WORKS
Discover James Whitbourn’s catalogue of works along with links to listen or purchase sheet music.
Choral, Instrumental, Vocal, Media,
Choral, Instrumental, Vocal, Media,
Choral
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Choral song commissioned to mark the 200th anniversary of the birth of Ada Lovelace.
Words by Lord Byron
5 minutes
SATB + piano
Alternative Instrumentation: SATB, violin and harp
Published by Chester Music
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Anthem for upper voices and organ.
Words from the Bible (Old Testament)
23 minutes
Upper Voices (SSS or SSA) with optional chorus of trebles + organ
Alternative instrumentation: SATB + Organ (arr. 2010)
Published by Chester Music
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Anthem to words by Saint Augustine.
Massed Unison Voices (with optional SATB chorus), organ, piano, percussion
4 minutes
Published by Chester Music Ltd.
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Anthem written for the enthronement of the Bishop of Salisbury and first performed on October 15th, 2011 in Salisbury Cathedral.
Words by Thomas Traherne.
4 minutes
SATB (div) + organ
Published by Chester Music
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Dramatic work in 14 movements setting texts from The Diary of Anne Frank
Libretto by Melanie Challenger from The Diary of Anne Frank
78 minutes
Soprano soloist, SATB Chorus, SATB Concertante Choir and Orchestra:
1111/0230/timp.4perc/pf/strPublished by Chester Music
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Dramatic work in 14 movements setting texts from The Diary of Anne Frank.
Libretto by Melanie Challenger from The Diary of Anne Frank
78 minutes
Soprano solo, SATB & chamber quartet (cl, pf, vn, vc)
Published by Chester Music
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Setting an invigorating Easter text from the Song of Songs, this episodic anthem is full of expressive passages and lyrical melodies. The canonical soprano parts are echoed in the lower voices, contributing towards the rich texture, all the while underpinned by an independent, sparkling organ part.
2.5 minutes
SSATB (div.) + organ
Published by Oxford University Press
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Anthem setting of Beatus vir commissioned for the feast day of St Matthew by St Matthew’s Church, Northampton.
Words from the Bible (Psalm 12)
4 minutes
SSATB
Published by Chester Music Ltd.
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Anthem to words datapted from the blessing of Naomi, Ruth 2.20.
3 minutes
SATB
Published by Encore Publications
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Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis (Eboracum), commissioned by the RSCM Millennium Youth Choir (Summer course) for York Minster and Bridlington Priory.
10 minutes
SATB, organ & viola
Published by Chester Music
View publisher siteListen to the RSCM Millenium Youth Choir’s performances here:
Magnificat
Nunc Dimittis -
Anthem to words by David Adam (b. 1936) from The open gate: Celtic prayers for growing spiritually
3 minutes
SATB + organ
Published by Encore Publications
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A celebratory carol in a lilting 12/8 metre, Christmas Welcome sets a joyful fifteenth-century text written by the English priest and poet John the Blind Audelay. Whitbourn employs textural contrasts and call-and-response style pairings of voices to great effect, and the soloistic organ writing allows plenty of opportunity for organists to explore the full range of their instrument.
2.5 minutes
SATB + organ
Alternative Instrumentation: SATB + orchestra: picc, 2 fl, ob, 2 cl, 2 bn, 4 hn, 3, tpt, 2 tbn, bass tbn, tba, timp, perc (cym, snr, wd blck), hp, clst, org, str.
Published by Oxford University Press
View publisher page (orchestral arrangement here) -
Anthem to words by James Whitbourn
2 minutes
SATB & tenor solo
Published by Encore Publications
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This anthem is based on Cherub Song, the theme and title music of BBC 2's series Cathedral Calls.
Words by James Whitbourn adapted from the Bible (New Testament)
2 minutes
SATB + organ
Published by Encore Publications
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This anthem is a choral version of the music commissioned for the funeral broadcasts of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother.
SATB + organ
Alternative Instrumentation: SATB, organ + strings (arr. 2017)
4 minutes
Published by Chester Music Ltd.
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In celebration of the Farnham Festival’s 50th anniversary.
4 minutes
SAA + piano
Published by Chester Music Ltd.
