Genre: New Releases

Nunc Dimittis (Opus 89) was written in 2011 in response to a commission from the Brisbane Chamber Choir who had already performed Andrew Schultz’s Magnificat and wanted to have Nunc Dimittis to perform with the earlier work. The setting of the text parallels the dramatic flow of the original text, The Song of Simeon. The work moves from a world of clouded uncertainty through exultation and revelation to a final passage of transcendent simplicity and tranquillity.  Marked ‘Flowing’ the Nunc Dimittis is similar to Magnificat in the tempo and meter (3/2) and in the ebb and flow between four and eight part vocal writing. The first performance of Nunc Dimittis was given by the Brisbane Chamber Choir conducted by Graeme Morton at St John’s Cathedral, Brisbane, in August 2012.

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Duration: approximately 5 minutes

Magnificat (Opus 79) sold separately was composed over the summer of 2008-2009. The work is an a cappella setting of the Latin Vulgate text and was written in response to a commission from the Sydney Chamber Choir.  Marked ‘Calm and gentle – with flow’ the score carries an inscription from Emily Bronte’s poem of creativity, Last Lines, “No coward soul is mine.”

Magnificat (Opus 79) was composed over the summer of 2008-2009.  The work is an a cappella setting of the Latin Vulgate text and was written in response to a commission from the Sydney Chamber Choir. Marked ‘Calm and gentle – with flow’ the score carries an inscription from Emily Bronte’s poem of creativity, Last Lines, “No coward soul is mine.” The first performance of Magnificat, was given by the Sydney Chamber Choir conducted by Graham Abbott at the City Recital Hall, Angel Place, Sydney, 6 September 2009.

Listen now

Duration: approximately 8 minutes

Nunc Dimittis (Opus 89) is sold separately and was written in 2011 in response to a commission from the Brisbane Chamber Choir who had already performed Andrew Schultz’s Magnificat and wanted to have Nunc Dimittis to perform with the earlier work. The setting of the text parallels the dramatic flow of the original text, The Song of Simeon. The work moves from a world of clouded uncertainty through exultation and revelation to a final passage of transcendent simplicity and tranquillity. Marked ‘Flowing’ the Nunc Dimittis is similar to Magnificat in the tempo and meter (3/2) and in the ebb and flow between four and eight part vocal writing.

New to Morton Music – digital copies are now available from RSCM Music Direct (UK) via the Other Countries link.

Three Christmas Spirituals includes the following pieces for treble voices; also available for mixed voices.

Go Tell it on the Mountain;

There’s a Star in the East; and

The Virgin Mary Had a Baby Boy

These three simple arrangements of some of the best-loved Spirituals are suitable for youthful voices of all ages. While specific to the Christmas Season, the narrative element in these texts make them appropriate for church or concert performance throughout the year.

New to Morton Music – digital copies are now available from RSCM Music Direct (UK) via the Other Countries link.

Three Christmas Spirituals includes the following pieces and is for an accompanied SATB choir; also available for treble voices.

Go Tell it on the Mountain;

There’s a Star in the East; and

The Virgin Mary Had a Baby Boy

These three simple arrangements of some of the best-loved Spirituals are suitable for youthful voices of all ages. While specific to the Christmas Season, the narrative element in these texts make them appropriate for church or concert performance throughout the year.

The Parting Glass is essentially an arrangement of a traditional Irish melody and has an alternative 2nd verse. The recording by the Adelaide Chamber Singers, was conducted by Carl Crossin in 2021.

This piece is based on the text of award-winning American poet Jane Kenyon’s poem by the same name, which contemplates the end of the day, and alludes to the parallels in life and death. With a quiet, reflective beginning, listeners are transported to the peaceful countryside in the late afternoon. Voice parts in turn bathe the listener in rays of light as they “shine through the chinks in the barn”. The piece culminates in an affirming declaration – “let evening come, as it will, and don’t be afraid. God does not leave us comfortless.”

The recording above is performed by the Brisbane Chamber Choir (2011), directed by Graeme Morton. This recording is of the SATB version, also available for purchase.

