Canons and Crotchets (1999)
crotchet - a snooty English quarter-note, not to be confused with a minim or a quaver.
Some of you may know the work of Richard Shephard. An English
composer with works in all the major catalogs, Richard is the
Sub-Chamberlain of York Minster and the Minster's Director of
Development. His anthems have become standard repertoire in cathedrals
all over the world.
Richard
has turned his talents to a special book for St. James Music Press.
Canons & Crotchets is music for those directors and choirs who love
the sound and style of traditional English church music written with
smaller choirs in mind. Some of these pieces were written for Richard's
choir at the Minster School, some are two-part arrangements of larger
anthems, some were written just for this project — all are lovely. The
difficulty level varies from moderately easy to moderately difficult,
but unlike much of the two-part music published today, all are worth the
effort taken to learn and perfect them.
Whether you have a small choir or would just like to keep these
handy as "Snow Anthems" for those Sundays when your entire choir goes on
vacation on the same weekend, you will find this book will more than
pay for itself in usefulness as well as savings over the years.