European American Music Distributors Company is a member of the Schott Music Group

New Highlights in the Holiday Canon by Lee Hoiby and Nigel Hess

Oct. 07, 2009

Lee Hoiby's latest holiday offering The Christmas Tree sees its world premiere on December 12 by the Cathedral Choral Society led by J. Reilly Lewis at the Washington National Cathedral in Washington D.C. The performance features The Christmas Tree in its version for organ and brass but the piece is also available for full symphony orchestra. Longtime-Hoiby collaborator Mark Shulgasser comments on the occasion:

The Christmas Tree, Lee Hoiby's most recent composition, shows him still in full command of powerful choral sonorities and the handsome, outflung line he loves. Commissioned for the Washington National Cathedral's 2009 seasonal festivities, the carol again takes verses from the 17th-century mystical poet Richard Crashaw, also the source text of Hoiby's 1960 heralded cantata A Hymn of the Nativity. In four minutes the roof is rapturously raised, in the manner of Hoiby's much-performed Hymn to the New Age.

Another exciting recent addition to the Christmas repertoire, Nigel Hess's bustling seven minute A Christmas Overture is a must for opening any seasonal orchestral concert. It was commissioned by John Rutter and features on his latest festive disc, A Christmas Festival, released in 2008 on the Collegium label, his first Christmas disc for 20 years. The overture was featured in the 2008 programs of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the City of London Sinfonia and is programmed for many concerts across the United States and United Kingdom for the 2009 season.

Nigel Hess's A Christmas Overture is available immediately and Lee Hoiby's The Christmas Tree is available for performance by all choirs following its world premiere by the Cathedral Choral Society on December 12, 2009. For rental or promotional inquiries, please contact info@eamdllc.com or call (212) 461-6940.

For more on the music of Lee Hoiby, visit www.schott-music.com and www.leehoiby.com.

Visit www.fabermusic.com for more information on Nigel Hess.

To order your copy of A Christmas Festival, click here.

Lee Hoiby
The Christmas Tree (2009)
for organ and brass or orchestra
text by Richard Crashaw
orchestra version: 2.2.2.bcl.2-4.2.3.1-perc-cel.hp-str
4'

Nigel Hess
A Christmas Overture (2007)
for orchestra
3(3.pic).2(2.ca).2.2-4.3.3.1-timp-3perc-org(opt cel)-hp–str
7'

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