This piece is based on the text of award-winning American poet Jane Kenyon’s poem by the same name, which contemplates the end of the day, and alludes to the parallels in life and death. With a quiet, reflective beginning, listeners are transported to the peaceful countryside in the late afternoon. Voice parts in turn bathe the listener in rays of light as they “shine through the chinks in the barn”. The piece culminates in an affirming declaration – “let evening come, as it will, and don’t be afraid. God does not leave us comfortless.”

The recording above is performed by the Brisbane Chamber Choir (2011), directed by Graeme Morton.

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Written after Perth’s first lockdown due to Covid-19, this simple yet lush setting of Coleridge’s poetry expresses a first glimpse of hope and return to normality. Both an expressive longing and a gentle dreaming to be with someone far away resonates through the harmony and melodic gestures.

NOW AVAILABLE

These three motets are settings of hymn texts by the influential theologian and writer, Thomas Aquinas. O Salutaris Hostia (O Saving Victim), Panis Angelicus (Bread Of Angels), and Tantum Ergo (Hence So Great A Sacrament) each pertain to the Eucharist – a central aspect of Christianity. The chant melodies of these texts are layered with other material (both derived from the tune, and freely written) in a similar fashion between each piece to create linked, but unique modern textures. Each uses predominately the same pitches, but with different use of modality originating from each chant theme producing different colours in the sound world.

This set is a part of the Sacre Australis series.

Listen below for recordings of Three Eucharistic Motets by Joshua Adams

O Salutaris Hostia:

Panis Angelicus:

Tantum Ergo:

Graeme Morton’s piece “In Flanders Fields” is a poignant setting of the poem by John McCrae. The touching piece swells emotionally, with moments of word painting and an overall sense of serenity. A highly recommended addition for memorial events.

The recording above features the University of Queensland Chamber Singers (2018).

New to Morton Music – digital copies are now available from RSCM Music Direct (UK) through the Other Countries link.

“Arise my love, my fair one” was written in 2012 for the service at St John’s Cathedral, Brisbane commemorating the 20th anniversary of the ordination of women to the priesthood in the Anglican Church of Australia. Flowing lines rise gradually towards the “fragrance” to which the text refers later, the blooming and blossoming of spring and the heralding of a new dawn, for the ministry of women and men. The middle section exhorts in dramatic homophony which gradually calms to release “fragrance”, and then repeats the ideas of the opening. The piece dies away, as if lover and beloved were disappearing into a mist (or a cloud of incense!).

The above recording features St Peter’s Chorale (2013), directed by Kathryn Morton. Or click here to watch a recording from St John’s Cathedral, Brisbane (2013), directed by Graeme Morton.

This piece for choir, piano and flute paints a cloudless winter night – the piano and flute adding a crisp clarity to the atmosphere. A lovely piece for secondary choir, and a great addition to your concert programme.

“Winter Stars” is also available in SATB voicing.

This piece for choir, piano and flute paints a cloudless winter night – the piano and flute adding a crisp clarity to the atmosphere. A lovely piece for secondary choir, and a great addition to your concert programme.

“Winter Stars” is also available in SSAA voicing.

A wonderfully uplifting piece with solos throughout, We Are The Future is highly recommended for youth choir. With text adapted from year 8, Brighton Secondary Student, Paris Maddern’s poem “The Future”, this joyous piece for SATB or SSA choir carries a strong, youthful voice and sings of their hope for the future, and their role in it.

“And I cry at the glowing blaze of disaster in this world

Yearning to reshape it, let goodness be unfurled

Perhaps I am not good enough

Perhaps my strength exceeds me,

The world will see me.”

“We Are The Future” is also available in SATB voicing.

A wonderfully uplifting piece with solos throughout, We Are The Future is highly recommended for youth choir. With text adapted from year 8, Brighton Secondary Student, Paris Maddern’s poem “The Future”, this joyous piece for SATB or SSA choir carries a strong, youthful voice and sings of their hope for the future, and their role in it.

