Psalmfest

for soprano and tenor soloists and SATB choir, with keyboard or chamber ensemble or orchestra
The nine movements form a single choral work comprising seven pieces previously published separately and two new movements. A broad range of emotions all find their place with rich and varied musical settings.
Instrumental material and vocal scores are available on hire.

Compiled as it is from originally disparate elements, Psalmfest hangs together as a unity remarkably well. This is due partly to selection of material and judicious orchestration - always a Rutter strong point - and partly to the composer's tendency to respond to broadly similar texts in similar ways . . . Of the newly-composed material, the concluding 'O praise the Lord of heaven' (Psalm 148) takes the palm for its sparkling rhythms and effective antiphonal use of double choir . . . The choral parts in Psalmfest are well within the means of any moderately competent choir . . . I see no reason why Psalmfest should not become a popular work with choirs, choral societies and audiences.

Autorentext
John Rutter studied music at Clare College, Cambridge and first came to notice as a composer and arranger of Christmas carols and other choral pieces during those early years; today his compositions, including such concert-length works as Requiem, Magnificat, Mass of the Children, The Gift of Life, and Visions are performed around the world.
John edits the Oxford Choral Classics series, and, with Sir David Willcocks, co-edited four volumes of Carols for Choirs. In 1983 he formed his own choir The Cambridge Singers, with whom he has made numerous recordings on the Collegium Records label, and he appears regularly in several countries as a guest conductor and choral ambassador.
John holds a Lambeth Doctorate in Music, and was awarded a CBE for services to music in 2007.

Zusammenfassung
Compiled as it is from originally disparate elements, Psalmfest hangs together as a unity remarkably well. This is due partly to selection of material and judicious orchestration - always a Rutter strong point - and partly to the composer's tendency to respond to broadly similar texts in similar ways . . . Of the newly-composed material, the concluding 'O praise the Lord of heaven' (Psalm 148) takes the palm for its sparkling rhythms and effective antiphonal use of double choir . . . The choral parts in *Psalmfest are well within the means of any moderately competent choir . . . I see no reason why *Psalmfest should not become a popular work with choirs, choral societies and audiences. Simon Mold, Choir and Organ, July 98

Inhalt

• O be joyful in the Lord

• I will lift up mine eyes

• Praise the Lord, O my soul

• The Lord is my shepherd

• Cantate Domino

• The Lord is my light and my salvation

• O clap your hands

• O how amiable are thy dwellings

• O praise the Lord of heaven