Tag: music

The Owl – Toby Young (b. 1990), text by Jennifer Thorpe (b. 1988)

February 11, 2025

Musicians planning repertoire for their ensembles are usually considerably ahead of the calendar. It was no surprise then that all the students on a conducting training weekend in June 2024 were set Christmas carols from a new publication, “Carols for Choirs 6”. We learned some fabulous new Christmas music that weekend, and most students programmed these carols for their choirs this Christmas – including Notability, the Whitefield choir that I practiced with ahead of the course … More The Owl – Toby Young (b. 1990), text by Jennifer Thorpe (b. 1988)

The Advent Prose (Rorate Coeli)

January 14, 2025

This is one of the most challenging pieces of music I sing in the liturgical year (the other being the Lent Prose, for all the same reasons). It’s an ancient plainsong chant, using text from Isaiah, in which the patriarchs and prophets of the Old Testament express their longings for the coming of the Messiah and cleansing of human sins. It is sung through Advent, building the number of verses Sunday by Sunday … More The Advent Prose (Rorate Coeli)