Need a new carol for Christmas? Short of rehearsal time? Prefer SATB unaccompanied? Try this: Words by Christina Rossetti, music by the "the added 9th of British choral music", Alexander L'Estrange. Published by Faber Music - www.fabermusicstore.com - and available here www.alexanderlestrange.com/christmas.
Performed and recorded here on the "Wassail! Carols of Comfort and Joy” album by The Swingles
This December Wassail! Carols of comfort and joy is being performed no less than sixteen times by choirs across the UK and in the USA and Austria. Click here to go to our performance pages and find a performance near you. There’s nothing better to get you into the Christmas Spirit! If you don’t know the piece, click on the video below and watch Alexander introducing his award-winning cantata.
As Remembrance Sunday approaches, here’s a video of Joanna Forbes L'Estrange & Alexander L'Estrange's beautiful song “We will remember them" commissioned, recorded and performed here by the Military Wives Choirs, live at London's Cadogan Hall in 2019.Email admin@alexanderlestrange.com
To sing it with your choir, sheet music is available at www.alexanderlestrange.com/sheet-music. You'll find versions for SSA & piano (as heard here), SATB or S/A/Men. Optional band parts (rhythm section, trumpet and strings) are also available on request.
ASK about part-learning tracks for SSA version as well! Via our contact form
SONG CYCLE - VIVE LA VELORUTION is a sequence of entertaining songs about the BICYCLE and the joys of CYCLING (8 originals and 2 arrangements of existing songs). It contains a wide variety of musical styles including jazz, musical theatre, barbershop, pastiche Victorian Music Hall and folk. The “vive la vélorution!” strapline is intended to evoke the Tour de France for which the piece was commissioned.
We are delighted to announce the arrival of the latest piece in the popular series for SATB chorus, unison children’s choir and instrumental quintet: Freedom! The Power of Song was jointly composed by Alexander L’Estrange & Joanna Forbes L’Estrange to mark four important historical landmarks: 100 years since the end of WW1; 100 years since some women first won the right to vote; 50 years since American Civil Rights movement; 25 years since the Baltic Revolution. This powerful new work celebrates the important role communal singing has played throughout history, bringing people together in solidarity at times of upheaval, struggle and change.
The piece comprises original songs by Alexander and Joanna as well as arrangements of classic songs such as We shall not be moved, We shall overcome and How can I keep from singing? It promises to bring the whole community together in a joyous and heartfelt celebration of the power of song.
The piece was commissioned by Jeremy Backhouse for Salisbury Community Choir which premiered on 3rd November 2018 in Winchester Cathedral.
Vocal Score and recording both available from www.alexanderlestrange.com/freedom
Ahead of the 10th Anniversary celebration concert in Carnegie Hall, New York, composer and arranger Alexander L'Estrange talks all things "Zimbe!" Over 200 choirs around the worldwide have enjoyed the phenomenal choral success story of "Zimbe!
NEW from Alexander L'Estrange, the "added ninth of British choral music" - for 8-part a cappella choir.
Click below to view perusal score and purchase
The third Monday of January each year is a US holiday named Martin Luther King Day. King was the chief spokesperson for nonviolent activism in the Civil Rights Movement, which successfully protested racial discrimination in federal and state law. The campaign for a federal holiday in King's honor began soon after his assassination in 1968.
The third Monday of January each year is a US holiday named Martin Luther King Day.
King was the chief spokesperson for nonviolent activism in the Civil Rights Movement, which successfully protested racial discrimination in federal and state law. The campaign for a federal holiday in King's honor began soon after his assassination in 1968. President Ronald Reagan signed the holiday into law in 1983, and it was first observed three years later. It was officially observed in all 50 states for the first time in 2000.
The Civil Rights Movement is just one of the the themes of Alexander and Joanna L'Estrange's new choral work "Freedom! The Power of Song!". Choirs and primary school children will be introduced to classic peaceful protest songs made famous by MLK and his supporters: We shall not be moved - Ain't gonna let nobody turn me around - We shall overcome - I woke up this morning with my mind stayed on freedom - This little light of mine
More information about "Freedom! The Power of Song" can be found at www.alexanderlestrange.com/freedom
The latest in the series of exciting, accessible 40-min community choral works by Alexander L’Estrange (this time with Joanna Forbes L’Estrange) had its premiere on 3rd November 2018 at Winchester Cathedral. Here’s what conductor Jeremy Backhouse says about “Freedom! The Power of Song":
We are delighted to announce the arrival of the latest piece in the popular series for SATB chorus, unison children's choir and instrumental quintet. Available from alexanderlestrange.com Freedom!
We are delighted to announce the arrival of the latest piece in the popular series for SATB chorus, unison children’s choir and instrumental quintet:
Freedom! The Power of Song was jointly composed by Alexander L’Estrange & Joanna Forbes L’Estrange to mark four important historical landmarks in 2018:
100 years since the end of WW1; 100 years since some women first won the right to vote; 50 years since American Civil Rights movement; 25 years since the Baltic Revolution
This powerful new work celebrates the important role communal singing has played throughout history, bringing people together in solidarity at times of upheaval, struggle and change. The piece comprises original songs by Alexander and Joanna as well as arrangements of classic songs such as We shall not be moved, We shall overcome and How can I keep from singing? It promises to bring the whole community together in a joyous and heartfelt celebration of the power of song.
Order your copy of the vocal score HERE
The piece was commissioned by Jeremy Backhouse for Salisbury Community Choir who gave the world premiere on November 3rd 2018 in Winchester Cathedral.
