Lo, the full, final sacrifice (Op. 26) is a festival anthem for SATB choir and organ, composed by Gerald Finzi in 1946. The work was commissioned by the Revd Walter Hussey for the 53rd anniversary of the consecration of St Matthew's Church, Northampton...

REPRINT SERIESThe 'Running Set' was a folk dance of British origin that at the time of this work's composition could still be found in areas of the United States. Vaughan Williams wrote this piece for a massed performance of the dance at the Royal Albert...

Described by Vaughan Williams as a "symphonic impression", it received its premiere under the conductor Thomas Beecham on 22 February 1909. The piece is meant to evoke feelings of traversing East Anglia's often bleak Fen landscape, illustrated by the...

REPRINT SERIES  Les biches is a one-act ballet to music by Francis Poulenc, choreographed by Bronislava Nijinska and premiered by the Ballets Russes on 6 January 1924 at the Salle Garnier in Monte Carlo. Nijinska danced the central role of the...

REPRINT SERIES Chôros No. 10 ("Rasga o Coração") is a work for chorus and orchestra written in 1926 by the Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos. It is part of a series of fourteen numbered compositions collectively titled...

Babel is a neoclassical religious cantata composed by Igor Stravinsky in 1944. The piece is in one movement and has a total duration of about seven minutes. The text used is taken from the Bible verbatim. It is scored for a two-part male chorus, three...

REPRINT SERIES The Fifth Symphony was composed from March to May 1946. Although Martinů initially spoke of dedicating it to the Red Cross, in the end the score was dedicated to the Czech Philharmonic, perhaps in anticipation of a return to his native...

The Saudades do Brasil (1920), Op. 67b, are a suite of twelve dances for Orchestra by Darius Milhaud, but originally made for Piano Op.67. Composed after Milhaud's visit to Brazil in 1917-1918, each dance is based on a duple tango or samba rhythm and...

REPRINT SERIES Two short poems by the Russian symbolist poet Konstantin Balmont are set here. In both songs can be heard the combination of ‘diatonic’ and ‘octatonic’ procedures typical of Stravinsky at this time, which he...

REPRINT SERIES Les Animaux modèles, FP 111, is a ballet dating from 1940 to 1942 with music by Francis Poulenc. It was the third and final ballet that he composed and was staged at the Paris Opéra in 1942, with choreography by Serge Lifar,...

In La Pentola Magica (The Magic Pot) Respighi pays tribute to a group of less well known Russian composers, including Grechaninov (Prelude), Arensky (Entry of the Tsar with the Bridgegrooms), Pachulski (Scene of Tsarevich), Anton Rubinstein (Dance of the...

REPRINT SERIES Pulcinella is a 21-section ballet by Igor Stravinsky with arias for soprano, tenor and bass vocal soloists, and two sung trios. It is based on the 18th-century play Quatre Polichinelles semblables, or Four similar Pulcinellas, revolving...

REPRINT SERIES Amériques is an orchestral composition by Edgard Varèse, scored for a very large, romantic orchestra with additional percussion (for eleven performers) including sirens. Written between 1918 and 1921 and revised in 1927, it...

Hugo Alfvén regarded his Symphony No 1 (1896) as the first ‘written in the Swedish language’. It gets a little tied up in the closing pages of its otherwise clearly argued opening Allegro; the Andante is at its best when it breaks...

Vocal Roles: Orphée, un rebouteux – Tenor Eurydice, une bohémienne – Soprano Chœurs des Métiers : Le Charron, Le Maréchal, Le Vannier Chœurs des Animaux : L’Ours, Le Loup, Le Renard, Le Sanglier...

REPRINT SERIES I. Toccata: Allegro moderato II. Canzone No.1: Andante moderato III. Canzone No.2: Allegro (poco); Adagio Bohuslav Martinů was an early 20th-century composer known for his prolificness andversatility across a daunting abundance of genres...

While Sibelius’ composed music for many plays to great effect, with the brief melodramas Ett ensamt skidspår (A Lonely Ski Trail) and Grevinnans konterfej (The Countess’ Portrait) he also demonstrated his skill in writing for drama on a...

REPRINT SERIES Perséphone (Persephone) is a musical work (mélodrame) for female narrator, tenor solo, mixed chorus, children's chorus, dancers and orchestra with music by Igor Stravinsky and a libretto by André Gide.It was first...