Now out on Decca Records, the premiere recording of Howard Goodall’s new oratorio, Every purpose under the heaven (The King James Bible Oratorio), in performance by soloists Laura Wright and Noah Stewart, the Enchanted Voices choir, and The Howard Goodall Chamber Orchestra conducted by the composer. The 10-movement work forms the core of this new release, “Inspired”, a collection of some of the composer’s most admired works. It includes a new SATB version of Pro Alios Curantibus (from his Enchanted Voices collection), and Laura Wright singing the ‘Agnus Dei’ from Eternal Light: A Requiem, together with a number of instrumental tracks from his TV hits such as Red Dwarf, The Vicar of Dibley, Mr Bean and Blackadder. There’s a promo video about the album. We’ve also produced a piano album to match the release.
We’re delighted to announce that the vocal score of Every purpose under the heaven has been published to coincide with this release. The 45-minute work was commissioned by Sir Ewan and Lady Harper as a gift to United Learning, to mark the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible. It’s now available for general performance, click here for perusal enquiries. And you can also view the complete vocal score. The North American premiere takes place in Toronto on 22 March 2013, with the Orpheus Choir of Toronto conducted by Robert Cooper.
Goodall is currently centre-stage in the UK, thanks to his major new 6-part BBC TV documentary series “Howard Goodall’s Story of Music”, now screening on BBC 2, in which he traces the history of Western music from 40,000 BC to the present day. You can see the screened episodes here. There’s also an accompanying book published by Chatto and Windus, and a series of 50 x 5-minute podcasts on BBC Radio 3, “The Story of Music in 50 Pieces.”