today at JW Pepper we have a small collection of seven liturgical adult Anthems for Advent and
Christmas that will challenge your adult choirs and provide some wonderful choral experiences for
the Christmas season Finding quality liturgical literature for choirs is always something that JW
Pepper wants to help choral directors with this means this means a lot of boxes and sometimes it
needs to be worked on and crafted not just for weekly services but maybe for a grander setting
like a Christmas concert a festival or even a community choir performance if you are looking for
that kind of thing this list today should serve you well we have a small collection of editors
Choice favorites here this is just to give you a sample of the larger editor's Choice library that
can be found at jwpepper.com we have links for all of these products in the description each year
our editors go over thousands of new submissions and the editor's choice Library are the ones that
really shine and are the selections that you can trust to get your choral groups singing quality
anthems this sample today covers a variety of Publishers that are all well known for liturgical
adult anthems like Oxford and Walton among others they also have a gray collection of composers
including some Legends and some new up-and-coming composers as well to look out for most of these
options are new for 2023 or they've been written or released in the past few years let's get
right to the muse music and get your group singing right away [Music] [Applause] [Music]
this first anthem is one of many on this list coming from carols for choirs number six from
Oxford University press this setting from Bob chilcott of The First Noel is for satb with
divisions and organ accompaniment Bob chilcott is a world famous composer and singer being a
member of the king singers from 1985 to 1997. so he has a deep understanding of
Choral writing and very much thinks in the mind of the performer the six verses of this
Carol are composed with variety and diversity to create an attractive shape this is listed as
medium easy so it will take some work but it's not too challenging for most groups foreign
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foreign
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this arrangement of A Christmas Carol was inspired by a GK chesterson poem
with reference to the original Carol God Rest You Merry Gentlemen
scored for harp and piano it possesses the delicate flavor of a Renaissance motet and
is a good choice for Christmas worship or a service of lessons and carols oh
my God
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Coventry Carol from B.E Boykin is our first acapella anthem of this group arranged from the
well-known 15th century lullaby Carol this is a brand new anthem for 2023 one that features either
a soprano or baritone soloist and a Melancholy atmosphere with beautiful harmonies this is
another from Oxford University press and can also be found in carols for choirs number six [Music]
foreign [Music] this arrangement of the Wexford Carol was commissioned by Nathan
kreitzer director of music for choir of voices in Santa Barbara California and was premiered
in 2016. another acapella Anthem that is a lovely and straightforward setting of The
Irish Carol written with beautiful technique and integrity this is another that can be used
in church settings but also very well suited for Community or Collegiate groups [Music]
foreign
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bless me the star from Christopher Wilcox is a very accessible satb Anthem with a suggested
roadmap for each verse verse 1 Sopranos and alto's Unison verse two Tenors and
bases Unison verse 3 satb perhaps acapella and verse four a uniskan this instrumentation of
this piece is also very flexible with options for organ piano guitar and or
optional instruments violin or cello with separate parts available for those this was
written in 2022 so it's very new and will be a favorite with your choir or your congregation
thank you [Music]
this piece pairs the iconic Melody of Gustav Holst In The Bleak Midwinter with a lesser
known but equally beautiful Melody by Bruce Becker which was originally set to the text
of a tree of life in this Arrangement composer Kyle Peterson weaves both
Melodies together and integrates Christina rossetti's classic text with newly crafted
lyrics speaking to the anticipation and meaning of Christmas an active and
independent piano accompaniment optional opening solo flowing vocal lines and an
acapella middle section make this a sensitive selection for your Christmas program [Music]
see [Music]
we're rounding out this list with a very peaceful and accessible acapella setting
for satb that could be accompanied by organ if desired there is some really Sublime four-part
writing that enriches the text which serves as a lullaby to the newborn baby Jesus this
is a shorter piece so it lends a good Anthem or a response for Christmas Eve with these shorter
product recommendation videos JW Pepper is trying to get some ideas flowing out there
for church directors or anyone programming liturgical Anthems for Advent or Christmas
these are intentionally on the shorter side with regards to the amount of anthems that
we're showing in a given video that's why you should definitely head over to jdbpepper.com
and check out all the editors Choice selections or the thousands of in-stock coral titles that
we have to offer for any choir of any size and experience we're always trying to find ways to
make the jobs of music directors easier and if some of these videos can help we have more we
mentioned Bob chilcott in this video to learn more about him you can check out an interview
with him right here and we have lots of other videos on product recommendations and things
that you didn't know that we have from pepper so definitely check those out right here [Music]