Choral works

Choral Works / Chorwerke

A Child of Our Time
66 mins
Oratorio for soloists SATB, chorus and orchestra [1939-41]

2 2 cor anglais 2 2 contrabassoon - 4 3 3 0 - timpani percussion (cymbal) - strings

Text by the composer

First performance by Joan Cross, Margaret McArthur, Peter Pears, Roderick Lloyd, London Region Civil Defence Choir and Morley College Choir and the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Walter Goehr at the Adelphi Theatre, London, 19 March 1944

Vocal score ED 10065
Study score ED 10899
Libretto ED 10065-01

Five Negro Spirituals
from the oratorio A Child of Our Time
14 mins
(i) for unaccompanied chorus SATB [1939-41]
Choral score ED 10585
(ii) for mixed chorus and orchestra [edited 1996]

2 2 cor anglais 2 2 contrabassoon - 4 3 3 0 - timpani percussion (cymbal) - strings

The Source
3 mins
Madrigal on a poem by Edward Thomas for chorus SATB [1942]

ED 11289

The Windhover
2 mins
Madrigals on a poem by G. M. Hopkins for chorus SATB [1942]

First performance of the Two Madrigals by Morley College Choir conducted by Walter Bergmann, Morley College, London, 17 July 1943

ED 11291

Plebs Angelica
4 mins
Motet for double chorus [1943]

Commissioned by Canterbury Cathedral in 1944. First performance by the Fleet Street Choir conducted by T. B. Lawrence, Canterbury Cathedral, 16 September 1944

ED 11288 (Latin text)

The Weeping Babe
3 mins
Motet on a poem by Edith Sitwell for soprano solo and chorus SATB [1944]

Commissioned by the BBC for 'Poet's Christmas 1944' First performance by the BBC Singers conducted by Leslie Woodgate, BBC Home Service, 24 December 1944

ED 11290

Dance, Clarion Air
5 mins
Madrigal for five voices SSATB [1952]

Words by Christopher Fry from A Garland for the Queen. Commissioned by the Arts Council of Great Britain to mark the occasion of the Coronation of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. First performance by the Golden Age Singers and the Cambridge University Madrigal Society conducted by Boris Ord, Royal Festival Hall, London, 1 June 1953

ED 10437

Bonny at Morn
3 mins
Northumbrian folk-song set for unison voices and recorders(2 descant/1 treble) [1956]

Composed for the 10th Anniversary of the International Pestalozzi Children's Choir, Trogen, Switzerland. First performance by children at the International Pestalozzi Children's Village, Trogen, Switzerland, April 1956

ED 12051
Parts available separately

Four Songs from the British Isles
14 mins
for chorus SATB [1956]

Commissioned by the Nordwestdeutschland Saegerbund, Bremen. First performance by the London Bach Group conducted by John Minchinton, Abbaye de Royaumont, France, 6 July 1958

1. England: Early one Morning ED 11346
2. Ireland: Lilliburlero ED 11347
3. Scotland: Poortith Cauld ED 11348
4. Wales: Gwenllian ED 11349

Crown of the Year
28 mins
including:
Prelude: Spring
Hush, Nightingale
Refrain
Prelude: Summer
Summer has a Heart of Drums
Prelude: Autumn
Victoria Rules an Autumn Land
Prelude: Winter
Hurl of the Wind
Cantata for chorus SSA and instruments [1958]

Recorders or flutes, oboe, clarinet, cornet or trumpet, string quartet, percussion, hand-bells and piano

Text by Christopher Fry

Commissioned by Eric Walter White for the centenary celebrations at Badminton School, Bristol, 1958. First performance by the Badminton School Choir and Ensemble conducted by the composer, 25 July 1958

Study score ED 10668
(oboe & piano arrangement of Prelude: Autumn available, please see page 30)

Wadhurst
4 mins
for chorus SATB [1958]
Published by the Salvation Army

Lullaby
6 mins
for alto solo (or counter-tenor) and SSTTB or small chorus [1959]
Text by W.B. Yeats

Composed for the 10th Anniversary of the foundation of the Deller Consort. First performance by the Deller Consort, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 31 January 1960

ED 10721

Music
4 mins
for unison voices, strings and piano or for voices and piano [1960]
To the poem by Shelley

Composed for the Jubilee of the East Sussex and West Kent Choral Festival in 1960. First performance by the Combined Choirs of the East Sussex and West Kent Choral Festival conducted by Trevor Harvey, Assembly Hall, Tunbridge Wells, 26 April 1960

Full score ED 10717
Vocal score ED 10718
Piano part and 5 string parts available

Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis
7 mins
for chorus SATB and organ [1961]

Composed for the 450th Anniversary of the foundation of St John's College, Cambridge, 1961. First performance by St John's College Chapel Choir conducted by George Guest, 13 March 1962

ED 10873 (English text)

The Vision of Saint Augustine
35 mins
for baritone solo, chorus and orchestra [1965]

2 (2 piccolos) 1 cor anglais 1 bass clarinet 1 contrabassoon - 4 2 3 1 - timpani percussion (6 players: side drum, tenor drum, bass drum, military drum, cymbal, suspended cymbal, 2 wood blocks, temple block, tambourine, whip, xylophone, marimba, glockenspiel, tubular bells, foil, rattle) - harp - piano - celesta - xylophone/marimba - strings

(recommended no. of players: 8 8 6 4 4)
Commissioned by the BBC

First performance by Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and the BBC Symphony Orchestra and chorus conducted by the composer at the Royal Festival Hall, London, 19 January 1966

Vocal score ED 10898
Study score ED 10897 (Latin text)

The Shires Suite
18 mins
including:
Prologue: Soomer is icoomen in
Interlude I
Cantata
Interlude II
Epilogue: Non nobis Domine

for chorus and orchestra [1965-70]

3 (piccolo) 2 cor anglais 2 bass clarinet 2 (contrabassoon) - 4 3 3 1 - timpani percussion (7 players: bass drum, military drum, jazz kit, 2 bongos, cymbal, suspended cymbal, 2 wood blocks, tambourine, castanets, whip, metal bar or heavy triangle, tam-tam, xylophone, tubular bells, metal plates, claves, rattle, jingles) - harp piano celesta electric guitar - not more than 4 tiny hunting horns - strings

Written for the Leicestershire Schools Symphony Orchestra. First complete performance by the Schola Cantorum of Oxford and the Leicestershire Schools Symphony Orchestra conducted by the composer, Cheltenham Festival, 8 July 1970

Study score ED 12439

(alternative versions of movements I, III & V for orchestra alone arranged by Meirion Bowen

The Mask of Time
95 mins
for soprano, mezzo soprano, tenor and baritone soloists, chorus and orchestra [1980-82]

3 (3 piccolos) 2 cor anglais 2 bass clarinet 2 contrabassoon soprano saxophone alto saxophone - 6 3 3 1 - timpani percussion (6 players: side drum, tenor drum, bass drum, 3 tom-toms, cymbal, suspended cymbal, 2 high cymbals, wood blocks, tambourine, castanets, large triangle, tam-tam, 2 gongs, xylophone, marimba, vibraphone, glockenspiel, tubular bells, boobams, 4 tuned gongs, maracas, claves, 2 anvils, bamboo wind chimes, thunder sheet) - harp piano electric organ - strings

Words written and compiled by the composer

Commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra. First performance by Faye Robinson, Yvonne Minton, Robert Tear and John Cheek with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Tanglewood Festival Chorus conducted by Sir Colin Davis at Symphony Hall, Boston, 5 April 1984

Vocal score ED 12196
Libretto ED 12197

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