Music by Edward CaineWords: Anonymous 14th/15th Century M and A and R and I is one of many Marian hymns found in the Sloane 2593 Manuscript. The words echo the Stabat Mater, a poem in which Mary visits Jesus on…
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How to Pronounce Boris Ord’s Adam lay Ybownden
Boris Ord's Adam lay ybownden is a popular Christmas piece amongst amateur and professional choirs alike for its simplicity and and beauty. There have been many other settings of this text by, amongst others, Thea Musgrave and Howard Skempton. It…
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How to pronounce Benjamin Britten’s “Wolcum Yule”
During the mid 20th century, the uncovering of some important manuscripts led to a renewed interest in medieval music and poetry. Composer Benjamin Britten was involved in creating editions of newly uncovered Purcell manuscripts and himself wrote a large collection…
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Medieval Resources for Composers
thou wost wol little ho is thi foo.you know well little who is your foe.partial song from Sloane MS 2593 Owing to a growing interest in Medieval Music and manuscripts, partly because of the uncovering of key manuscripts in the…
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Nunc Gaudet Maria for SATB choir with divisi
Music by Edward CaineWords: Anonymous 14th/15th Century Nunc Gaudet Maria ("We worship Mary") is one of many Marian hymns found in the Sloane 2593 Manuscript. The Source I’m always on the lookout for interesting texts and I’m not sure why…
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Jhesu, Jhesu, Saf us alle thorw thy vertu for SATB choir
Jhesu, Jhesu, Saw us alle thorw [sic] thy vertu was written in the winter of 2020 under national lockdown. I had two rare daytimes when I could focus on composing, and fancied working on some more Sloane MS 2593 texts.…
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Jankyn at the Angnus for SATB choir and Organ
https://www.youtube.com/embed/kEnm7e4t7Rk Jankyn at the Angnus is a carol that I wrote in the hope that Birmingham choir Ex Cathedra would perform it, and which they performed in their Christmas Music by Candlelight Series in 2019. It was also performed by community…
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Advice for performers on working with composers
Collaborative performer and musicologist Heather Roche wrote on her blog detailing some Advice for young composers about collaborating with performers, especially groups of performers. It's an informed and well written article with some great advice that should definitely be followed to the…
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The Problem of “New” Music
As hard as this problem is to nail down, the problems relating to the nature and style of new music, and pedagogical practice in University music departments relating to composition remain evident in the social practices and assumptions of its…
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Hoo Mei in Huhehote
(Written after a china tour with choir The 24 in 2011) Well, it's time to go home. I'm starting this on our connecting flight to Beijing. From there we will be flying directly to Heathrow. I've been humming "Take me…
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