Multitude of Voyces Volume 3 Advent to Candlemas by multitudeofvoyces

Multitude of Voyces’

Anthology of Sacred Music by Women Composers

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Multitude of Voyces

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supporting underrepresented, vulnerable and marginalised groups through music and words

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Anthology of Sacred Music by Women Composers

Director and Series Editor: Louise Stewart

Volume 3 - Advent to Candlemas Mixed Voices Anthems

Cover design: Caroline Grint

Editors: Louise Stewart, Henry Websdale, Anna Williams

Volume researchers: Miriam Endersby, Olivia Sparkhall

Andrew Stewart, Louise Stewart

Typesetter: Anna Williams

Honorary Advisors: Revd Canon Jeremy Davies, Sarah MacDonald

First published November 2020, Reprinted July 2022, October 2023, April 2024.

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All rights reserved. The texts and music in this book are protected by copyright and may not be reproduced in any way for sale or private use without the consent of the copyright holder. Please note, the music in this book is not covered by a C.C.L.I. Music

Reproduction Licence, PMLL Schools Printed Music Licence or Amateur Choirs Licence.

Multitude of Voyces gratefully acknowledges the permission granted to reproduce the copyright material in this book. Every effort has been made to trace copyright holders and to obtain their permissions for the use of copyright material. We apologise for any errors or omissions and would be grateful to be notified of any corrections that should be incorporated within future reprints or editions of this Anthology.

Permission to perform the works in this Anthology in public (except in the course of divine worship) should normally be obtained from the Performing Right Society Ltd (PRS), 29/33 Berners Street, London W1T 3AB, or its affiliated societies in each country throughout the world, unless the owner or the occupier of the premises being used holds a licence from the society.

Permission to make a recording must be obtained in advance from The Mechanical Copyright Protection Society Ltd. (MCPS), Elgar House, 41 Streatham High Road, London, SW16 1ER or its affiliated societies in each country throughout the world.

ISBN 978-1-9162164-2-6

Music originated on Sibelius.

Printed in Great Britain by Halstan & Co. Ltd.

Prepared for print by Riverside Publishing Solutions Ltd. (Salisbury)

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Amy Beach

Judith Bingham

Maddalena Casulana

Sarah Cattley

Emily Hazrati

Tamsin Jones

Sarah MacDonald

Elizabeth Maconchy

Emma Mundella

17. Maria Theresia von Paradis Es ist ein’ Ros’

(SS & piano)

18. Katharine Parton Gaudebat et Ridebat!

(SSATB & snare drum)

19. Yshani Perinpanayagam In Bethlehem above

(SATB)

20. Sheena Phillips The Christmas Bird

(SATB & flute)

21. Elizabeth Poston The Lamb

(S or T & piano)

22. Rhian Samuel Rhyfedd, rhyfedd / Wonder, wonder

(SATB & organ) (Welsh or English)

23. Olivia Sparkhall Gabriel’s Message

(S & T solos, SAT/B & piano)

24. Amy Summers Nunc dimittis

(SATB)

25. Alice Tegnér Bethlehem’s Star / Betlehems stjärna

arr. Sarah MacDonald (S & B solos, SSAATTB & organ) (English with optional Swedish)

26. Alison Willis

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There

(SSAATTBB)

1. Lord, now lettest thou

dimittis)

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Amy Beach (1867–1944)

Glor ia editor ially constr ucted by Sarah MacDonald

va - tion, - which thou cresc hast pre pared, - pre pared - be fore, - be& #

va - tion, - which thou cresc hast pre pared, - pre pared - be fore, - be& ‹ # va - tion, - which thou cresc . hast pre - pared, pre pared - be fore, - be -

va - tion, - which thou cresc . hast pre - pared, pre pared - be fore, - be -

let test - thou dim thy ser vant - de pp par t - in peace.

# let test - thou dim thy ser vant - de pp par t - in peace.

‹ # thou thy ser dim. vant, - thy ser vant - de pp par t - in peace.

# let test - thou dim thy ser vant - de pp par t - in peace

Glo p r y - be to the Fa ther, - and to the Son, and to the Ho ly -

# Glo p r y - be to the Fa ther, - and to the Son, and to the Ho ly -

Glo p r y - be to the Fa ther, - and to the Son, and to the Ho ly& # p

Ghost: as

it was in the be g in - ning , - is now, and ev er - shall be,

Ghost:

Matthew 2: 9–11

Wycliﬀe Bible, 1395 (adapted) q = 55 q

2. Lo! the star

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Judith Bingham (b. 1952)

where the child was,

mp where the child was,

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and

and joyed, joyed with a full g reat joy,

‹ and joyed, joyed with a full g reat joy,

and joyed, joyed with a full g reat joy, &

and they en -tered the house and found the child

with

and they en -tered the house and found the child with

en -tered the house, and they found, and found

the child with

-tered the house, and they found, and found the child with

pp r y, - his mo ther, - mm p

Ma pp r y - his mo ther, - and p they felled, felled down and

pp r y - his mo ther, - and p they felled down and

mp their trea sures,& mp and when they had o pened - their trea sures,3 & ‹ wor shipped - him, mp and when they had o pened - their trea sures,3 ?

wor shipped - him, mp their trea sures,& p # ? ? &

they of -fered to him g ifts, gold, in cense - and &

they of -fered to him g ifts, gold, in cense - and

3. A tender shoot

Ger man 15th Centur y Ver siﬁed by Otto Goldschmidt (1829–1907)

Translated by William Bar tholomew (1793–1867)

Kerensa Br iggs (b 1991)

As an cient - seer s mf im par t - ed, - from Jes p se’s - ho ly - race, It ? bbbbbb an cient - seer s mf im par t - ed - from Jes p se’s - ho ly - race, It & bbbbbb

blooms with -out a blight, mf it blooms with -out a blight, & bbbbbb blooms with -out a blight, mf it blooms with -out a blight, & bbbbbb blooms with -out a blight, mf it blooms with -out a blight,

? bbbbbb

blooms with -out a blight, mf it blooms with -out a blight,

& bbbbbb

Blooms p in n the cold bleak win ter, - tur n ing - our dark mp ness& bbbbbb

Blooms p in the cold bleak win ter, - tur n ing - our dark mp ness& bbbbbb

Blooms p in the cold bleak win ter, - tur n ing - our dark mp ness -

? bbbbbb

Blooms p in the cold bleak win ter, - tur n ing - our dark mp ness& bbbbbb in to - light p

This n shoot I sai b - ah - taught us from & bbbbbb in to - light. p

This shoot I sai - ah - taught us from & bbbbbb in to - light. p

? bbbbbb in to - light. p

This shoot I sai - ah - taught us from

∑ & bbbbbb

Jes se’s - root should spr ing; mp mp

The Vir g in - Ma mf r y - brought us b the & bbbbbb

& bbbbbb

Jes se’s - root should spr ing; mp mp

The Vir g in - Ma mf r y - brought us the

Jes se’s - root should spr ing; mp mp

? bbbbbb ∑ mp

The Vir g in - Ma mf r y - brought us the

branch of which we sing;

Our

God of end less - might, f our

branch of which we sing; f Our mf God of end less - might, f our

branch of which we sing;

Our

branch of which we sing;

Our

God of end less - might, f our

God of end less - might gave mp her n this child to

God of end less - might gave mp her this child to

God

4. Attesa/Expectation

Maddalena Casulana (c.1544–c.1590)

