Bob Chilcott Carols 1: 9 carols for mixed voices (Composer Carol Collections)

ISBN 10: 0193532336 ISBN 13: 9780193532335

Publisher: Oxford University Press Music, 2004

Synopsis

for SATB accompanied and unaccompanied
This collection assembles nine of the finest pieces from Chilcott's first ten years with Oxford, including two new specially written pieces. Together, they offer a great range of styles and moods, and provide a moving narration of the Christmas story that will delight choirs and their audiences for years to come.
The percussion part to accompany 'Where Riches is Everlastingly' is available separately, ISBN 0-19-355845-9.

About this title

About the Author

Bob Chilcott has a established an international reputation as one of Britain's most versatile and popular composers of choral music. He began his career as a chorister and choral scholar in the choir of King's College, Cambridge, under the leadership of Sir David Wilcocks and Philip Ledger. For twelve years, he was a member of the renowned vocal ensemble The King's Singers, for whom he wrote numerous a cappella and accompanied pieces and arrangements, many of which have been featured on the group's recordings for BMG and EMI Records. It was this experience that led him to full-time composition, fulfilling a desire to extend his commitment to young and to amateur choirs through his own brand of accessible music, which allows him to share his deep belief in the communicative and social aspects of music. Bob Chilcott currently conducts the chorus at the Royal College of Music in London and is in great demand as a guest conductor and leader of choral workshops worldwide.

Review

All but two of these nine carols have been previously published (and are still available separately), but any choir that buys this collection for one or two pieces is likely to go on and sing them all: Chilcott writes the sort of music that it is difficult not to like. The book represents almost all the mixed-voice carols he has written over the past ten years. All are characterised by unerring craftsmanship, attractively mobile rhythms sometimes generating intriguing textures, simple tunes, and approachable harmonies - a gift to both choirs and audiences . . . Chilcott's version of the 'Coventry Carol' is a different matter. He preserves the traditional spare texture in the verse but alternates it with richer, faintly Warlock-like harmonies in the refrains. The result is a song that has not only an attractive surface but also a really distinct musical personality. * Peter Dale, Choir and Organ Nov 04 * The back cover blurb's description of the music as 'fresh, arrestingly beautiful and exquisitely crafted' is certainly on the mark. Chilcott is a gifted melodist, and his peculiarly touching brand of gentle sentimentality is deployed to good effect in several of the numbers . . . But these miscellaneous carols are, one presumes, not intended to be heard one after another - programmed individually, in the right context, they will almost unfailingly be effective . . . Perhaps the best number, however, is one of the simplest - 'The Shepherd's Carol', written for King's College Cambridge, a deceptively simple achievement in its unforced, affecting lyricism. None of the pieces in the volume makes great technical demands on either singers or accompanist; the settings are in the main SATB, with some modest splitting of parts. * Matthew Greenall, The Singer, December 2004 * Permeating the whole volume is an approachability that explains Chilcott's popularity with choirs and audiences. The vocal writing displays a singer's understanding of what is possible (and grateful to sing), and never more so than in the several pieces written for youth choirs where the tenors, for example, are rarely asked to sing above F. * Christopher Field, Music Teacher, Feb 05 *

Edition details

• Publisher: Oxford University Press Music
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0193532336
• ISBN 13: 9780193532335
• Binding: Sheet music
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 72