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Anthem to words by Isaac Watts
3 minutes
SATB (div.) + organ
Published by Chester Music Ltd.
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Anthem setting words of an Orthodox prayer.
1 minute
SATB
Published by Encore Publications
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Anthem setting words of the grace of St Stephen’s House, Oxford.
2 minutes
SATB + organ (optional)
Published by Chester Music Ltd
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Michael Praetorius arr. James Whitbourn
Carol arrangement for the Choir of King's College Cambridge.
Also included in Anthology 'Christmas at King's College' (Novello 2009)
Recorded by the Choir of King's College Cambridge (DVD KGS0009)
Recorded by Westminster Williamson Voices (Naxos 8.573715)3 minutes
SATB
Published by Chester Music Ltd
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Anthem for double SATB setting words from the Bible.
6 minutes
SATB
Published by Chester Music
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Carol setting words by Robert Tear (1937-2011)
2 minutes
sop + SAATTB & organ
Alternative instrumentation: Sop + SAATTB & orchestra
Published by Encore Publications
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Arrangement of Kyrie, the eighth movement from Annelies.
SATB + organ
Alternative Instrumentation: SATB + piano, violin and cello
Published by Chester Music Ltd.
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Written for Mark Williams and the Clerks of Magdalen College, Oxford, this beautiful arrangement of the well-known Irish melody, with words by Sir Samuel Ferguson, presents an optimistic, romantic message against the backdrop of a timeless pastoral scene. Enchanting swells in choral texture and dynamic work hand-in-hand with the soaring solo tenor line, creating a sound-world like 'a tender, beaming smile'.
2.5 minutes
Tenor solo and AATBB (or SATBarB)
Publsihed by Oxford University Press
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This short evening prayer by James Whitbourn sets an excerpt from the Book of Common Prayer. Written for the Choir of Harris Manchester College, Oxford, it is a meditative request for God's protection and guidance.
1.5 minutes
SATB
Published by Oxford University Press
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Living Voices was first commissioned by the BBC as part of a broadcast from Westminster Abbey of a service held after the 9/11 attacks on the United States. The text, written by Andrew Motion, Poet Laureate at the time, is an integral part of the piece and was part of the same commission.
4 mins
saxophone, reader + SATB
Published by Chester Music Ltd.
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Cantata-meditation composed as a work for dance.
30 minutes
Double SATB, viola, tanpura, tam-tam, organ
Published by Chester Music
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Carol with words by Robert Tear
3.5 minutes
SATB and Organ
Published by Chester Music Ltd.
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Canticles commissioned for Stephen Cleobury, Robert Tear, for King's College Cambridge.
13 minutes
Tenor solo, SATB and organ with optional tam-tam
Published by Chester Music
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Setting of the Roman Catholic Rite in English for unaccompanied voices.
Commissioned for use at Douai Abbey
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This atmospheric carol sets the well-known 'O magnum mysterium' text in the version famously used by Victoria, with its tender, devotional additions. Set in four parts, the work unfolds simply, from stillness and silence, in awe and contemplation. The choral writing is effectively punctuated with a high solo voice singing phrases that call to mind fragments of the plainsong chant on the same text, appointed as a Responsary for Christmas Day.
4 minutes
Treble solo and SATB
Published by Oxford University Press
View publisher site -
Christmas Mass setting with words from the Latin Mass and other sources.
23 minutes
SATB, organ, piccolo (optional)
Published by Chester Music Ltd.
View publisher site -
Christmas Mass setting with words from the Latin Mass and other sources.
23 minutes
SATB, organ, and ensemble
piccolo/3pt.3tbn/2perc/org/optional congregationPublished by Chester Music
View publisher pageWatch the Harrisburg Choral Society’s performance on YouTube
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Cantata for Tenor soloist, SATB and chamber ensemble
Words by Robert Tear
Orchestration: ob/perc/hp/org/vc
25 minutes
Published by Chester Music
View publisher siteListen on Spotify
Watch the NIU School of Music’s Concert Choir performance here -
Carol written for SATB, recorded by the Choir of Clare College, Cambridge, Ely Cathedral Choir and Commotio.
