John Rutter Sheet Music for Choir and Instruments

Full choral sound in good British tradition! Sheet music by John Rutter

John Milford Rutter (born September 24, 1945 in London), John Rutter for short, is one of the best-known contemporary composers of choral music.
While still studying music in Cambridge, Rutter created his first choral works and recorded them with the Clare College Choir under his direction. Among them the popular “Shepherd's Pipe Carol”  (composed at the age of 18) and his “Gloria”  for mixed choir, wind instruments, percussion and organ.
His talent and musical ability earned John Rutter the position of Music Director at Clare College at the age of 30 – this, in turn, helped the college choir to leap onto the international stage under the direction of John Rutter.

After only four years in office, Rutter decided to resign from his post in 1979 and to focus fully on his compositional and artistic work, for example as a producer of recordings of the chamber choir Cambridge Singers, which he had founded (descended from former members of the college choir).

“A ‘contemporary’ Composer: Can Rutter's choral music be heard and sung?” - Yes!

Anyone who thinks of “contemporary” Music that only thinks of strictly serial and discordant compositions does not do justice to this adjective. Since the 1970s, a longing for clear harmonies, melodic structures and interesting (but not too difficult) rhythms has led to the development of a new style of music in choral and church music (but not only!), which has become unwieldy attribute “contemporary” completely new life. And so the music of John Rutter can also be classified under the „Postmodernism” style, which, among other things, is directed against rigid principles and forms of composition. “Anything goes” one could say. Or (intended in a positive way): “What do I care about Adorno's opinion!”

One technique of postmodern music, for example, is to resort to stylistics, elements and structures from other epochs and genres and skillfully develop them with one's own musical ideas into a personal style. This can also be found in the works of John Rutter, which were deliberately created under the influence of traditional English choral and cathedral music, peppered with elements of popular musical forms.
In short: John Rutter's music is rich in full, harmonious sounds and clear melody lines. The arrangements are designed in such a way that even with a small cast a rich radiance is achieved: In the chamber version of his “Magnificat”  In addition to a small mixed choir, a mezzo-soprano or soprano soloist, harp and percussion, there is only one woodwind instrument (brass is replaced by an organ) and a string group 2/2/2/1/1. Watch and listen to the YouTube recording of the Kamerorkest Kamerata Zuid! You will lack for nothing. Here it becomes clear that John Rutter dealt intensively with the music of Johann Sebastian Bach: Little effort with a big effect!

In addition, John Rutter's music exudes positive energy almost throughout. Even his mass “Mass of the Children”   (First performed in New York's Carnegie Hall in 2003), which John Rutter composed on the occasion of his son who died in a traffic accident at the age of 19, carries an unshakable optimism about it.

“Speaking of ‘chamber music’: Is there also instrumental music by John Rutter?”

Yes, there are. Let's stay with the reference to Bach: With his “Suite Antique”  John Rutter unmistakably pays homage to the great Leipzig master and his “Brandenburg Concerto No. 5, BWV 1050” - both in the instrumentation and in the structure of the six movements, which are based on the baroque or classical style.

And John Rutter also composed for solo instruments, for example for flute and piano, oboe and piano, Organ solo pieces  or also own transcriptions of his works for piano solo .

You can get an overview of Rutter's instrumental music by opening the complete catalog of sheet music from John Rutter and use our filters “Category” and “Sheet Music for instruments” to limit the list of results according to the instruments offered.

“Great Britain has a proud tradition of concert bands. Is there also something by John Rutter?”

Even if John Rutter himself did not compose for concert band (Rutter's original works are available from the British publisher Oxford University Press), a few publishers and their arrangers have taken his works and published arrangements for concert band.
Sheet music by John Rutter is also available for other types of ensembles. We're happy to help you find it!
You will find sheet music from John Rutter arrangements and John Rutter original compositions for these formations here:

• John Rutter sheet music for concert band
• John Rutter sheet music for Brass Band
• John Rutter sheet music for brass ensemble
• John Rutter sheet music for mixed ensemble
• John Rutter sheet music for woodwind ensemble
• John Rutter sheet music for string orchestra
• John Rutter sheet music for chamber orchestra
• John Rutter sheet music for symphony orchestra

And of course we are also happy to list the extensive choral works by John Rutter for you here. Enrich your concert program with these popular compositions:

• John Rutter sheet music for mixed choir
• John Rutter sheet music for women's choir
• John Rutter sheet music for male choir
• John Rutter sheet music for children's choir or 1-2 part choir
• John Rutter sheet music for various choir arrangements

You can search specifically for compositions by John Rutter in our web shop,
e.g. in the notation rutter schau auf die welt, to get sheet music editions of the German version of John Rutter's Anthem for children's choir “Look at the World” .