Tag des Jahrs for mixed choir and electronics was commissioned by the Tapiola Chamber Choir and the Helsinki Chamber Choir Week with support from the Madetoja Foundation and the National Council for Music; part of Tapiola Originals a collection of choral works commissioned by the Tapiola Chamber Choir. It was first performed in Helsinki on 9th November 2002 by the Tapiola Chamber Choir conducted by Hannu Norjanen. A copy of OM27357is needed to perform this work.

This work for soprano and baroque chamber orchestra using text by William Blake was commissioned by The Academy of Ancient Music on the occasion of its 25th anniversary. The piece is dedicated to the memory of Diana Princess ofWales. Quoting Tavener:The concept of solo soprano (representing earth) at ground level handbells (representing the angels) at an intermediate position and the main baroque ensemble at a high level (representing heaven) fittedexactly with the Blake text which I had decided to set. When seen as things truly are the earth is a mirror of the Eternal World and when seen correctly it is possible in this world to live in Eternity's sunrise. God does notexist in the world. And yet at the same time He is reflected in it giving it form and structure. The music should be played with quiet joy as a day of sunshine and calm full of gentleness and radiance. Duration c. 15mins.

The Sanskrit words Maya and Atma represent the opposites of illusion and reality. This piece taken from Tavener's large scale choral work Rending Of The Veil Of The Temple starts out in contemplative fashionbut as the opposites interweave a state of joyous ecstasy infuses the music before it returns to a contemplative state once again.

Anthem taking liturgical text premiered by the Tallis Scholars in 1997. Quoting Tavener: In this work The Hymn of the Unwaning Light massive monolithic and resplendent with the joy of the Risen Christ alternates withthe Proclamation of Easter and with the Processional Angels in the Heavens. The Proclamation of Easter is sung in Greek first by a male voice (the Psaltis) and finally by the whole choir. The Psaltis is the chief singer atGreek Orthodox services and the soloist must immerse himself in this style of singing.

This cycle of settings of poems by Paul Celan was written between May and July 1990 for Ute Lemper. The texts are taken from the following collections: 'Chanson einer Dame im Schatten' and 'Corona' from Mohn und Gedachtnis(1952) 'Nachtlich geschurzt' from Von Schwelle zu Schwelle (1955) 'Blume' from Sprachgitter (1959) and 'Es war Erde in ihnen' and 'Psalm' from Die Niemandsrose of 1963. The settings of 'Corona' and 'Blume' both introduce an eight-barchord sequence derived from Chopin's Mazurka in A minor Op.17 No.4 (the introduction to which was used by Gorecki in his Symphony No.3). Piano and voice version written in 1997 at the request of Hilary Summers.

Quoting Burgon: My first thought on receiving this commission was what sort of text would suit. Something on the general idea of growth - starting very small and blossoming was the obvious way to go but it wasn’t until I foundthe Andrew Marvell poem Music’s Empire that I really got going. The poem is about the invention and development of music; this might sound a bit dry but in fact it is both charming and dramatic and it is also apt in that it canbe set for both solo voice and chorus. The other factor to be considered in writing this piece was the Purcell connection. Purcell wrote Come Ye Sons of Art in 1964 the year the bank was founded and this piece is alsoincluded in the celebratory concert. So I wanted to include some homage to HP as well. Marvell’s poem is the sort of text that Purcell might have set had he come across it. It is a sort of Ode of text that Purcell might haveset had he come across it. It is a sort of Ode to St Cecelia and he wrote one of those as we know. So I have referred to Purcell in two particular ways; I have quoted Come Ye sons of Art directly and I have used thecountertenor. Purcell himself sang countertenor in many of his own pieces and wrote some of the most gorgeous music ever written for that voice. I also happened to love both Purcell’s music and the countertenor so writing thispiece was really a labour of love. It is scored for countertenor mixed chorus and symphony of orchestra - rather larger than any orchestra that Purcell had access to as far as I know but one in which I’m sure he would haverevelled in given the opportunity. It is about ten minutes in duration.

For Trebles and organ by Lennox Berkeley. Adapted from A Festival Anthem op.21 no.2 (1945)

For String Quartet and taped natural sounds. Dedicated to and premiered by the Duke Quartet.

Classic music from the top-selling album 'Voices' including some of the world's finest vocal music as performed by Louis Armstrong Russell Watson and Placido Domingo. Arranged for piano with separate vocal line.

The fifteenth full Opera from the prolific Hans Werner Henze and the first to feature a self-penned libretto. After the poems he wrote for his Songs from the Arabian Henze has produced this unusal tale through adaptingboth Arab and Persian legends and invoking the same half-real half-imaginary Arabia as the song cycle. The story itself is a fairy tale comedy with much in common with The Magic Flute . The orchestral arrangement is huge featuring quadruple wind five percussionists and a part for tape.