“And I cry at the glowing blaze of disaster in this world

Yearning to reshape it, let goodness be unfurled

Perhaps I am not good enough

Perhaps my strength exceeds me,

The world will see me.”

“We Are The Future” is also available in SSA voicing.

A fresh take on an Aussie classic.

This poignant piece, written for the Seymour College Chamber Singers, is based on the poem by the same name by Robert Frost. The text tells of a traveller who comes across a fork in the road and decides to take the road less travelled – a moving reflection on life’s decisions. Composer Carl Crossin’s decision to include violin adds a further element of emotion to an already very stirring piece. Highly recommended.

This poignant piece, written for the Seymour College Chamber Singers, is based on the poem by the same name by Robert Frost. The text tells of a traveller who comes across a fork in the road and decides to take the road less travelled – a moving reflection on life’s decisions. Composer Carl Crossin’s decision to include violin adds a further element of emotion to an already very stirring piece. Highly recommended, particularly for youth choirs.

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Carl Crossin writes that the brief given to him in the commission of this work was that the song be “uplifting and life affirming” – and that it certainly is. A wonderful piece for secondary choir.

“Rise” is also available for SSAA voicing.

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Carl Crossin writes that the brief given to him in the commission of this work was that the song be “uplifting and life affirming” – and that it certainly is. A wonderful piece for secondary choir.

“Rise” is also available for SATB voicing.

Part Needle, Part Thread was composed in 2020 for the Adelaide Chamber Singers, though due to the COVID-19 pandemic, was unable to be performed at the World Choir Games in Belgium as intended. It was later video recorded by the Adelaide Chamber Choir for online release.

The text by Ann Nadge explores the delicate connection between love and time, describing that connection as an entity, a process and a protection against emotional darkness. Carl Crossin, effortlessly weaves the voices between each other, painting the metaphor of needle and thread before time seemingly stops in the dramatic B section. Listen below.

The recording above features the St Peter’s Chorale, directed by Kathryn Morton.

A delightful, joyous piece imbued with a sense of wonder throughout, Carl Crossin’s Everyone Sang is a fantastic addition to any concert programme. Incorporating birdsong with piano, cello and voices, this is a wonderfully atmospheric piece, and sure to be a great success. Highly recommended!

A delightful, joyous piece imbued with a sense of wonder throughout, Carl Crossin’s Everyone Sang is a fantastic addition to any concert programme. Incorporating birdsong with piano, cello and voices, this is a wonderfully atmospheric piece, and sure to be a great success. Highly recommended!

New to Morton Music – digital copies are now available from RSCM Music Direct (UK) via the Other Countries link.

The text of this piece is taken from the Evening Prayer of St Augustine, which asks for the protection and love of God whilst we are asleep, before calling for a blessing upon those who are suffering. While an a cappella performance is preferred, the minimal accompaniment gives harmonic support and can be used if desired in rehearsal or performance.

AS WAVE DRIVES WAVE for choir, opus 115 (2021) by Andrew Schultz is an unaccompanied setting of memorable lines from Ovid’s Metamorphoses which he in turn drew from Pythagoras’ The Eternal Flux. The motion of the waves and their restless renewal is used as a metaphor for the certainty of perpetual change in the universe. The imagery in Ovid’s text is very beautiful and possibly even a little melancholy – or maybe granitic and philosophical and hence, sadness is irrelevant. In this choral setting the text has been adapted and personalised by the composer. This six minute piece is based on slow-moving harmony with sequences of overlapping and interlocking chords – as if unresolved suspensions were waves pushing waves. The work is an eight-part SATB choir setting but a lot of the work is really in four parts with pairs of voices starting in unison and then splitting apart. As wave drives wave was commissioned by the Brisbane Chamber Choir and their Artistic Director, Graeme Morton, and was composed in late 2021. They perform the work here at Christ Church North Adelaide, South Australia as a part of the Adelaide Chamber Singers Festival in October 2023. The video was recorded by Australian Digital Concert Hall. TEXT Since I have embarked on endless sea and set my sails, I now do know this: As wave drives wave, And each, pursued, Pursues the next. For what was before is left behind; And what was not, now is; And each moment is new. So time, flies on and follows, Always, forever new, And is always new. For neither the river Nor this tide can Can stop their flow. I say: There is nothing In the whole universe, Nothing that persists. For that which once was is now gone. Text is adapted by the composer from Ovid, Metamorphoses, Bk XV:176-198, “Pythagoras’s Teachings: The Eternal Flux.”