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Sei

Thou, tu, who a ar t ch’il called Si the gno pro - re phetdi of ce ‘a the - spet high --

Thou, Sei who tu, ar t a called ch’il the Si pro gnophet reof di the ce ‘ahigh -spet-

Thou,

Sei who tu, ar t a called ch’il the Si pro gnophet reof di the ce ‘ahigh -spet-

est,E And tu who pre pre pa paresre

e ing;Bra Thou ma ﬁr st - to bor nﬁ of glio E - di li -

‹ e. ing;Bra Thou ma ﬁr st - to bor nﬁ of glio E - di li -

e ing;Bra Thou ma ﬁr st - to bor nﬁ of glio E - di li

za -

bethsa the - bet pi - -- -

beth

the - bet pi - ta, ous,-

ta, ous,Sen John, ti hear - al at ﬁn last - in the ciel an le gelar voi mo ces-& ta, ous,Sen John, ti hear - al at ﬁn last - in the ciel an le gelar voi&

‹ ta, ous,Sen John, ti hear - al at ﬁn last - in the ciel an le gelar voi?

Sen John, ti hear - al at ﬁn last - in the ciel an le gelar voi mo ces --& ni swell - e! ing! --Or Now che that al to the la - - Ver Vir g i g in-

& ces moni swell - e! ing!Or Now che that al to the la

& ‹ mo cesni swell - e! ing! -Or Now che that al to la the

Ver Vir g i g

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Av now -

‹ zi tell - e: ing;Can We te will - rem, sing , - can we te will - rem sing - il his su Ad o ventAv now -

Can We te will - rem, sing , - can we te will - rem sing - il his su’Av Ad ven ventto now,& - to’in in co cho ro, r us,can we te will - rem sing , - il sing suo his Av Ad ven ventto now - in in co cho ro r us,& ven - to’in in - co cho ro, r us,can we te will - rem sing , - il sing su’Av his ven Ad - to’in ventco now ro’in in - co cho ro r us,& ‹ ven - to’in in - co cho ro, r us,can we te will - rem sing , - il sing his su Ad o - Av ventven now - to’in in - co cho ro r us,?

can we te will - rem sing , - il sing suo his Av Ad ven ventto now - in in co cho ro r us,-

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che tilcol the O Day r i spr ingens g ild, - tut g ild to, thesky tut be to - s’in fore o -

& ‹ che tilcol the O Day r i spr ingens g ild, - tut g ild to, thesky tut to - s’in be o fore

che tilcol the O Day r i spr ingens g ild, - tut g

Bodleian

Adapted by Sarah Cattley

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Sarah Cattley (b. 1995)

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For

6. The Shepherd

Avr il Coler idge-Taylor [Peter Riley] (1903–98)

eve ning - he strays; He shall fol low - his

sheep all the day,

He shall fol low - his sheep all the day,

And his

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7. Silent night

Josephus Franciscus Mohr (1792–1848)

Translated by John Freeman Young (1820–85) (adapted by Libby Croad)

Libby Croad (b 1981)

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sleep in peace, heav’n ly - peace

‹ sleep in peace, heav’n ly - peace. ? sleep in peace,

3 Si pp lent - night, ho ly - night Son of God, love’s pure light

‹ 3 Si pp lent - night, ho ly - night Son of God, love’s pure light

3 Si pp lent - night, ho ly - night Son of God, love’s pure light

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ra -diant beams from thy ho -ly f ace, with the dawn of re deem - -ing g race,

beams from thy f ace, with re deem - ing - g race, &

‹ beams from thy f ace with g race, ? beams from thy f ace with g race, & Je sus, - Lord, at thy bir th, Je sus, - Lord, thy bir th. & Je sus - at thy bir th, Lord, Je sus, - Lord, at thy bir th. &

‹ Je sus, - Lord, bir th, Lord, thy bir th ?

Lord at thy bir th, Lord, thy bir th.

be!

Bless Bass ed - be! Blest be, bless ed - be the Liv ing - Tree. ? ###

Bless ed - be! Blest be, bless ed - be the Liv -ing Tree & ‹ ### Bless Tenor ed - be!

Bless ed - be! ? ###

Bless ed - be! Blest be, bless ed - be the Liv ing - Tree & ‹ ### Bless ed - be! Bless-ed be! Bless -ed be! ? ###

Bless ed - be! Blest be, bless ed - be the Liv -ing Tree & ###

Bless Alto ed - be the Tree of Life that g rows with-in you and me. & ‹ ### Bless ed - be! Bless ed - be! ? ###

Bless *or other wooden pounding stick -ed be! Blest be, bless-ed be the Liv-ing Tree

Bless ed - be the Tree of Life

& ‹ ###

Bless ed - be!

Bless-ed be! Bless -ed be! ? ###

Bless -ed be! Blest be, bless ed - be the Liv -ing Tree & ###

Bless Soprano ed - be the Tree of Life that g rows with -in you and me. & ###

Bless ed - be the Tree of Life that g rows with -in you and me. & ‹ ###

Bless ed - be!

Bless ed - be! ? ###

Bless ed - be! Blest be, bless -ed be the Liv -ing Tree & ###

Bless ed - be the Tree of Life. (walking stick stops)

& ###

Bless ed - be the Tree of Life.

###

Bless ed - be! Bless-ed be! Bless -ed be! ? ###

Bless ed - be! Blest be, bless ed - be the Liv -ing Tree.

Bless

9. Coventr y Carol

Hazrati (b. 1998)

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3 4 3 4 3 4 3 4 & bbbbb (stagger breathing) legato ly, - lul ly, - lul ly, - lul p sempre legg iero ly, - lul ly, - lul ly, - lul ly, - lul ly, - lul ly,& bbbbb (stagger breathing) legato ly, - lul ly, - lul ly, - lul p sempre legg iero ly, - lul ly, - lul ly, - lul ly, - lul ly, - lul ly,& ‹ bbbbb ∑ mf dolce O sis ter s, - too, how may we do, For

? bbbbb ∑ mf dolce O sis ter s, - too, how may we do, For & bbbbb

lul ly, - lul ly, - lul ly, - lul ly, - lul ly, - lul ly, - lul ly, - lul ly, - lul ly,& bbbbb

lul ly, - lul ly, - lul ly, - lul ly, - lul ly, - lul ly, - lul ly, - lul ly, - lul ly, -

& ‹ bbbbb to pre ser ve - this day; This poor young ling - for

? bbbbb to pre ser ve - this day; This poor young ling - for

& bbbbb

lul ly, - lul ly, - lul ly, - lul ly, - lul ly, - lul ly, - lul lay,& bbbbb

lul ly, - lul ly, - lul ly, - lul ly, - lul ly, - lul ly, - lul ly, - lul ly, - lul -

& ‹ bbbbb whom we sing , By, by, lul ly, - lul lay. -

? bbbbb

whom we sing , By, by, lul ly, - lul lay -

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10. Noel: Verbum caro f actum est

Tamsin Jones (b. 1972)

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last time to Ver se 3 (b 13)

S. & A. OR T. & B.

1. This 2. Je f night there susis is a the child chil y -des bor n, name, - that and sprang Ma out r y - mild of is Jes se’s his -

1 This 2. Je f night there susis is a the child chil y -des bor n, name, - that and sprang Ma out r y - mild of is Jes se’s his -

