Best/Favorite English or Latin choral pieces from the "English" tradition: Go!
  • Stella611
    Posts: 108
    Hey all,

    I'm starting a new journey as part-time director at an Anglican Ordinariate. I'd like to start gathering a list of possible SATB choral pieces, either in English text or Latin, from English composers or anything else you would consider to be part of the "Anglican/English tradition", to save me some time in research.

    So let me know your favorite pieces, thanks!
    Thanked by 2CHGiffen Anna_Bendiksen
  • SponsaChristi
    Posts: 796
    FWIW The large book of “Anglican” motets and anthems that I often find in the chancel choir stalls at local Anglican places of worship consist of your standard Catholic polyphony rep.
    Thanked by 2m_r_taylor LauraKaz
  • davido
    Posts: 1,227
    If ye love me - Wilby

    The Oxford Book of …
    is a great place to start, by reviewing the table of contents. I think there is a book of “Anthems” flexible anthems “Tudor anthems” “easy anthem book” etc
  • m_r_taylor
    Posts: 395
    Not an answer to your question, and will involve a good bit of research, but if you aren't already conversant with CPDL.org, you must give it a go.

    Go to "Multi-category search", Select voicing = SATB and also plug in the composer name.

    Just Renaissance...

    Byrd
    Tallis
    Purcell
    Gibbons
    Taverner
    Tomkins
    Weelkes
    White
    Farrant
    Philips
    Sheppard
    Amner
    Tye
    Ravenscroft
    Parsley
    Cornysh

    A handful of later ones...

    Charles Wood
    Healey Willan
    Stanley Marchant
    Charles Villiers Stanford
    Richard R. Terry
    Henry Walford-Davies

    And many, many more...
    Thanked by 3probe CHGiffen Roborgelmeister
  • m_r_taylor
    Posts: 395
    Here is some of the English-heritage music in my SATB folder. Threw in three of my own compositions...written as they were for the Ordinariate of which I am a member!

    https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/ormdn2phyneo4ghcdve0y/AJDOWxFuboJHbEN6jvsUx1Y?rlkey=cc9yi3lov0727fq6l2gx6h9jk&dl=0
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • Chant_Supremacist
    Posts: 346
    On CPLD there's a fantastic English version of Remondi's O Sacrum Convivium. I also like Rutter's The Lord Bless You. All my other suggestions would be the most obvious ones.
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • tandrews
    Posts: 239
    We've used the Oxford Flexible Anthem book heavily during my time here at the Cathedral. Lots of good classics for 2-4 voices depending on what singers you have, and some newer compositions: some decent, others nah.
  • RoborgelmeisterRoborgelmeister
    Posts: 405
    a fantastic English version of Remondi's O Sacrum Convivium.

    Could you provide a link, because I'm not finding it. TY
  • Chant_Supremacist
    Posts: 346
    https://www.cpdl.org/wiki/images/e/e5/OSacrumConvivium.pdf

    It has Latin and English text.
    Thanked by 1Roborgelmeister
  • AbbysmumAbbysmum
    Posts: 202
    A lot of the choral pieces in The Catholic Choirbook Anthology to be from the Anglo tradition, so that might be a good place to start. You can get a .pdf for free.

    If ye love me - Wilby


    I love that piece so much.
  • Richard MixRichard Mix
    Posts: 3,004
    Besides searching for English composers on CPDL you can see what anthology editors have chosen: Category:Anthem collections includes NCAB.
    I've though of starting a thread about how much of such collections actually get sung. I estimate we've used up to about 66% of NCAB but I can't really justify spending rehearsal time on Goss' God so Loved the World when Stainer is already in our repertoire.

    A new addition to my favorites is Britten's Jubilate.

    Thanked by 1m_r_taylor
  • PhilipPowell
    Posts: 132
    Elgar’s Ave Verum, of course!

    Some other rather simple ones that I consider thoroughly English:

    Goss: O Savior of the World
    Brother James Air (arr. Gordon Jacob)
    RVW: O Taste and See, O How Amiable
    Farrant: Lord, for Thy Tender Mercy’s Sake, O Sacrum Convivium, Hide Not Thou Thy Face
    Wood: O Thou the Central Orb, Oculi Omnium
    Willan: Like as the Heart, O Sacred Feast
    Wesley: Lead Me Lord, Thou Wilt Keep Him in Perfect Peace
    Wilby: If Ye Love Me
    Stainer: O Savior of the World
    Tye: Laudate Nomen Dominum
    Elgar: Ave Maria
    Davies: God Be in My Head (and for Easter II: O Sons and Daughters)




    Thanked by 3m_r_taylor Chant_Supremacist barreltone
  • francis
    Posts: 11,389
    Dont forget Charles Giffen… one of our own composers on this forum AND (maybe?) the inventor of CPDL.
    Thanked by 4m_r_taylor Chant_Supremacist probe CHGiffen
  • CHGiffenCHGiffen
    Posts: 5,311
    Thanks, francis! CPDL was founded in December of 1998 by Rafael Ornes, of Palo Alto. I didn't become a contributor until 2004, after having discovered CPDL a few months before. When Raf ported the original site to a Wiki format (ChoralWiki) in 2005, I became very active in the transition and even more active (as president) when CPDL incorporated as a non-profit in 2010. In 2020 I stepped back to serve as chair of the board.

