Unaccompanied SATB choir (2014-15 rev 2020)
1. Break, break, break – Alfred Tennyson
2. The Song Shop – Annette Wynne
3. Pack, Clouds, Away – Thomas Heywood
Hearing local amateur choirs singing part songs are some of my earliest musical memories, and these Three Vintage Part Songs are something of a tribute to the old part song repertoire.
The first song Break, break, break juxtaposes an elegiac sea-scape, with the buoyancy of coastal life. The Song Shop is mostly a playful number about an old songsmith who, like a toy-maker, spends all day making beautiful things for children. Pack, Clouds, Away is a hymn-like song about the rejuvenation of a morning, when all the birds “give my fair love good morrow”.
Three Vintage Part Songs was premiered in Leominster Priory on 23rd October, 2021 by the Edge Chamber Choir, conducted by Ros Crouch.
Listen to an excerpt from Pack, Clouds, Away:
Preview/buy score here