This 2 Je f night there susis is a the child chil y -des bor n, name, - that and sprang Ma out r y - mild of is Jes se’s his? b

1. This 2. Je f night there susis is a the child chil y -des bor n, name, - that and sprang Ma out r y - mild of is Jes se’s his -

thor n, dame, we all must sor sing rowand is say tur ned there to for n: game: -

thor n, dame, we all must sor sing rowand is say tur ned there to

b thor n, dame, we all must sor sing rowand is say tur ned there to for n: game: - ver ver bum bumca ca ro rofac fac tum tumest est ? b thor n, dame, we all must sor sing rowand is say tur ned there to for n: game: -

& b S & A OR T & B

3. It f fell up on - the high mid night, - the star s they shone both f air and & b

3. It f fell up on - the high mid night, - the star s they shone both f air and &

‹ b 3. It f fell up on - the high mid night, - the star s they shone both f air and

? b

& b

3. It f fell up on - the high mid night, - the star s they shone both f air and

br ight, the an gels - sang with all their might: ver bum - ca ro - fac& b

br ight, the an gels - sang with all their might: ver bum - ca ro - fac& ‹ b br ight, the an gels - sang with all their might: ver bum - ca ro - fac -

? b

br ight, the an gels - sang with all their might: ver bum - ca ro - fac -

11. Nativity

John 8: 12 (adapted by Hannah Kendall) and John Donne (1572–1631)

‘Nativity’ from Divine Poems (1607)

Hannah Kendall (b 1984)

* The tr io of soloists should be positioned separately from the chor us, but in close proximity and ideally perfor ming from a balcony or galler y area.

Multitude of Voyces’ Anthology of Sacred Music by Women Composer s (2020)

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12. Alma Redemptor is Mater

Isabella Leonarda (1620–1704) Op 10 No 9 Edited and realised by Henr y Lebedinsky

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13. Hymn for the Feasts of St Joseph

Matthew 1: 20 (KJV)

Canon Jeremy Davies (b. 1946) and Ger man anon (pub Johann Walter 1544)

Sarah MacDonald (b 1968) and Ger man anon (pub. Johann Walter 1544) Introduction inspired by Ralph Vaughan Williams

1. In (23)

a hum ble - work shop - Jo seph - plied his trade, Car pen - -

1. In mp a hum ble - work -shop Jo seph - plied his trade, Car pen - -

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ter - of Na za - reth, - old things new he made. And the g row ing -

mp to the wood though it

2. When he

When he

left the work shop - where his skills were wrought, Je sus - prac tised -

left the work -shop where his skills were wrought, Je sus - prac tised -

left the work shop - where his skills were wrought, Je sus - prac tised -

car pen - tr y - of a dif f ’rent - sor t No one - was re ject - ed -

car pen - tr y - of a dif f ’rent - sor t. No one - was re ject - ed -

though shot through with sin, mp Sick and out cast, - halt and lame,

though shot through with sin,

mp Sick and halt and lame,

mp halt and lame,

and out cast, - halt and lame were wel comed - in

mf sick and halt and lame were wel comed - in

3 Make this day your work shop, - here your craft em ploy, -

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3. Make this day your work shop, - here your craft em ploy, -

3. Make this day your work shop, - here your craft em ploy,& b Jo Alto (optional) mf seph, - lie ber - Jo seph - - mein, & ‹ b

Fa shion, - mould, and or der - us that we may en -

14. Nowell, Nowell, Nowell

Tr inity College, Cambr idge, MS O 3 58, late 15th Centur y from a collection of English songs and hymns, by James Ryman, a Franciscan fr iar

Elizabeth Maconchy (1907–94)

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Tr i lau ni ditas bus.- } No Burden well, - No well, - sing we now all and & lau Tr i ni ditas. bus- } No well, - No well, - sing we now all and

well, - No well, - No well, - No well, - No well, - No well, -

15. The Deser t

Shapcott Wensley (1854–1917) from Twelve New Carols for Chr istmastide (1892)

Alleg

Soprano Alto Tenor Bass Piano or Organ (optional)

Emma Mundella (1858–96) Edited and adapted by Olivia Sparkhall

cloud less - height, the star s with sparks n of cr ys n tal nn - light, have n

still ness - swells, save

& bbbb

break the spells, mm with the low tink n - ling - ca n mel nn - bells, - a mm n long - the

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? bbbb n & bbbb de n ser t - sand.

3 In pp chast ened - splen dour, - through the n haze of n ? bbbb n

n & bbbb

pp ? bbbb

& bbbb

- a ho ly - guide in gloom y - ways be mp? bbbb

& bbbb ? bbbb

shin ing - worlds

a f ar,

skies, are paled by wond rous - light that leads their

skies,

are paled be fore - the wond -rous light that leads the trav’l

ler s’ -

steps a r ight - to where the Sa viour - lies.

16. While Mar y Slept

Helena Paish (b. 2002) Alice Archer Sewall (1870–1955) The Centur y Magazine, 1893

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crown

17. Es ist ein’ Ros’

Ger man 15th Centur y Speierschen Gesangbuch, Köln (1600)

Mar ia Theresia von Paradis (1759–1824) Edited and adapted by Olivia Sparkhall

Jes se - kam die Ar t; Und

hat ein Blüm-lein bracht,

Mit -ten

im kal ten - Win ter, - Wohl zu der hal ben - Nacht, Wohl zu der

mei ne, - Da von - Je sai - as - sagt,

Ist Ma r i - a - die

zen,

Her zen,

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Schmer zen, - Die er em - pfun den - hat,

Schmer-zen, Die er em pfun - den - hat,

er em pfun - den

18. Gaudebat et Ridebat!

Attr ibuted to Jacopone da Todi (1230–1306) from Stabat Mater Speciosa and Kathar ine Par ton q =

Kathar ine Par ton (b. 1982)

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*or other non-pitched percussion. The crossed notes indicate a tap on the r im of the snare creating a ‘click’ sound. However, when the par t is played on other percussion the crossed notes should simply be softer for contrast. The percussion par t may also be omitted.

Re joice, . . - r i de - bat, - re joice . . - in the bir th of Ma r y’s - son,

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Gau p sub de - bat

sub. de - bat - r i

de cresc

r i de - -bat gau > > -de bat.Gau Gau f > > dedebat! - Gau bat,de - bat! - Gau gau dedebat!& #

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r i de - -bat gau > -de bat. - Ex f > ul - ta - bat - gau de -& ‹ #

r i de - -bat gau > -de bat - Ex f > ul - ta - bat, - re -joic ing , - ex ul - -

r i de - -bat gau > -de bat - Ex f > ul - ta - bat, - re -joic ing , - ex ul -/ > f > > > > > > > & # Sing bat,ing - gau gau de de- bat, bat,sing sing . . . ing ingff gau gau > de de >bat! bat! .& # bat, - gau de - bat, - sing ingff gau de > - bat!. & ‹ # ta - bat, - r i de - bat, - r i ff > de > - bat

# ta - bat, - r i de - bat, - r i ff

- gau de - bat! > . -

Multitude of Voyces’ Anthology of Sacred Music by Women Composer s (2020)

3 Shep mf herd, - take knee with king Re joice!&

3 Shep mf herd, - take knee with king Re joice! -

‹ 3. Shep mf herd, - take knee with king. Re joice! -

3. Shep mf * herd, - take knee with king. Re joice!&

Hea f ven - and ear th re sound - with his glo r y, - The mf an gels - sing ing:&

