Ave Maria
The Catholic prayer to the Mother of God begins with a direct quote from the Archangel Gabriel when he visited Mary for the annunciation … More Ave Maria
The Catholic prayer to the Mother of God begins with a direct quote from the Archangel Gabriel when he visited Mary for the annunciation … More Ave Maria
This well known prayer has been set to music by many, many composers through the centuries. This arrangement is less well known as it was written in the last 10 years specifically for a small group of musicians known as “Madrigirls” based at the University of Glasgow … More Ave Maria – K L Cooper (b.1979)
This beautiful melody had slipped completely from my memory until I saw the phrase ‘Light of the World’ in “Walking Backwards to Christmas”, the text used by the Advent group in December … More Light of the World – Lyrics: Paul Wigmore (1925-2014), Music: John Dankworth (1927-2010)
On the twelfth day of Christmas my True Love sent to me…gold, frankincense and myrrh, delivered by an unspecified number of “wise” men who had travelled a long and arduous journey from the east, guided only by an unusually bright star in the sky … More Navidad Nuestra: Los Reyes Magos Ariel Ramirez (1921-2010)
A quote often attributed to St Francis of Assisi is that we should endeavour to “Preach the gospel at all times…use words if you must”. I myself have found that quite often, words are superfluous to finding spiritual meaning in music … More Instrumental Music for Worship
Navidad Nuestra (“First Christmas”) is a 6-movement work that takes us from the Annunciation through the Pilgrimmage, the Nativity, the Shepherds and the Three Kings to the Flight to Egypt … More Navidad Nuestra: El Nacimento Ariel Ramirez (1921-2010)
Written in 1942, this is a choral piece, scored for three-part treble chorus (usually children, but can also be women), solo voices, and harp … More Ceremony of Carols Op. 8 – Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)
I have written before that sometimes I hear, sing or play a piece of music and just have to write about it immediately. It can then sit for quite some time waiting for an appropriate time for publication … More Better is Peace (Jenkins 2001)
November is truly a time of remembrance, and a few years ago Rev Debby wrote this song to help us remember all that should be remembered … More The November Song – D Plummer
As I have written previously, 2018 is a year of deep remembrance, being the centenary of the ending of the First World War … More A Flower Remembered (Rutter 1945-present)