< World Premiere > ALFRED SCHNITTKE : Pœnitential Verses (for unaccompanied SSAATTBB div. choir) Monday 26 December, 1988 - Moscow USSR Ministry Culture Chamber Choir, cond. Valery Polyanski Compozitor Saint Petersburg, 2017 (No. 6993) “The importance of the theme of repentance to Schnittke is shown in his 1987 work 'Penitential Verses', a large scale composition for unaccompanied choir which, at around 40 minutes duration, is comparable in scale to his 'Concerto for Mixed Choir' (1984-1985). The work, written for the 1000th anniversary of the founding of Russia, was inspired by a collection of early Russian literature which includes these spiritual lines or poems by anonymous monks. Although thematically these texts might seem to offer much less variety than those of St. Gregory of Narek (whose words Schnittke used in his 'Choir Concerto'), the music employs essentially the same techiques and is characterized by the same degree of technical virtuosity. In both pieces there are very strong echos of the Russian sacred repertoire of the 19th and early 20th centuries; this imparts a sense of belonging to a tradition which, in turn, provides much of the music's strength.” — Ivan Moody

< World Premiere > COLIN MATTHEWS : A Rose at Christmas (for unaccompanied SATB choir) Friday 21 December, 1990 – St. Albans Church, Birmingham BBC Singers, cond. Simon Joly Text: from Shakespeare's 'Love's Labour's Lost', Act 1, Scene 2 Faber Music Ltd., London, 1990

< World Premiere > KAIKHOSRU SHAPURJI SORABJI : Toccata No. 1, KSS46 Tuesday 18 December, 2001 British Music Information Centre, London, England Jonathan Powell, Piano solo

< World Premiere > KAIKHOSRU SORABJI : Toccata Seconda per pianoforte, KSS57 Wednesday 16 December, 1936 Stevenson Hall, Glasgow, Scotland Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji, Piano solo

< World Premiere > ERNST PEPPING : Die Weihnachtsgeschichte des Lukas (for unaccompanied SATB div. choir) Sunday 13 December, 1959 – Göttingen, Germany Göttinger Stadtkantorei, dir. Ludwig Doormann Bärenreiter Verlag, 1959 (BA3947)

< World Premiere > MAX REGER : Geistliche Gesänge, Op. 110, Nr. 2 – Motette „Ach, Herr, strafe mich nicht“ Thursday 11 December, 1913 Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany Städtischer Gesangverein, dir. Fritz Busch Text: Psalm 6,2-3; 4,2.9; 6,7a; 7,11; 18,2; 16,11 Edition Bote & G. Bock, Berlin, 1911

< World Premiere > CHRISTOPHER BROWN : Hodie Salvator Apparuit, Op. 28 - A Sequence for Christmas (for unaccompanied SSAATTBB choir & soli) Wednesday 9 December, 1970 St. Andrew's Church, London Salterello Choir, cond. Christopher Seaman J. & W. Chester, Ltd., 1976 (CH55008)

< World Premiere > KAIKHOSRU SORABJI : Le Jardin Parfumé, KSS35 Tuesday 7 December, 1976 Wigmore Hall, London, England Yonty Solomon, Piano solo J. Curwen and Sons Ltd., 1927

< World Premiere > RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS : Mass in G minor (for unaccompanied SATB-SATB choir & SATB soli) Wednesday 6 December, 1922 – Town Hall, Birmingham City of Birmingham Choir, cond. Joseph Lewis J. Curwen & Sons, Ltd., 1922

< World Premiere > KAIKHOSRU SORABJI : Symphonic Nocturne, KSS97 Thursday 3 December, 2015 Miryzaal, School of Arts, Koninklijk Conservatorium Gent, Belgium Lukas Huisman, Piano solo

< World Premiere > ESA-PEKKA SALONEN : Two Songs from Kalender Röd (for unaccompanied SSAATTBB choir) Saturday 2 December, 2000 – Stockholm Swedish Radio Choir, cond. Stefan Parkman Texts : Ann Jäderlund Chester Music Ltd., 2005 (CH63470) “I became enchanted with Ann Jäderlund's poetry because of its sensual intensity and lack of sentimentality. She describes sensations with amazing effectiveness, with few words, but with a rhythm that immediately awakens mystical associations.” – Esa-Pekka Salonen Esa-Pekka Salonen's 'Two Songs from Kalender Röd' was commissioned by the Swedish Broadcasting Corporation for the 75th Anniversary concert of the Swedish Radio Choir.