Hea f ven, - hea ven - and ear th, his glo r y, - The mf an gels - sing ing: -

‹ Hea f ven, - hea ven - and ear th, his glo r y, - The mf an gels - sing ing: -

Hea f ven - and ear th re sound - with his glo r y, - The mf an

20. The Chr istmas Bird

Kathar ine Tynan (1861–1931) from A Little Book of Carols (1907)

Sheena Phillips (b. 1958) Soprano Alto Tenor Bass

still the glad dest b - tune.

oo p legg iero

wings of

gold sheen, and gold head

and hood,

He was the f air estbird, bird, I ween, that ev er - sang in

That

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William Blake (1757–1827) from Songs of Innocence (1789)

21. The Lamb

Elizabeth Poston (1905–87)

1. Lit 2. Lit tle tleLamb, Lamb, who I’ll tell made thee? thee, Dost Lit thou tleknow Lamb, who I’ll tell made thee? thee: Gave He thee is life, call and ed& bbb p & bbb & :‹; bbb bid by thee thy feed name, By For the he stream calls and him o’er selfthe a mead; Lamb, Gave He thee is cloth meek, ing and - of he de is light, mild;& bbb & bbb ? & :‹; bbb

Soft He est be - cloth -came ing , a - wool lit ly, tlebr ight; child. Gave I thee a such child, a and ten thou der a - voice, lamb, Mak We ing are - all call the ed& bbb ? bbb & :‹; bbb vales by re his - joice? name ’ Lit Lit tle tleLamb, Lamb, who God made bless thee? thee! Dost Lit thou tleknow Lamb, who God made thee? bless thee! U & bbb

? bbb &

22. Rhyfedd, rhyfedd/Wonder, wonder

Ann Gr iﬃths (1776–1805) (adapted by Rhian Samuel)

English translation by Rhian Samuel

Organ

Pedals

Rhian Samuel (b. 1944)

gan an ang gelsyl won - ion, der,-

Rhy fe Gaze - ddod inawe mawr yng up ngo onlwg this - ﬀydd, sight, &

Rhy fe Gaze - ddod inawe mawr yng up ngo onlwg this - ﬀydd, sight, ?

Rhy fe Gaze - ddod inawe mawr yng up ngo onlwg this - ﬀydd, sight, & & ?

Rhy

Rhy Won

Gweld O rho

Lord ddwr of - bod, life,

Gweld O rho

& ‹ f

? f

Lord ddwr of - bod, life,

Gweld O rho

Lord ddwr of - bod, life,

Gweld O rho

Lord ddwr of - bod, life,

Gt + Sw 8', 4, 2'

16', 8'

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(Ped.)

c yn and hal God - iwr of - he vast laeth, ness,-

c yn and hal God - iwr of - he vast laeth, ness,&

yn and hal God - iwr of - he vast laeth, ness,-

yn and hal God - iwr of - he vast laeth, ness,& b b

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f Di I olch willg ive byth, a him chan thanks # milfor di ev olch, er, -

Di While f I olch,breathe, tra bo through yn all ofmy days chwyth,

Di While f I olch,breathe, tra bo through yn all ofmy chwyth, days

Meno mosso q = c 66 Meno mosso q = c 66

As mp fy a na hu tur man,- he we was as di eitempt dem ed tio,-

Yn As fy a hu na tur man,he we was di ei as - dem tempt ed tio,-

Fel As y the

mp As Yn a fy hu na man, turhe was we di ei as - dem tempt ed tio,-

mp Yn As fy a hu na tur man,& pp

frail,

la’ - o who ddyn sure ly -ol - f all, r yw, -

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Yn As fy a na hu tur man,&

Fel As y the gwae frail, la’ - o who ddyn sure ol lyr yw, f all, - Yn As fy a

Fel As y the frail, gwael -a’ o who ddyn sure ol lyr yw, f all, -

he we was di ei as - dem tempt ed tio,-

Fel As y the frail, gwael -a’ who o sure ddyn ly ol- r yw, f all, -

23. Gabr iel’s Message

Basque carol Birjina gaztetto bat zegoen based on Luke 1: 26 Paraphrased and translated by Sabine Bar ing-Gould (1834–1924)

Basque folk melody Ar ranged by Olivia Sparkhall (b 1976)

say: ‘Most

24. Nunc dimittis

Luke 2: 29–32 Amy Summer s (b. 1996)

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25. Bethlehem’s Star/Betlehems stjär na

Swedish poem: Viktor Rydberg (1828–95) from Vapensmeden (1891)

English translation: Mark Safstrom (b 1980)

Lightly q = 84

bbbb Ch 8', 2' (br ight)

Alice Tegnér (1864–1943) Ar ranged by Sarah MacDonald (b. 1968)

Star *Gläns Solo light ö - on ver -

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& bbbb

sea sjö and och strand, sand, dis stjär tant nare ur ﬂec fjär - tion; ran,& bbbb ? bbbb & bbbb

Light du, who, som at i God’s Ö com ster - land, mand,& bbbb ? bbbb

*This work may be sung entirely in English, or with Swedish words substituted where g iven

he tän ralds des --re av demp Her - tion, ran! --& bbbb ? bbbb nn & bbbb

Shines Stjär Tutti mf for th nan -from från hea Bet ven’s le- hem dome,& bbbb ? bbbb

& bbbb

leads le not der -a ej way, bor t, - but men & bbbb ? bbbb

& bbbb

Shep Bar mf

& bbbb

Shep Bar mf

& ‹ bbbb

Shep Bar mf

? bbbb

herds nenand och chil her dren darsee, nafol föl low jayou dig joy gär ful - ly, na,-

Shep Bar mf herds nenand och chil her dren darsee, nafol föl low jayou dig joy gär ful - ly, na,& bbbb

bbbb

& bbbb

br il strå p liant lanly deshi stjär ning - star, na,br il strå lian lantly deshi stjär ning& ‹ bbbb ∑ p br il strå liant lanly deshi stjär ning - star, na,shi stjär ning& bbbb

& bbbb

Sw str ings p

Solo 4' mp ?

? bbbb Ped

wake

to the glo r ious - sound, an gels - in choir re sound -

wake f to the glo r ious - sound, an gels - in choir re sound -

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b wake f to the glo r ious - sound, an gels - in choir re sound? b wake f to the glo r ious - sound, an gels - in choir re sound. -

Look

Look to the East, a star, shi ning -

to the East, a star, Beth le - -hem’s shi ning -

Descant (Solo or semi-chor us)

The p star is shi ning , - the & bbbbbb

Lea p ving - their ﬁelds and ﬂock, pa ra - -dise seek - ing - shep herds - in

Lea p ving - their ﬁelds and ﬂock, pa ra - -dise seek - ing - shep herds - in ? bbbbbb