Recording from the Brisbane Chamber Choir at the Adelaide Chamber Choir Festival, October 2023, via The Australian Digital Concert Hall.

Graeme Morton’s A Red, Red Rose beautifully captures the romance of Scottish poet, Robert Burns’ text of the same title. Heart wrenching harmony and union of voice and strings evoke the poignancy of the text – And I will love thee still my dear, til all the seas gang dry. Til all the seas gang dry my dear, and the rocks melt with the sun; and I will love thee still my dear, while the sands o’ life shall run.

A stunning piece for SATB voices with viola or violin and an excellent addition to your concert programme.

Recording by the Brisbane Chamber Choir, directed by Graeme Morton.

For your convenience, both the viola and violin parts are attached separately below, free of charge.

A Red Red Rose – Viola

A Red Red Rose – Violin

Lament is a piece for mixed choir and cello. The text comes from the 17th-century oratorio ‘Jephte’ by Giacomo Carissimi. The words are those of anguish, for Jephte promised to sacrifice the first thing he laid eyes upon if he returned victorious from war. He fulfilled this vow, even though this happened to be his only daughter.

The recording is of the Brisbane Chamber Choir, for whom the piece was written. The cellist is Gwyn Roberts.

Without Churchill’s gifts of oratory, would the Allies have prevailed in World War Two? His speeches resonate these many decades later.  This choral work, Finest hour, takes its music very explicitly from Churchill’s own composition – the melody and rhythm contained within his spoken intonation. The choir simply reproduces this melody and frames it in harmony, enhancing perception of what is already there though perhaps unnoticed. It is hoped that the music also heightens the emotions of this stirring speech.

The conductor listens to a click track through earphones (it’s preferable that these are worn discreetly, and should be either in-ear earbuds or, ideally, bone conduction headphones where available, as these leave the ear free to listen). The work may be performed with video or audio; in both cases, the audio track contains the click track on the left channel and the speech on the right channel. The left channel should be sent only to the conductor’s headphones, and the right channel to front-of-house loudspeakers. It’s possible to perform the piece with a very simple speaker setup, such as using a single speaker placed amongst the singers.

The recording above is performed by the University of Queensland Chamber Singers (2018), conducted by Graeme Morton.

Wake Up! is a rhythmic and energetic piece that re-imagines the choir ensemble as a contemporary band. Amongst the global frenzy of contemporary culture, hip-hop and urban music has become the ‘folk music’ that resonates strongly with our current generation. This piece captures the vibrancy of those rhythms and melodies through the imitation of driving hip-hop beats and vociferous rap vocal.

Sing Out! was commissioned for Australian Society of Music Education Conference 2005 as the opening massed work. It is a short, fun, rhythmic piece to be sung ‘with joy’.

The third of Joseph Twist’s “Victoria Triptych”. Suitable for concert use, and liturgically especially at Christmas.

The recording (below) is by the Choir of St James Church, King Street, Sydney. A pronunciation guide is also here.

Victory, mankind! Because against all of hell, The crying of a tender child ensures our glory.

Available in the set of Three Motets after Victoria, found here – not available singly.

The second of Joseph Twist’s “Victoria Triptych” this piece quotes from Victoria’s Lamentation, adding new modern elements clothed in a rich, plaintive harmonic language. Suitable for concert and liturgical use, and making musical references to Victoria’s Lamentations throughout.

Available in the set of Three Motets after Victoria, linked here – not available singly.

Number one of Twist’s “Victoria Triptych”. My harp is tuned for lamentation, and my flute to the voice of those who weep. Spare me, O Lord, for my days are as nothing (trans. Miguel Iglesias)

Available in the set of Three Motets after Victoria, linked here – not available singly.