< World Premiere > DAVID MATTHEWS : The Ship of Death (for unaccompanied SSAATTBB choir) Tuesday 1 December, 1992 – Pebble Mill, Birmingham Finzi Singers, cond. Paul Spicer Text: D. H. Lawrence Faber Music, Ltd., 1996 (Cat. No. 0571554148)

< World Premiere > KAIKHOSRU SORABJI : Opus Clavicembalisticum, KSS50 Monday 1 December, 1930 Stevenson Hall, Glasgow, Scotland Kaikhosru Sorabji, Piano solo

< World Premiere > RICHARD STRAUSS : Also sprach Zarathustra, Op.30 Friday 27 November, 1896 – Frankfurt, Germany Municipal Orchestra of Frankfurt-am-Main, cond. Richard Strauss ... It came as no surprise that when Richard Strauss announced the subject of his new symphonic poem, a great outcry went up. Philosophy through music? Ridiculous! Yet, unknown to Strauss or anyone else, Nietzsche had confided to his journal that the nature of Zarathustra belongs “almost among the symphonies.” On the eve of Zarathustra’s premiere in December 1896, Strauss felt it necessary to clarify his position and wrote: “I did not intend to write philosophical music or portray Nietzsche’s great work musically. I meant rather to convey in music an idea of the evolution of the human race from its origin, through the various phases of development, religious as well as scientific, up to Nietzsche’s idea of the Übermensch.” – Dr. Michael Fink

< World Premiere > WITOLD LUTOSŁAWSKI : Concerto for Orchestra Friday 26 November, 1954 – Warsaw, Poland Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, cond. Witold Rowicki J & W Chester / Edition Wilhelm Hansen London, 1972 “Direct impetus for this work came via an invitation from the conductor Witold Rowicki, who in 1950 asked Lutosławski to write a piece based on folk material for performance by the Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra, which Rowicki founded that year. As Lutosławski grappled with the piece, it grew into a full three-movement composition. Lutosławski would often work on pieces over long periods of time; the four-year gestation period of the 'Concerto for Orchestra' was not unusual. What Rowicki received is a brilliant orchestral showpiece that, like Bartók’s 'Concerto for Orchestra', is a virtuoso vehicle for the ensemble as a whole.” — James M. Keller

< World Premiere > EINOJUHANI RAUTAVAARA : Missa A Cappella (for unaccompanied SSAATTBB choir) Friday 25 November, 2011 – Jacobikerk, Utrecht Netherlands Radio Choir, cond. Celso Antunes Boosey & Hawkes Music Publishers Ltd., 2011

< World Premiere > HERBERT HOWELLS : Mass in the Dorian Mode (for unaccompanied SATB choir) Sunday 24 November, 1912 - Westminster Cathedral, England Westminster Cathedral Choir, dir. Dr. Richard Terry

< World Premiere > KAIKHOSRU SHAPURJI SORABJI : Gulistān, KSS63 Tuesday 22 November, 1977 Wigmore Hall, London, England Yonty Solomon, Piano solo Sorabji wrote a number of nocturnes, from the earliest stages in his development until his final years. These include some of his better-known works such as 'Le jardin parfumé' and 'Djâmi'. Several works — such as 'In the Hothouse' of 1918 and the much later 'Villa Tasca', written 1979–80 — are not designated as nocturnes, but nonetheless occupy the same languorous, exotic atmosphere that characterises 'Gulistān' (1940), arguably his most succesful essay in the genre. The poet Sa‘dī of Shīrāz (ca. 1213–92) finished the extended 'Gulistān' in 1258, after many years of travelling. Although Sorabji’s nocturne is not a programmatic work, that the poem had significant influence on the work’s composition is undeniable. — Jonathan Powell

< World Premiere > HERBERT HOWELLS : Take Him Earth for Cherishing “To the honored memory of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, President of the United States” Sunday 22 November, 1964 The National Gallery, Washington DC Choir of the Cathedral of St. George, Kingston, Ontario cond. George N. Maybee Text : from 'Hymnus circa Excequias Defuncti', Aurelius Prudentius (348-413) H. W. Gray Co. Inc., 1964 Take him, earth, for cherishing, to thy tender breast receive him. Body of a man I bring thee, noble even in its ruin. Once was this a spirit’s dwelling, by the breath of God created. High the heart that here was beating, Christ the prince of all its living. Guard him well, the dead I give thee, not unmindful of his creature shall he ask it: he who made it symbol of his mystery. Comes the hour God hath appointed to fulfil the hope of men, then must thou, in very fashion, what I give, return again. Not though ancient time decaying wear away these bones to sand, ashes that a man might measure in the hollow of his hand: Not though wandering winds and idle, drifting through the empty sky, scatter dust was nerve and sinew, is it given to man to die. Once again the shining road leads to ample Paradise; open are the woods again, that the serpent lost for men Take, O take him, mighty leader, take again thy servant’s soul. Grave his name, and pour the fragrant balm upon the icy stone.

< World Premiere > CORRADO MARGUTTI : Missa Lorca (for Baritone / SSATTB soli, & double SSATBB choir a cappella) Saturday 18 November, 2006 – St. Jacob's Church, Stockholm Astrum Music Publications, Slovenia, 2007 (AS 34.010/01) Texts : Federico Garcia Lorca, and the Ordinary of the Mass