Lea p ving - their ﬁelds and ﬂock, pa ra - -dise seek - ing - shep herds - in &

shep -herds fol low, - star light - lead ing , -

dark ness - walk, star light - them lead ing.mp Star, up in

bbbbbb

dark ness - walk, star light - them lead ingmp Star, up in

bbbbbb dark ness - walk, star light - them lead ing.mp Star, up in

hea

hea -ven’s dome, leads not a

hea ven’s - dome, leads not a way,

Shep herds - and chil dren

Shep

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Shep herds

and chil dren - see,

Shep herds

and chil dren - see,

br il strå Tutti mf liant lanly deshi stjär ning - star, na,br il strå f liant lanly deshi stjär ning& bbbb

br il strå mf liant lanly deshi stjär ning - star, na,br il strå f liant lanly deshi stjär ning-

br il strå mf liant lanly deshi stjär ning - star, na,br il strå f liant lanly de- stjär shi ning? bbbb

br il strå mf liant lanly deshi stjär ning - star, na,br il strå f liant lanly deshi stjär ning-

& bbbb

Alison Willis (b. 1971)

Biographies & Commentary

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15th Century Sloane Manuscript 2593 Freely, with

1. Amy Beach (née Cheney) (1867–1944)

Amy Bebbington (b. 1975)

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Amy Cheney was born in Henniker, New Hampshire, US. She displayed exceptional musical ability as a very young child and by the age of 18 she had already established a career as a concert pianist, appearing as soloist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1885. Upon her marriage, her solo career was curtailed by the prevailing expectations that a married upperclass wife should not continue to engage in public performances, and so Amy Beach turned to composition - in which she had largely to be self-taught - earning significant praise (albeit gender-referenced) for her Mass in E flat, premièred by the Handel and Haydn Society of Boston, in 1892. Her Festival Jubilate, performed at the World’s Fair in Chicago in 1893, is thought to be the earliest commissioned work by a US woman composer. This endorsement of her abilities was followed by similarly successful large-scale works including her Gaelic Symphony (1896). Outliving her husband by some 34 years, Beach revived her solo career after 1910, freed to tour Europe and to develop and extend her significant compositional output.

Lord, now lettest thou (Nunc dimittis), was published in 1891 by A P Schmidt without a Gloria: a Gloria has been composed sympathetically by Sarah MacDonald to enable this work to be included appropriately within the liturgy. Occasional minor rhythmic changes have been made and some underlay adjustments were required in order to accommodate the 1662 Book of Common Prayer translation of the words.

2. Judith Bingham OBE (b. 1952)

Born in Nottingham and brought up in Mansfield and Sheffield, Judith Bingham began composing as a small child, and then studied Composition and singing at the Royal Academy of Music in London. She was for many years in the BBC Singers before becoming their Composer in Residence. Her career has been marked by many outstanding works for the Church. In later years she has become known for her organ music, but she has also written large-scale works for orchestra, a church opera, The Ivory Tree, and a substantial canon of chamber music. Composition prizes include: the Barlow Prize for a cappella music in 2004 and four British Composer Awards in the choral, instrumental and liturgical categories. The University of Aberdeen awarded her an Honorary Doctorate in 2017 and in 2020 she was awarded the OBE for services to music.

Lo! the star forms part of Missa Brevis IV: Videntes Stellam. It was commissioned by the Dean and Chapter of Västerås Cathedral, Sweden, and first performed by Västerås Domkyrkas Motettkör, conducted by Johan Hammarström with Johan Lindström, organ. It is dedicated to The Very Reverend Margarethe Isberg, Dean of Västerås Cathedral, on the occasion of her retirement, January 6th, 2015.

3. Kerensa Briggs (b. 1991)

Kerensa Briggs is an award-winning composer based in London. Her music has been performed internationally at venues including St Paul’s Cathedral and the Sistine Chapel and has

and

such as The Tallis Scholars, the

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15th Century Sloane Manuscript 2593 Freely, with feeling q = c 69

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Singers and the choirs of Hereford, Worcester and Gloucester Cathedrals. Amongst other accolades Kerensa was winner of the National Centre for Early Music Young Composers Award 2014. She is a member of the TheoArtistry Composers scheme at the University of St Andrews Institute for Theology, Imagination and the Arts; the Illuminate Women’s Music project, and is a board member for the International Alliance for Women in Music. Her love of sacred music emanates from her choral background – she was a member of Gloucester Cathedral Youth Choir, the choir of Trinity College Cambridge, and the choir of King’s College London where she held a Choral Scholarship and undertook an MMus in Composition. A tender shoot was commissioned by Cathedral Commissions of Wells Cathedral, for Wells Cathedral Choir and Jeremy Cole. The piece will be given its première during the Wells Cathedral Carol Services in December 2020.

4. Maddalena Casulana (c.1544–c.1590)

Amy Bebbington (b. 1975)

Maddalena Casulana’s place of birth is not certain, but it is known that she spent much of her life in or around the cities of Florence and Venice, where she came into contact with other composers such as Orlando di Lasso, who certainly knew her music, and with publishers such as Giuglio Bonagiunta, who included four of her four-part madrigals within his anthology Il Desiderio (I), in 1566. Just two years later Girolamo Scotto published a complete volume of her four-part madrigals, Il primo libro di madrigali, which may have been the first volume of printed music by a woman in the history of European classical music. That volume was dedicated to Isabella de’ Medici, daughter of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Cosimo I, with whom she corresponded, though whether the two women were merely acquainted, or friends, is not clear. She appears, highly unusually for her time, to have continued an independent professional life as a published composer, singer and lutenist, after her marriage. While much of her secular output survives, documentation records that she composed at least two books of madrigali spirituali that are yet to be discovered.

Attesa / Expectation employs the music of one of Casulana’s secular madrigals, Io d’odorate fronde, published in Il secondo libro de’ madrigali a quattro voci (1570). This modern edition is a faithful transcription of Casulana’s original manuscript with very minor adaptations. The new text has been idiomatically constructed by Miriam Endersby to serve Casulana’s compositional style, and provides a suitable work for Advent and for the Feasts of St John the Baptist.

5. Sarah Cattley (b. 1995)

Sarah read Music at Newnham College, Cambridge. Since graduating in 2016, her music has been performed across the UK, as well as in France, Sweden and Ireland, and broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and Resonance FM. After winning Caritas Chamber Choir’s Composition Competition in 2017, she became their Composer of the Year; four of her pieces for that choir appear on their CDs. In 2019, she won the National Centre for Early Music Young Composers Award and the Jesus College Cambridge Composition Competition in 2020. Her recent commissions include Preces and Responses for the 2019 London Festival of Contemporary Church Music broadcast Choral Evensong. Ivy, chief of trees it is was composed for Granta Chorale, and premièred by them in December 2019 in the chapel of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. It

6. [Gwendolen] Avril Coleridge-Taylor (1903–98)

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Freely, with feeling

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Avril Coleridge-Taylor was born into musical families on both her father’s and her mother’s sides and while still in her early teens she won a scholarship to Trinity College of Music where her tutors included Gordon Jacob and Henry Wood. She wrote large-scale and smallscale works for keyboard, voice and orchestra, many of which have pastoral, sorrowful or romantic themes. While she did promote her own compositions and musicianship, enjoying some success as a composer and conductor, a significant focus of her adulthood was to sustain her father’s memory (the loss of her father at the age of nine had affected her deeply), and she became an energetic advocate, conducting concerts of his music and, in 1979, writing a biography of his life. Throughout their lives her father’s celebrated work Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast was to link and influence, both personally and musically, the members of her nuclear family. Avril Coleridge-Taylor’s mixed heritage (her paternal greatgrandfather was a freed slave from America who travelled from Canada to Sierra Leone in the mid 1800s), was to affect her markedly in her middle years when she was asked to leave South Africa (during the apartheid regime) in 1952 whilst on a musical tour, but in 1957 the contrasting worlds of her heritage came together when she was invited to compose the Ceremonial march for Ghana’s independence (from Britain). Avril Coleridge-Taylor is recorded as having felt a ‘double-prejudice’ as a Black woman composer. Her later life was spent in East Sussex, where her descendants still live, and where she composed several pieces that reflected her love of the Sussex Downs such as Sussex landscape

Amy Bebbington (b. 1975)

The Shepherd was composed in 1948 for unspecified voices, under the name of Peter Riley, a pseudonym sometimes used by Avril Coleridge-Taylor. It is suitable for use at Christmastide and on Good Shepherd Sunday. Minor editorial amendments have been made to the score in line with the editor’s understanding of the composer’s intentions.