4 minutes
SATB
Published by Encore Publications.
View publisher site -
Whitbourn’s setting of Joseph Beaumont’s Epiphany oblation features a soaring melodic line over serene and delicate harmonies infused with suspensions and cluster chords.
3 minutes
SATB unaccompanied
Alternative instrumentation:
SATB & 3 cellos/violasPublished by Oxford University Press
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Anthem setting the Lord’s Prayer in Latin. Composed for the wedding of Isabella Burns and Reed Pilegaard. Dedicated to Isabella and Reed and to Alison, in celebration of our silver wedding marked on the same day, June 2016.
3 minutes
SATB choir unaccompanied
Published by Chester Music Ltd.
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Anthem commissioned by Chris, Mary, Gregory and Dominic Chivers for Dominic Chivers on the occasion of his confirmation, Pentecost Sunday, May 31 2009, at Blackburn Cathedral and for performance by Blackburn Cathedral Choir directed by Richard Tanner
Words by Alan Payton
3 minutes
SATB
Published by Chester Music
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Anthem for Penna A. Rose and the Princeton University Chapel Choir.
Words by Cardinal Newman
SATB div.
2 minutes
Published by Chester Music Ltd.
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Anthem commissioned by the BBC for the choristers of Westminster Abbey on Commonwealth Day, 2004.
Words by Desmond Tutu
SATB, reader and percussion (maracas, african drum)
Alternative instrumentation: SSA, reader, organ and and percussion.
2 minutes
Published by Chester Music Ltd
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Anthem setting words from the Bible (New Testament, book of Revelation)
3 minutes
SATB
Published by Chester Music Ltd.
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A performance combination which intertwines Requiem Canticorum with Son of God Mass
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A five-movement commemorative piece which sets texts associated with the Requiem mass, rather than being a full Requiem.
Requiem Canticorum can be performed as a concert piece or as a free-standing anthem.
It can also be performed in conjunction with selected movements from the Son of God Mass to make a full concert RequiemSATB, organ and soprano saxophone
14 minutes
Published by Chester Music
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Song cycle for soprano and piano (or piano and violin)
Words by Michael Symmons Roberts
12 minutes
Soprano & piano
Alternative Instrumentation: Violin & piano
Published by Chester Music Ltd.
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Five minute wedding anthem with a haunting, intense beauty.
4 minutes
SATB & organ
Published by Chester Music Ltd.
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(The Life of C. S. Lewis in the Planets of the Middle Ages)
Words from the Hymns of Orpheus, C.S.Lewis, Addison, Shakespeare, Shelley and The Bible
30 minutes
SATB + 1011/1000/pf/str(0.1.0.1.0)
Published by Chester Music
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(The Life of C. S. Lewis in the Planets of the Middle Ages)
Words from the Hymns of Orpheus, C.S.Lewis, Addison, Shakespeare, Shelley and The Bible
30 minutes
SATB chorus and Orchestra: pic.2.2.2.2 - 4.2.3.0 - perc, hp, org - strings
Published by Chester Music
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For his expressive and accessible arrangement of the popular melody known to many as 'Carol of the Bells', Whitbourn has written new lyrics that reflect the melody's true heritage, the Ukrainian folksong Shchedryk. The Ukrainian word 'Shchedryi' means 'bountiful', and the folksong depicts a swallow displaying its goods and predicting a prosperous new year. Whitbourn also draws on the symbolism of the swallow as a bird that signifies the miracle of God's Son coming in the human form, thus retaining the melody's strong association with the Christmas season. The piece is presented with a flexible accompaniment that may be adapted to suit the available forces, including piano, organ, or guitar and melody instruments.
2 minutes
SATB & organ (adaptable accompaniment)
Published by Oxford University Press
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Arrangement of the Christmas Carol commissioned by Making Music and funded by the Carnegie UK Trust.
4 minutes
Children’s voices, optional SATB choir & piano
Published by Novello & Co Ltd.
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This anthem sets a powerful poem by John Henry Newman that reflects on the spirituality of solitude. An imaginative interplay between voices and instrumental accompaniment is prevalent throughout, with effective contrasts between tranquillo and animato sections and delicate ostinato patterns.