Composer's Notes : Heavenly Things is my fourteenth song-cycle but the first with piano accompaniment. I mention this because when I was asked to write this piece my first reaction was ‘what can I make of amedium that seems to me quintessentially 19th century’ and I was doubtful that I could produce anything that I would be happy with. Then I went to hear Christopher Maltman and Malcolm Martineau and was so impressed by the magicand intensity of their performance that I saw a ‘way in’ to what at first had seemed a problem. The choice of poems was obviously going to be crucial and I chose the Donne Holy Sonnets because of the dramatic possibilities theyoffer and the huge range of emotion that they encompass. In these settings the piano is always more than a mere accompaniment it tends either to be in dialogue with the voice or to have its own musical agenda which the voicereacts to in an independent but parallel way. Geoffrey Burgon

Available for the first time for solo piano here are four fabulous arrangements from the motion-picture soundtrack of The Piano plus the two favourite themes from the award-winning film by Jane Campion. This is anotherwonderfully presented edition with stills from the film an original manuscript sketch and note from Nyman to lead actress Holly Hunter who performs the pieces herself in the film.

A New Beginning was commissioned by the New Millennium Experience Company and will be performed in the Millennium Dome London in the closing minutes of 1999 to herald the New Millennium. For solo treble children's chorus SATB chorus and small orchestra. Duration c. 7 minutes.

In memoriam Witold Lutoslawski for Orchestra. This work was commissioned for the Suntory International program for music composition 1994. The first performance was given on 11 June 1994 Tokyo. Duration 40 minutes.

Gathering (Set of parts)-String Quartet No.2 Hunting: Gathering was commissioned by Doris and Myron Beigler and the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts for the Kronos Quartet. It was first performed by them in December 1987 San Francisco. Duration 24minutes. Score available: CH60972

Born in South Africa but now an Irish citizen Kevin Volans ’ musical idiom has been shaped by an unusually diverse range of experiences including studies with Stockhausen in Cologne field trips to South Africa tostudy traditional music his own involvement with the New Simplicity movement his collection of contemporary art and African textiles friendships with composers like Morton Feldman and Gerald Barry as well as a love of virtuosopiano music which he performs broadcasts and records. While having an easily recognised unique voice Volans ’ music resists compartmentalisation. He is as comfortable working in conventional genres as embarking oninnovative collaborations with artists of other disciplines. String Quartet No.1 (White Man Sleeps) was written for the Kronos Quartet and was first performed by them in July 1986 London. The title‘ White Man Sleeps ’ comes from a moment in nyanga Panpipe music where the performers leave off playing their loud pipes for a few cycles and dance only to the sound of their ankle rattles to let the whitelandowner sleep – for a minute or two. ' In composing this piece I drew from the following sources: the first movement owes something to the style of Basotho concertina music; the second and fourth movements are drawnfrom traditional Nyungwe music played by Makina Chirenje and his Nyanga panpipe group at Nsava Tete Mozambique recorded and transcribed by Andrew Tracey (to be found in an article entitled ‘The nyanga Panpipe dance’ in AfricanMusic Vol.5 No.1 (1971); the third movement derives from the San bow music (recorded by Tony Traill of the University of Witwatersrand) and from Basotho lesiba music transcribed by myself; in the fifth movement I added my owninvented folklore. My approach to the original music was anything but purist – it is played in Western tuning filtered slowed down by a few “time-octaves” cast into non-African metres (like the 13-beat pattern of the first

Work for Soprano and String Quartet commissioned by the Nash Ensemble. Work for Soprano and String Quartet commissioned by the Nash Ensemble.

The third in the series of ten Quartets commissioned by the Naxos recording company. First performed at Wigmore Hall London in Oct 2003 by the Maggini Quartet. A convenient miniature-sized version of the score intended forstudy.

This work was commissioned by Rudolf Steiner Foundation. It is dedicated to Anssi Karttunen who gave the first performance in Helsinki on 10th September 2000. Sept papillons was the first piece Saariaho wrote after her operaL'Amour de loin and it was partly written during the rehearsals of the opera in Salzburg. One can sense the desire to find a new world which has nothing to do with the opera neither in style nor in language. From the metaphors ofthe opera which all have an eternal quality - love yearning and death - she moved now to a metaphor of the ephemeral: butterfly. Also from the long time-spans of the opera she moved to these seven miniatures which each seem tobe studies on a different aspect of fragile and ephemeral movement that has no beginning nor end.

For solo Tenor and unaccompanied mixed voice choir SATB. Text English and Greek. Duration 5 minutes.