7. Libby

Croad (b. 1981)

Libby Croad is a composer, arranger and violinist. She studied violin and Composition at the Royal Academy of Music, graduating in 2004. She has written music scores for film and TV production, with albums released for Felt Music, Deep East Music and BMG Production Music. Her choral music is popular with choirs and audiences alike and has been broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and Radio 4. Her Suite for Strings has been performed by some of London’s top chamber orchestras and the first movement, Strati, was broadcast on BBC Radio 3 for International Women’s Day, 2018.

Silent night was premièred by The New London Singers, directed by Ivor Setterfield, in 2016. Since then it has been performed many times by the Chapel Choir of Girton College, Cambridge directed by Gareth Wilson, and their rendition was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on 29th December, 2019 during Sunday Worship.

8. Melanie DeMore (b. 1955)

Melanie DeMore is a singer, composer, community musician and social activist. She was born in the Bronx area of New York but has travelled widely, researching and implementing ways in which music (and in particular, song) can be used as a tool for building stronger communities through education and shared experiences. She helps to preserve the African American Folk Tradition through song and Gullah stick pounding, and works

with

in social justice, including Speak Out!,

15th Century Sloane Manuscript 2593

The Institute for Social and Cultural change, and The Hass Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society. She is highly esteemed as a singer, having been a founder member of the Grammy Award-nominated vocal ensemble Linda Tillery and the Cultural Heritage Choir. Her teaching is embedded within a wide community in which she is held in high regard for her ability to use song for healing.

Amy Bebbington (b. 1975)

Blessed be! was commissioned by Philip Brunelle in celebration of his wife Carolyn’s fiftieth year as a member of the Plymouth Congregational Choir, Minneapolis.

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9. Emily Hazrati (b. 1998)

Soprano 1 Soprano

Emily Hazrati is a composer studying at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. She completed her MPhil in Composition at Newnham College, Cambridge in 2020 having graduated with a BA in Music from Oxford University in 2019. Her works have been performed and workshopped by The Choir of Clare College, Cambridge, Tim Gill and David Gompper, Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra, The Choir of Lincoln College, Oxford, The Korrigan Consort, Richard Casey, and Chroma Ensemble, amongst many others. She was commissioned by Choir & Organ Magazine as part of their 2020 New Music series and is writing a new guitar work for Tom McKinney on Psappha’s ‘Composing for…’ scheme. In 2015, she won the Royal Opera House Fanfare Competition; her fanfare was recorded and played as a warning gong at the Royal Opera House for an entire year. Emily is also an active mezzo-soprano, pianist and clarinettist. Most recently, she managed the Minerva Festival’s Composition Competition for female and non-binary composers.

Coventry Carol was premièred by Lincoln College Chapel Choir, Oxford, in their Carol Service on 2nd December, 2017. The US première was given at Lincoln College’s Alumni Reception on 10th April, 2019, at The Cornell Club, New York.

10. Tamsin Jones (b. 1972)

Tamsin Jones studied music at Newcastle University and then at the University of Birmingham, gaining a PhD there under the supervision of Professor Colin Timms. In recent years she has concentrated increasingly on composition, earning numerous commissions, prizes and performances on both sides of the Atlantic. Tamsin’s music is noted for its rhythmic vitality, contrapuntal textures and combination of Early Music influences with a contemporary attitude to dissonance.

Noel: Verbum caro factum est was originally composed (in a different SATB version) for the Gabrieli Choir, directed by Richárd Sólyom, who premièred the piece at St Margaret’s Anglican Episcopal Church, Budapest on 15th December, 2017. Since then it has been performed numerous times both in the UK and US.

11. Hannah Kendall (b. 1984)

Hannah Kendall studied at the University of Exeter and then at the Royal College of Music where she earned a Distinction for her MA in Advanced Composition. Her music has been performed by such groups as the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the BBC Singers and the Choir of St Paul’s Cathedral (London) and she has earned accolades for its intricacy, imagination and originality. In 2015 she won the Women of the Future Award for Arts and Culture, recognising her diverse interests, collaborations and dedication to contemporary culture. Kendall works

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15th Century Sloane Manuscript 2593 Freely, with feeling q = c 69 Amy Bebbington (b. 1975)

2017 her work The Spark Catchers, composed for Chineke!, an international organisation ‘championing change and celebrating diversity in classical music’, was premièred at the Royal Albert Hall as part of the BBC Proms. Her commission for the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Tuxedo: Vasco ‘de’ Gama was given its world première at the First Night of the Proms in 2020. She is currently Doctoral Fellow in Composition at Columbia University, New York. Nativity was premièred by the BBC Singers on 10th April, 2008 at St Bride’s Church, Fleet Street (London).

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12. Isabella Leonarda (1620–1704)

Isabella Leonarda was born in Novara, Italy, into a religious family of minor nobility, and entered the Collegio di Sant’Orsola in 1636. Whether she was a cloistered Ursuline nun or a ‘religious virgin’ living out her vocation (or obligation) is unclear. Annotated manuscripts, which Leonarda dedicated variously to local nobles, but also, always, to the Virgin Mary, demonstrate that she held senior religious and organisational roles within the College, as well as that of magistra musicae (music teacher). Her first published works were two sacred dramatic dialogues which appeared within Terzo libro di sacri concenti, an anthology published by Gasparo Casati in 1640. A gap of more than 30 years in the publication of her works is unexplained. From 1676 onwards many of her works were published in quick succession - over 200 survive - including conservatively-composed liturgical and non-liturgical sacred works for boys’ and mens’ voices, and many instrumental works including her Sonate a 1,2,3,4 istromenti opera decima sesta published in Bologna in 1693, as yet the earliest-known solely instrumental works composed by a woman.

Alma Redemptoris Mater is one of four seasonal liturgical Marian Antiphons sung in honour of the Virgin Mary during Advent, the other three being Ave Regina caelorum, Regina caeli, and Salve Regina. Alma Redemptoris Mater was published by Camagni of Milan in 1684 in the collection Motetti a quattro voci. Barlines, clefs, beaming, slurs and text have been regularised and modernised throughout; minor corrections have been made where necessary.