    I was born and raised as a Methodist, not that the "method" completely "took", since I "shopped" various denominations as an undergraduate at UW-Madison, then basically settled into the Anglican tradition in graduate school, while staying in the UMC until finding my way "across the Tiber" around 1982, at St. Thomas Aquinas in Charlottesville. My choral music composition has always been inspired by the long standing Renaissance Anglican tradition, with Tallis (especially), Byrd, Gibbons, Taverner, Tye, and several others as inspiration and models for composing. Of course, English composers and the tradition of Anglican liturgical and sacred music since then have also influenced me. Even some of my works which used modern(?) harmonic and compositional techniques seem (at least to me) as if they look back and try to honour that long Anglican-Catholic tradition.
    Thanked by 5Chant_Supremacist Liam probe oldhymns Roborgelmeister
  • Don9of11Don9of11
    Posts: 868
    There were a number of choral pieces both English and Latin thatSt. Mary's Choir in Akron, Ohio would sing. I was a choir member for 50 years. I don't know if they will interest you but I thought I would share.

    Ordinary Time
    Ave Maris Stella - RoSewig (1877)
    Ave Maris Stella - C. Cremer (1893)
    Emitte Spiritum Tuum - Schuetky (1910)
    Grand Magnificat in C - Novello (1894)
    Jubilate Deo - Weiss (1929)
    Juravit - Card. O'Connell (1923)
    Lauda Sion - Jouve (1893)
    Laudate Dominum - Montani (1934)
    O Salutaris Hostia - Browne (1901)
    Tantum Ergo No.1 - Lenk (1900)
    Veni Creator - Wiegand (1886)

    Christmas
    In Old Judea - Adam Geibel/ Bruce Carleton (1929 solo/ 1943 choral)
    O Babe Divine - Italian Carol/ Howard McKinney (1956 SA)
    O Night of Holy Memory - Ira Wilson (1917 choral)
    Sleeping the Christ Child Lay - James Hall (1926 choral with Alto Solo)
    His Natal Day (Ring Bells of Christmas) - Edward Norman (1929 choral)
    The Christmas Song - Ira Wilson (1916 choral)
    To Hear the Angels Sing - E. Lorenz (1909 choral)
    The Prince of Peace - A.J. Weiss/ Wm. Ashmall (1923 choral)
    Birthday of a King - W. Neidlinger/ E.C.C. (1950s choral)
    Sleep My Jesus Sleep - Dutch Lullaby/ Clarence Dickinson (1927 choral with Alto or Bass Solo)
    Adeste Fideles/ O Come All Ye Faithfull - V. Novello (1950s choral)
    With Glory Lit The Midnight Air Revealed - Dielman (1906 choral)
    The New Born King - Charles L'espoir (1932 Solo)
    The Christ Child - Margaret Beaulieu (1937 Solo)
    The Song That Will Never Cease - Howard Smith (1904 unison)

    Easter
    Haec Dies (Monti, 1893)
    Regina Coeli (A. Werner, 1885)
    Regina Coeli (L de Merlier, 1914)
    Regina Coeli (M. A. Melvin, 1915)
    Regina Coeli (P. Giorza, 1898)
    Regina Coeli (Labat, 1871)
    Terra Tremuit (Wiegand, 1914)
    Hail Glorius Day (Korman, 1932)
    Vidi Aquam (St. Basil's Hymnal, 1918)
    Vidi Aquam (Kempter, 1893)
    I Saw Water (English version of Vidi Aquam, very beautiful)

    Thanked by 2CHGiffen oldhymns
  • MatthewRoth
    Posts: 3,719
    I’m a fan of the Howells Mass in the Dorian Mode written ecumenically for Westminster Cathedral.
  • tomjaw
    Posts: 2,983
    Robert Parsons (d. 1570) his setting of the Ave Maria is perhaps the best.
    Thanked by 2Roborgelmeister PhilipPowell
  • CGM
    Posts: 817
    Second the Parsons Ave Maria
  • CGM
    Posts: 817
    Also the Atwood Teach me, O Lord
    Thanked by 1PhilipPowell
Add a Comment