Boosey & Hawkes Contemporary Choral Series

Ave virgo sanctissima was commissioned by Robert Sharpe and the Choir of York Minster, for the service of "Nine Lessons and Carols" in 2023. The text is a lyrical prayer which praises the virtue of Ma...

O sing to the Lord was commissioned by Peter Asprey and premiered by the Choir of Holy Sepulchre, London, as the introit for a special service to mark St Cecilia’s Day in 2024. The uplifting text, tak...

Bird Raptures, a set of three pieces which draw inspiration stylistically from twentieth-century partsong, was composed for St Martin’s Voices in spring 2025, especially for Lucy Walker’s debut album...

Echo is the third movement of Seascapes, which was commissioned by the BBC Singers, as companion music to the Four Sea Interludes by Benjamin Britten, arranged for the organ by Anna Lapwood. It was pr...

Setting of a prayer by Mother Cornelia Connelly, foundress of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus in 1846 and latterly Mayfield School. In 1863 she was inspired to transform the ruins of the Old Palac...

Setting of Latin text combining a versicle at Matins on the Feast of St Andrew with a fragment of a prayer attributed to him.

New settings of the two evening canticles which incorporate jazz elements, including harmony in voice parts and organ and many 'blue' notes. Despite these jazz elements, the music is very approachable...

Written for the Pembroke College Chapel Choir in November 2022, Drop down, ye heavens is a setting of the refrain and final stanza of the Advent Prose, itself based on various portions of the Book of...

Short motet commissioned by St Dominic’s Sixth Form College, Harrow-on-the-Hill, UK, to celebrate its 40th anniversary. MacMillan chose a text which is entirely appropriate to young people about to be...

This is an approachable and affecting setting of a devotional poem by the revered Carmelite nun St Thérèse of Lisieux (1873–97). The choral writing, marked ‘placid’, comprises simple four-part homopho...

A setting of Christina Rossetti’s poem Dream Land, the raw emotional quality of Dreamland reflects on the beautiful imagery and themes of fantasy and death of the poem. Written in the Autumn of 2020,...

Commissioned by the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra and Chorus for a commemorative event in 2022, this work presents the composer's celebrated Passcaglia for string orchestra of 1995 in a new scorin...

A welcome addition to this composer’s output of secular choral works, Oh Sleep! is a beautiful and lyrical setting which will be appreciated by choirs both amateur and professional. It was composed to...

Composed for performance at the 2022 Cumnock Tryst, the community-based annual music festival established by James MacMillan in the Ayrshire town where he grew up. MacMillan comments that “my earliest...

This work for solo soprano, solo cello and mixed chorus (SATB with divisi) was first performed at the University College Dublin Foundation Day celebration in November 2013, and later recorded by the C...

I am a pool is taken from A Memory of the Ocean (2023), a collection of pieces scored for choir, piano and cello. The text is a setting of The Sea-Wind by American poet, Sara Teasdale (1884–1933). Com...

Hans Winterberg's Quintet was composed in 1981/82 at his last residence in Steppberg, Bavaria, on the occasion of a composition competition organised by the East German Cultural Council. Until the rel...

O the depth is a devotional work, suitable as an introit or short anthem, which couples together a passage from the New Testament (Romans 11) and a single verse from the Old Testament (Isaiah 55) whic...

This short, rhythmical work is inspired by an area of McGlade's native Cornwall and uses the text of Percy Bysshe Shelley's poem of the same name. The area, where a common meets the sea, is home to ma...

Composer’s note Tantum Ergo should have a chant-like feel especially on the repeated pitches. Keep the tempo flexible to enable effective contrast in dynamics and a sustained sound throughout. The acc...

Composer’s note O sacrum convivium was written in 2007 - it is one of my earliest choral compositions. Olivier Messiaen’s setting had a profound impact on me as a young chorister. As John Cooper, the...

Composer’s note O sacrum convivium was written in 2007 - it is one of my earliest choral compositions. Olivier Messiaen’s setting had a profound impact on me as a young chorister. As John Cooper, the...

Composer’s note In Jubilate Deo I have gone back to the music to which I was introduced from a very early age as a chorister at Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim, Norway. Singing regularly in concerts an...

Weddings are joyful occasions - for the happy couple as well as for their community. When a couple stands before their friends and families, and sometimes in sacred settings before God, they make vows...

Composer's note: 'On yesternight I saw a sight was set as a means of thanking Jo Tomlinson for promoting and recording my music with the excellent choristers of Farnham Youth Choir. Knowing that the g...