13. Sarah MacDonald (b. 1968)

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Sarah MacDonald is a Canadian-born organist, conductor and composer, currently living in the UK, where she is Fellow and Director of Music at Selwyn College, Cambridge, and Director of Ely Cathedral Girls’ Choir. She has been at Selwyn since 1999 and is the first woman to have held such a post in an Oxbridge chapel. She studied at Toronto’s Glenn Gould School and at Cambridge University. Her teachers were Leon Fleisher, Marek Jablonski, John Tuttle and David Sanger. She has performed across the UK, North America, the Middle East and mainland Europe, and is in demand as a conductor and teacher for international residential courses. She has made over 35 commercial recordings and has had numerous choral works published. She holds the Fellowship diploma of the Royal College of Organists and writes a popular monthly column for the American Guild of Organists’ magazine, The American Organist. In 2018 MacDonald received the honorary ARSCM (Associate of the Royal School of Church Music) in recognition of her contribution to choral music. An advocate for women’s sacred music, MacDonald is series editor for the Sarah MacDonald Choral Series with Selah Publishing. Hymn for the Feasts of

for

volume by Sarah MacDonald

support of these anthologies. The anonymous carol Joseph, lieber Joseph mein, which first appeared in the 1544 edition of Johann Walter’s Geistliches Gesangbüchlein, forms an optional Alto descant part in this work. It was premièred by video by members of Siglo De Oro, directed by Patrick Allies, in late 2020.

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14. Elizabeth Maconchy DBE (1907–94)

Soprano

Amy Bebbington (b. 1975)

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Unlike many of the other composers in this anthology, Elizabeth Maconchy did not come from a musical family. But after she showed early musical promise, her supportive, recently-widowed mother moved the family to London so that she could study at the Royal College of Music (RCM). A suggestion by the director of the RCM that Maconchy would stop composing after marriage proved wrong. Instead she enjoyed a startlingly successful beginning to her career with high-profile premières including The Land, a four-movement suite for large orchestra, performed at the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts (later the BBC Proms) in 1930. Many performances followed, in England, Ireland and on the continent. She became Vice President of the Society for Women Musicians and later, President of the Society for the Promotion of New Music. Despite nearly dying from tuberculosis, Maconchy composed nearly 200 works including 13 highly regarded string quartets, some 40 orchestral pieces and 12 works for stage. (Olivia Sparkhall and Nicola LeFanu)

Nowell, Nowell, Nowell was commissioned by Cambridge University Press for The Cambridge Hymnal, edited by David Holbrook and Elizabeth Poston, first published in 1967.

15. Emma Mundella (1858–96)

Emma Mundella came from a liberally-minded family of textile workers in Nottingham (UK), and the Unitarian Church provided both her academic and her religious education. In 1876 she moved to London, supported financially through a scholarship from the Corporation of Nottingham, to be amongst the first cohort of The National Training School for Music (which later became the Royal College of Music). She received tuition from several grandees of the late 19th century including Sir Arthur Sullivan, Sir John Stainer and Frederick Bridge CVO, and she maintained friendships with them throughout her life, even commissioning them to compose new works for the 2nd edition of her most important oeuvre, the nondenominational Day School Hymn Book (published posthumously in 1896). For all but one year of her teaching career, Mundella worked at Wimbledon High School where she composed primarily, but not exclusively, for the benefit of the pupils and teachers. Her music was widely published by Novello and others. She remained unmarried and deeply committed to her work, even to the detriment of her own health.

The Desert is from the 1892 Novello publication, Twelve New Carols for Christmastide, written by Shapcott Wensley, with each poem set to music by a different composer. An accompaniment and descant have been added to the modest, strophic setting, in this edition by Olivia Sparkhall.

16. Helena Paish (b. 2002)

Helena Paish was joint-winner of the BBC Radio 2 Young Choristers of the Year competition in 2014, and joined the first cohort of girl choristers at Truro Cathedral in 2015, under the directorship of Christopher Gray. In 2019 she was a winner in the Upper Junior category of the annual BBC

Her

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Freely, with feeling q = c 69 Amy Bebbington (b. 1975)

by the BBC Singers, conducted by Sofi Jeannin in August 2019 as part of the BBC Proms season. Following this success she was commissioned by the BBC to compose Life, part of Seven Ages of Woman, an innovative seven-movement composition to mark International Women’s Day 2020, in which each composer represented a different decade of life. The complete work was recorded by the BBC Singers, directed by Grace Rossiter, and broadcast on March 8th 2020. Helena is currently studying Music at Trinity College, Cambridge, where she also holds a Choral Scholarship.

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While Mary Slept was composed specially for this volume, to enrich the repertoire of post-Epiphany works with texts by women poets. The piece will be given its première at Truro Cathedral’s Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols on Christmas Eve, 2020.

17. Maria Theresia von Paradis (1759–1824)

Maria Theresia von Paradis was born into a family closely connected with the Austrian court: this association brought her into contact with high-ranking musicians throughout her life, including Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Antonio Salieri, from whom she received Composition lessons. A virtuoso pianist and organist and skilled singer, her musical potential might have been hampered by her loss of sight in early childhood, were it not for the determination of her mother and the financial support of Empress Maria Theresia (after whom von Paradis was named). A composer from early adulthood, she wrote operas, cantatas, songs and works for piano, using a compositional aid devised by her librettist, Johann Riedinger, to enable her to notate her works more easily. In later life she dedicated herself to her own private music school where she taught singing and piano, with the express intention of improving educational opportunities for girls and women.

Es ist ein’ Ros’, a well-known Marian text, is employed in this setting in place of the original words Der Auferstehungs-Morgen (The Resurrection Morning), which was one of 12 songs published as Zwölf Lieder auf ihrer Reise in Musik gesetzt by Breitkopf, in 1786. The Soprano melody and piano accompaniment in this arrangement are original to von Paradis; a sympathetic second soprano line has been added in this edition by Olivia Sparkhall.

18. Katharine Parton (b. 1982)

Katharine Parton is an Australian conductor and composer who champions opportunities for young women conductors. She is currently completing a PhD on conductor gesture and orchestral interaction at the University of Melbourne, having spent three years as Director of Music and Bye-Fellow at Fitzwilliam College, University of Cambridge. She has received national and international awards recognising the innovative nature of her work on cognition, music and gesture. Her own composition centres on the juxtaposition of the natural world and technology. Her works have been workshopped and performed in England, Scotland and Australia by groups including Voces8 and the Fitzwilliam College Chapel Choir.

Gaudebat et Ridebat! was composed for Fitzwilliam College Chapel Choir and was premièred in November 2015.

19. Yshani Perinpanayagam (b. 1983)

Yshani Perinpanayagam is a concert pianist, Musical Director, composer and teacher. Her extensive training included studies at the Royal College of Music and at Guildhall School of Music and Drama; she now teaches at both of these establishments. As a concert

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pianist she has performed with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Britten Sinfonia, and the BBC Concert Orchestra and has performed at venues including Queen Elizabeth Hall, Wigmore Hall and Barbican Theatre. Her diverse work as Musical Director includes several Olivier Award-nominated and Award-winning productions and extends to improvisatory work with notable comedy performers. Recently Perinpanayagam has developed her composition portfolio and has been commissioned by the Musicians’ Union among others.

Amy Bebbington (b. 1975)

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In Bethlehem above was written during a period of intense work by the composer, in response to the privations of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. It was premièred by video by members of Siglo De Oro, directed by Patrick Allies, in late 2020.

20. Sheena Phillips (b. 1958)

Sheena Phillips grew up in London and studied Mathematics at Cambridge University. She has directed and composed or arranged music for a wide range of community, church, school, student and professional choirs in Scotland, London and the US. She is particularly drawn to the natural world, poetry and folk music as sources of inspiration. Sheena is an active member of CoMA (Contemporary Music for All) and Editor of Canasg Music, an online choral sheet music publisher. She has studied with Emily Doolittle for several years and her choral music has been published widely and broadcast on the BBC.