7 minutes
SATB & guitar or piano
Alternative instrumentation:
SSA & piano or harp.Published by Oxford University Press
View publisher site -
Mass Setting with soprano saxophone.
25 minutes
SATB, organ & soprano saxophone
Published by Chester Music
View publisher siteWatch Missouri State University Chorale’s performance on YouTube
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Anthem with words from Celebrating Common Prayer
4 minutes
SATB & organ
Published by Encore Publications
View publisher site -
Anthem for SATB (Excerpt from Annelies)
3 minutes
SATB
Published by Chester Music Ltd.
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Anthem for SATB and organ, together with an optional part for trumpet incorporating The Last Post.
Words adapted from the Bible (New Testament).
4 minutes
SATB & Organ (optional trumpet)
Published by Encore Publications
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Anthem marking the fiftieth anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King, April 4, 1968 and his preaching in Princeton University Chapel. Commissioned by the Pennsbury High School Concert Choir, James D. Moyer, director for the tenth annual Big Sing concert in Princeton University Chapel, April 25, 2018.
6 minutes
Soprano solo, SAT, saxophone & organ
Published by Chester Music Ltd.
View publisher site -
Anthem commissioned by Queen Anne's School, Henley.
Words from Ecclesiastes.
5 minutes
SSA & organ
Published by Chester Music Ltd.
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Christmas carol/anthem for SA, SATB and organ with optional parts for brass quintet and percussion
Words from the Great Antiphons, Veni, veni, Emmanuel and the Bible
5 minutes
SA choir, SATB choir, organ
+ optional (hn.2tpt.tbn.tba/timp.perc)Published by Chester Music Ltd.
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Anthem or Canticle for double SATB choir setting words from Psalm 95 (The Book of Common Prayer)
2 minutes
SATB
Published by Encore Publications
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Anthem for SSATB commissioned for the singers of Medina High School, Ogio, Tyler L. Skidmore, conductor, to mark their tour to England and their visit to St Stephen's House, Oxford.
SATB
4 minutes
Published by Chester Music Ltd.
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Anthem to words from the Requiem Mass.
5 minutes
SATB, flute & string orchestra with optional timpanum
Published by Chester Music Ltd.
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Arrangement of American Spiritual
3 minutes
SATB & organ
Published by Chester Music Ltd.
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Large-scale Cantata for reader, tenor solo, gospel choir and orchestra. Premiered in Winchester Cathedral.
Words by Michael Symmons Roberts
40 minutes
Orchestration: fl.ob.ssx/2330/timp.perc/str
Published by Chester Music
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“Winter’s Wait was written for the choir of King's College, Cambridge, and is a setting of a modern poem by Robert Tear, a close friend of whose death came just days before the present recording took place. Its melody shares its tonality with Peter Abelard's beautiful hymn O quanta qualia, but it bursts into the major for the final stanza.”
4 minutes
SATB & organ
Published by Chester Music Ltd.
View publisher site -
Passiontide Sequence intended as a devotional work and is best heard in the context of a liturgical event in - or close to - Passiontide. Each section continues from the previous one without pause to create a seamless whole.
Words from The Bible and Michael Symmons Roberts
28 minutes
SATB, reader, organ, violin, cello
Published by Chester Music
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Concert piece for flute, string orchestra, choir and reader
Based on the poem ‘‘Music’’ by Amy Lowell
4 minutes
Reader, SATB choir, fl, str
Unpublished
Instrumental
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Instrumental arrangements of ‘Give Us the Wings of Faith’ for String Quartet or for two horns (optional) and string orchestra.
3 minutes
String Quartet
Alternative Instrumentation: String Orchestra & 2 Horns (optional)Published by Chester Music Ltd.
View Publisher Site (SQ version)
View Publisher Site (String orch version) -
James Whitbourn's Apollo tells the story of the first manned flight to the Moon (the year before the first lunar landing). A wealth of imaginative textures depicts such dramatic events as countdown, ignition, and the first sight of earthrise, leading to a fantasia on an ancient Greek melody, and a final triumphant Paean.
