Novello & Company Limited and Richard Allain have enjoyed a long-standing relationship for the last fifteen years. Now, we have cemented this association with an exclusive publishing contract, including a number of past works as well as new compositions.
Allain's choral music is extremely popular. His best-selling Novello titles are Coventry Carol, Balulalow and In the bleak mid-winter. The Novello Christmas Voices collection from 2002 was the first commercial publication to include his choral music, and the successful Richard Allain: Spirituals book includes eleven arrangements, covering a wide range of styles and moods. His pieces also form part of the Novello collections Lent & Easter, Noël! 2 and Noël! 3. The Christmas cantata, Manger Tom, written in collaboration with Thomas Allain, fuses reggae, jazz, rock and pop numbers to witty text, and Jake and the Right Genie is a musical celebration of children's rights for narrator, choir and ensemble.
His most recently published pieces include Advent Antiphon: O Dayspring for chorus and saxophone, and Welcome, all wonders which was premiered by the Choir of King's College, Cambridge and Stephen Cleobury. In addition to his existing Novello catalogue, which already numbers nearly thirty works, new titles will include the large-scale Vespers for chorus and orchestra, as well as A Cradle Song; A Wedding Blessing; Eternal Words; God is Love; Missa Brevis; Norwich Service; O Lord, make thy servant Elizabeth; O sacrum convivium; Sonnet 116; To my beloved and Videte miraculum.
Last summer, many of his choral works were recorded by Benjamin Nicholas and the Choir of Merton College, Oxford, for a CD due to be released on the Delphian label in July this year. His Coventry Carol appeared on the ORA Advent Calendar and digital album in 2017 and his commissioned work for Suzi Digby and ORA, Videte miraculum, forms part of the Many are the Wonders digital disc on Harmonia Mundi.
Richard Allain comments: 'I have been lucky enough to work with Novello on many occasions in recent years. Today, I am thrilled to accept a contract. I look forward to a number of older pieces appearing in print for the first time, as well as creating new works. Composition is, by its nature, a solitary and often isolated occupation, so the opportunity to work in partnership with one of the most respected music publishing houses in the world is a prospect I particularly relish.'
James Rushton, Managing Director of Novello & Company says: 'Music Sales has been fortunate enough to publish music by Richard Allain for many years now and it is with much pleasure that Richard has agreed to put the relationship onto a more formal footing via a long term contract with Novello. Richard is one of those rare composers who has a natural ability for writing for the voice and at creating harmonious and rewarding choral textures; our aim is to spread the word about his choral work, in particular through our global network.’
About Richard Allain...
Richard Allain's works encompass a wide range of styles, including music theatre, sacred choral music, song-writing and works for children. He has been commissioned to write music for BBC Radio 2, 3 and 4. He has worked with many of the country’s leading choirs and musicians, including the BBC Singers, the Choir of King's College, Cambridge, St Paul's Cathedral Choir, Commotio, The Bach Choir and ORA. His music has appeared at the BBC Proms, and his work is regularly performed and broadcast within the UK and in countries throughout the world. Ubi caritas has been a core item on Classic FM for nearly a decade. Cana's Guest was selected to form part of The Queen's Choir Book, a collection of contemporary choral music published to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. Choral music is at the heart of his output; he was, for many years, Composer in Association for the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain.
Deeply committed to music education, together with his brother Thomas, Allain has written several cantatas for young voices. One such collaboration, Jake and the Right Genie was commissioned by the Surrey Millennium Youth Festival. It has since been performed by over 10,000 school children and, in 2005, by an entire Yorkshire village.