The Christmas Bird was written for – and was a joint winner of – the 2012 Welcome Christmas Competition run by the Minneapolis choir VocalEssence (directed by Philip Brunelle) and the American Composers Forum. It was premièred in December 2012 by VocalEssence with Michele Antonello Frisch (flute).

21. Elizabeth Poston (1905–87)

Elizabeth Poston, well known for her unique carol, Jesus Christ the Apple Tree, was a prolific composer, particularly of songs, producing a dozen or so meticulously researched songbooks, as well as orchestral and chamber music, choral works and two operettas (altogether at least 920 works).

Born in rural Hertfordshire, she was inspired by the sounds of the countryside, saying that songs were ‘always her first and permanent love’. Her adored home, Rooks Nest House, standing on the northern outskirts of Stevenage, in view of the Chilterns, was equally appreciated by E. M. Forster, who had spent much of his youth there. He subsequently based his novel, Howards End on the house and its Poston inhabitants. Elizabeth had the moving experience of writing the incidental music for its 1970 BBC film production, as she also did for that of his Room with a View and some 65 other BBC commissions.

She had a long association with the BBC: even as a student her Compositions were broadcast; in her early 30s during World War II, she was appointed Director of Music for the European Service, transmitting coded messages in the form of precisely-timed recorded music; after the war she helped to set up the BBC Third Programme, served on the BBC Advisory Panel and broadcast as a pianist and gave talks, including two notable series on her close friend, the composer Peter Warlock, who loved 15th and 16th century texts as she did – ‘the music of the words’. (Dr John S. Alabaster author: Elizabeth Poston: Catalogue of Works with Biographical

(Alabaster, J. S., 2018)

The Lamb was first published in Elizabeth Poston’s The Children’s Song Book (Bodley Head, 1961). That publication featured several original settings of religious texts, intended by Elizabeth Poston to be learned and performed domestically, but equally suitable for liturgical use.

22. Rhian Samuel (b. 1944)

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Amy Bebbington (b. 1975)

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Rhian Samuel is a Welsh composer of over 140 published works for ensembles from full orchestra to solo instruments. The former include Tirluniau/Landscapes, premièred at the BBC Millenium Proms (2000), and Clytemnestra (for soprano and orchestra), recently issued on disc (BIS) and short-listed for a 2020 Gramophone Award. She has written for professional choirs including New College, Oxford (Ave Maria and Ave Regina Coelorum), and the BBC Singers (The Shape of Trees), as well as mixed college choirs, including her own at Reading University (Lovesongs and Observations) and City University, London, and those of Ithaca College, New York, and Washington University, St Louis, US. Samuel is the co-editor of the Norton/Grove Dictionary of Women Composers. In 2006 she was awarded the Glyndŵr Medal for services to the Arts in Wales.

Rhyfedd, rhyfedd / Wonder, wonder sets a renowned text by Welsh non-conformist hymn-writer, Ann Griffiths, which paints in brilliant colours the angels’ differing visions of the Lord of Glory and the humble birth of the Christ-child. The contrast is conveyed in this anthem which was composed specially for this volume as a tribute to the pioneering work of Louise Stewart and the ‘Multitude of Voyces’ series. The English translation follows closely the meaning and imagery of Griffiths’ poem, and reproduces the strong rhythms of the original Welsh verse.

23. Olivia Sparkhall (b. 1976)

Olivia Sparkhall is a composer, conductor and music teacher, and Head of Academic Music at Godolphin School, Salisbury (UK). She received Composition lessons from Derek Bourgeois at school, before attending Durham and Cambridge Universities. She co-founded Multitude of Voyces with Louise Stewart, for that organisation’s inaugural International Women’s Day service held in Salisbury in March 2017, and through this association has been privileged to enable more music by women to be published and performed. Her own works have been performed worldwide, with pieces featured on BBC Songs of Praise. In 2018 she was delighted to be shortlisted in the Cappella Nova composing competition. She has recently completed a Masters in Voice Pedagogy and had papers published in UK and US music journals.

Gabriel’s Message is suitable for inclusion during Advent and also on the Feast of the Annunciation and on other Marian Feast Days. An alternative harp part is available from the composer.

24. Amy Summers (b. 1996)

Amy Summers is a composer based in London. She studied music at the University of Nottingham where she was awarded the Hallward Prize for Composition and graduated with First-class honours in 2017. Having been a choral scholar at Nottingham (Roman Catholic) Cathedral, she took up the position there of Composer in Residence before continuing her studies as a postgraduate at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance. Since graduating she has had commissions from Brunel Sinfonia, the Ludlow English

Song Festival and Exultate Singers. Her music has been broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and published by several publishing houses.

Nunc dimittis was composed for Nottingham Cathedral Choir, directed by Alex Patterson, and premièred in February 2018.

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25. Alice Tegnér (1864–1943)

Bebbington (b. 1975)

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Soprano

Alice Tegnér was born in Karlshamn in southern Sweden and she received her early musical education from her father. At the age of 13 she moved to Stockholm to continue her musical studies, and there she received Composition and piano lessons from Hermann Berens, a teacher at the Royal Swedish Academy of Music. She flourished both musically and socially in her new surroundings, but financial hardship and the conservative nature of her marriage later restricted her own musical development, and she turned her attention instead to teaching, which would become her lifelong passion. An interest in the social and educational benefits of music to children formed the focus of much of her compositional output – she was a prolific writer of children’s songs – and she lived out a life of social activism and charitable generosity, contributing greatly to the musical and educational life in Djursholm, a suburb of Stockholm, later becoming influential nationally through the publication of her children’s songbook Nu ska vi sjunga. In 1924 she was elected to The Royal Swedish Academy of Music and her work remains a significant part of Swedish musical life. Bethlehem’s Star / Betlehems stjärna, originally published in 1893 as a solo song with piano accompaniment, has been specially arranged by Sarah MacDonald for this volume, as part of our work to promote and raise awareness of important historical musical educators. Betlehems stjärna has become one of Alice Tegnér’s best-known works and is closely associated with the celebrations of St Lucia on 13th December. This arrangement is dedicated to Louise and Andrew Stewart, with gratitude and admiration. In turn they offer their warm thanks to Sarah MacDonald for her unstinting support of this Anthology series.

26. Alison Willis (b. 1971)

Alison Willis is an award-winning composer whose works have been performed and broadcast internationally. She studied Composition with Alan Bullard and George Benjamin and is completing a PhD with Paul Mealor and Phillip Cooke at the University of Aberdeen. Her music has been described as “Stunning”, “Intensely moving”, “Beautiful yet pragmatic” and “Saying what you have to say and then stopping”. She finds particular inspiration in historical sources and events and social issues and enjoys working collaboratively with both young people and adults. She is also an experienced pianist, organist, folk musician and Musical Director, enjoys composing music for theatre and is a Trustee of the Martin Read Foundation, supporting young composers. Alison is delighted to be included in this third volume and very grateful to Louise Stewart and the Multitude of Voyces team for all their hard work and dedication.

There is no rose (an allegory for the Virgin Mary), is the second movement of Rosarium, a set of five medieval carols which can be sung individually or as a collection.

Amy