7 minutes
Organ
Published by Oxford University Press
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A piece for soprano saxophone and accompaniement portrayinh the life and tragedy of Peter Abelard, a renownewd 12th-Century French Philosopher, logician, poet and musician who taught at Notre Dame in Paris.
7 minutes
Soprano Sax & piano (or organ)
Published by Chester Music Ltd.
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A short version for solo piano of a movement from the Celtic Suite.
The Ground Bass (or simply ‘Ground’) was often used in baroque music - especially in England - and by earlier keyboard writers such as William Byrd. It consists of a constantly repeating bass line over which melodies and flourishes are heard. This ground bass is unusual in that it alternates 3/4 and 4/4 bars within its four-bar pattern. The melody line, played in the right hand, should always be flowing, with the repeated notes at the end of phrases gently tapered off. Careful use of the pedal ensures that a harmony is built from the notes of the ground bass.4 minutes
Piano
Published by Chester Music Ltd.
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Commissioned by the BBC for its broadcast coverage of the Funeral of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother (Lying in State and Funeral Service)
3.5 minutes
Orchestra 0110/0430/timp.2perc/hp/str
Published by Chester Music Ltd.
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Solo Song with Orchestra
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Solo soprano and orchestra
Words and melody: traditional Zulu
Published by Chester Music Ltd.
Duration 2.5 minutes
Soprano, Orchestra
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Award-winning large-scale Concert Liturgy based on the Hiroshima bombing and the Transfiguration (August 6)
Speaker, Tenor, orchestra
44 minutes
Orchestration: 2222/4331/timp.2perc/hp/str
Published by Chester Music Ltd. (currently unavailable)
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James Whitbourn has a worldwide reputation for writing very personal yet accessible and highly communicative choral music, and these qualities are amply on display in this striking work for Soprano solo and orchestra. The text is largely a modern translation of passionate lines found on an Egyptian papyrus of c.1275 BCE (British Museum EA 10060), and the musical response is intense and colourful, with limpid melodies to the fore and underpinned by vivid orchestration.
Duration 10 minutes
Soprano, Orchestra:
2fl, 2ob, 2cl, bsn, 4hn, 2tpt (C and Bb), 2tbn, b. tbn, perc (clappers, sistra, tri, African/Egyptian drum), marimba, hp, solo sop, strPublished by Oxford University Press
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Television and Radio Works
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Series Titles for BBC/Discovery
SATB & Orchestra: 1111/3330/timp.perc/hp/str
Published by Chester Music Ltd.
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Written for the BBC broadcast coverage of the Procession, Lying in State and Funeral of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother (titles and incidental music)
4 minutes
Full Orchestra
Published by Chester Music Ltd.
View Publisher Site -
BBC Everyman film
Orchestration: String quartet / Burmese harp/ piano
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BBC Series Title
3 minutes
Boys’ Chorus & Orchestra:
2222/4331/timp/2 perc/hp/strPublished by Chester Music Ltd.
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BBC coverage titles and extras for D-Day 60
Orchestration: wordless voice, 3vc.perc
Published by Chester Music Ltd.
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Commissioned by BBC Radio 4 for D-Day Poetic Response
You Kissed My Hair
My Wedding Gown
The Blood-Red Rose
Our Wedding FeastWords by Michael Symmons Roberts
12 minutes
Voice, Violin, Piano
Published by Chester Music Ltd.
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Living Voices was first commissioned by the BBC as part of a broadcast from Westminster Abbey of a service held after the 9/11 attacks on the United States. The text, written by Andrew Motion, Poet Laureate at the time, is an integral part of the piece and was part of the same commission.
4 mins
saxophone, reader + SATB
Published by Chester Music Ltd.
View publisher site -
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Cinema titles for Royal Opera House films
Full Orchestra
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Titles for BBC 12-part series, 2005-6
SATB Chorus, percussion, string quartet, piano
Published by Chester Music Ltd.
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Commissioned by BBC TV for its Remembrance Day broadcast from the Cenotaph (2007-2009)
Cello, track
Published by Chester Music Ltd.
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BBC / Discovery landmark series, complete film scores
1 hour 30 minutes
0110/4030/timp.4perc/hp/str
Published by Chester Music Ltd.
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