depicted in a text by the composer. Rutter employs artful word-painting throughout, and the verse-refrain st...

This expansive piece requiring 24 singers sets an anonymous 16th-century text of supplication to St Cecilia. From the cascading imitation of its opening to the monolithic triads of its close, it remai...