New from husband and wife composing team Alexander & Joanna L'Estrange, here are two new choral works perfect for your Remembrance Sunday (November 11th) services, commemorations and musical events: 'Red is the colour' (from 'Freedom! The Power of Song') - for SATB/piano 'We will remember them' (from the Military Wives Choirs album "Remember") - for SSA/piano (optional bugle/trumpet and strings/rhythm section parts available on request).
New Remembrance Day music is now available to buy from our website. Red is the colour (from Freedom! the Power of Song) and We will remember are perfect for Remembrance Sunday. Click below to listen to excerpts and buy the sheet music from our webshop.
We are delighted to announce that Wassail! Carols of Comfort and Joy has won the Music Teacher Award for Best Classical Music Education Initiative 2018. (Pictured: Alexander L’Estrange with his award). Huge thanks to Catherine Barker and all at United Learning for commissioning the piece and to all of the thousands of school children who performed it last Christmas. If you’d like to programme it with your choir this Christmas, click here to find out how.
Alexander and his wife Joanna have co-written a brand new piece for the world-renowned a cappella group The King’s Singers’ 50th Birthday year. Entitled Quintessentially, the piece received its UK premiere on Saturday 13th January at St John’s Smith Square.
Alexander L’Estrange’s exquisite carol Lute-book Lullaby will be sung three times this month by the world-famous choir of St John’s College, Cambridge
Friday 19th January 2018, Evensong at 6pm
Saturday 20th and Sunday 21st January 2018, Epiphany Carol Service, 6.30pm
Meanwhile, Alexander is busy composing the next piece in his series of 40-minute choral works for SATB choir, unison children’s choir and jazz quintet. The commission comes from Salisbury Community Choir, a thriving amateur choir with over 150 members, and will receive its world premiere this autumn in Winchester Cathedral, conducted by Jeremy Backhouse.
Wassail! Carols of Comfort & Joy was performed by hundreds of school children from United Learning schools, the Call Me Al quintet and Alexander L'Estrange (conductor) in London's Southwark Cathedral on Nov 27th 2017 and the next day in the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester.
British choral composer and arranger Alexander L’Estrange has become best known for his large-scale community choral works and in doing so, bringing together schools and the wider community through song. His passionate dedication to music education has brought about collaborations with education organisation United Learning and he has led thousands of children in performances of his music at venues such as London’s Lyceum Theatre and the Royal Albert Hall.
Wassail! Carols of Comfort and Joy is the next in line of an already well-established selection of community works by L’Estrange, with his first – Zimbe! Sing the Songs of Africa – having received over 200 performances worldwide. His other large-scale choral works are Ahoy! Sing for the Mary Rose, Song Cycle: vive la velorution! And Zadok Rules – Hallelujah! L’Estrange explained the reasons behind why he is driven to write these works: “I believe it’s crucial for young children to see other people (older kids and adults) singing; it helps them to realise that singing isn’t just something you do at school on a Thursday lunchtime ‘because you’re told to’, but something you can enjoy and share with others for the rest of your life.” He goes on to say, “one of the great joys of writing and then being involved in performances of Zimbe!, Ahoy! Etc. has been to see choral societies, schools and choirs of all ages fostering links with other community groups in their area and growing their concert audiences. I am also so happy for the tens of thousands of primary school children who have had the chance to sing joyful music in large, exciting venues that they might otherwise never have visited, let alone performed in to sell-out audiences!”
Testimonials of these works include Hampshire Music Service who found that Zimbe! was “the ideal vehicle to bring a variety of vocal forces together in a vibrant and lively project. It provided material for a series of workshops in schools at Key Stage 2, gave us the opportunity to support the formation of a new adult community choir and gave our more experienced choral singers in both children and young adult choirs ample scope to participate fully in the semi-chorus work. Zimbe! provides a flexibility that would suit a wide range of settings, especially those where partnership work is a focus.” Composer and Director for the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain, Ben Parry, praised nautical work Ahoy!, describing it as “engaging and accessible”, adding that “choirs of all ages will love performing it”, while Andrew Jackson, musical director of the Castle Primary School Choir, Portsmouth said “Singing Ahoy! Has had a huge impact on our children. They feel part of a musical community.” Participants have praised not only L’Estrange’s music but also his “infectious enthusiasm”. “Alexander has a rare and charismatic rapport with young performers,” said Howard Goodall CBE, composer and presenter.
Wassail!, which has been commissioned by United Learning, is a sequence of 12 uplifting folk-inspired Christmas songs exploring the sacred and secular aspects of the festive season and has been written with the purpose of bringing schools and communities together at Christmas. It includes traditional festive songs such as the The Sussex Carol, Gaudete and The holly and the ivy. Catherine Barker of United Learning said of the project: “At United Learning we are committed to providing young people and their teachers with a joyful schooling where our school and communities can enjoy opportunities that build on, and go beyond, their school experiences. Working with Alexander L’Estrange is a great ‘fit’; his music brings people together to celebrate the very best of the British choral tradition. As the first stage of the project, the students at Kettering Buccleuch Academy have been inspired by the opportunity to work on a professional commission, working closely with Alexander as they begin their creative process. It’s a great example of how we can engage even more young people in a large scale music project, that will have a great legacy for them and the piece in the future.”
Alexander L'Estrange Composer | Arranger | Workshop Leader. Inspiring the world to sing
