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SONGS OF THE SPIRIT Music & words by Thomas Hewitt Jones

The Royal School of Church Music launches a major new choral commission as part of its centenary celebrations in 2027.

Songs of the Spirit is an exciting new suite of songs by award-winning British composer Thomas Hewitt Jones, created to uplift and inspire singers of all ages and backgrounds. With accessible yet impactful music, this 40-minute piece is perfect for community choirs, youth ensembles, chamber choirs, church choirs and can be performed in a wide range of settings. 

At its heart, the work explores a deeply human theme – the longing for safety and belonging in an increasingly complex world. Rooted in Christian values, the piece offers a message of kindness and hope, whilst inviting reflection on profound questions about identity, purpose and the human spirit in 2026 and beyond.

Unforgettable melodies, lyrical clarity, and radiant harmonies will all weave into a musical tapestry expressing the emotional weight and beauty of the themes at play. 

The piece is scored for SATB but is flexible and will include movements suitable for children’s choir alone, and a rousing final hymn-like movement with the option of audience participation. It will be suitable for performance either as a whole, or as standalone movements, with scoring options for piano, organ and strings. 

Listen to an excerpt here:

Following the success of A Season to Sing, the RSCM’s previous co-commissioning project with composer Joanna Forbes L’Estrange and over 50 choirs worldwide, the RSCM now invites choirs to be part of its centenary celebrations. In exchange for a donation of £300, co-commissioning choirs will have the exclusive right to perform Songs of the Spirit during its first year, and also receive the following benefits: 

  • A commemorative, hard-bound signed score 
  • Your choir’s name in the list of commissioners in the printed score 
  • 30% off all scores purchased for your choir within the first year of publication. 
  • Access to full support resources to aid learning 
  • Media promotion of your choir and its performance of the piece 
  • A personalised video message from Thomas Hewitt Jones for your choir 

This is an exciting opportunity to bring a powerful, appealing and uplifting new work to the contemporary choral music repertoire while allowing choirs to share their journey with the RSCM to ensure choral music stays accessible and widespread.

Songs of the Spirit will be available from September 2026

FIND OUT MORE / GET INVOLVED

The success of a previous jointly commissioned work, A Season to Sing by Joanna Forbes L’Estrange (premiered in Spring 2025, with over 50 performances world wide to date), demonstrates the value of this model, with co-commissioning choirs praising the excellent resources provided, efficiency, and feeling valued throughout the process.

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An interview with composer Russell Hepplewhite

What was the initial inspiration behind the Living Voices project?

Firstly, I love working with words – almost all the music I compose is to be sung. I’d been talking with the publishers Stainer & Bell about a new collection of choral works for a while, and so I began thinking about texts. I came to the realisation that I’m not really interested in setting words by deceased poets anymore – it’s too one-sided with no possibility of collaboration! Instead I wanted to create a connection with living writers, to communicate and work together; to better understand their words with honest conversations about their intentions; and to hear their responses to my music. So the idea was born – and the next step was to find the ten poets I most wanted to work with, and to see if they might be interested in being part of the project. The final step was to choose a theme, and so I decided to go for as broad a subject as possible, to enable as wide a variety of responses as I could obtain. I therefore asked each poet to write about something connected with ‘life,’ and said they could choose to write in any style and with any tone.

Russell Hepplwhite, composer

Tell us more about the process of selecting the ten poets and how their diverse writing styles/voices and perspectives informed the overall collection?

I simply selected truly brilliant writers that I really wanted to work with. All the writers share something – an ability to write directly, with laser-like clarity, and also a sense of accessibility. I’m interested in poetry that can be understood on first hearing/reading, but that also has more layers to be appreciated upon further exploration. Setting the various poems was fascinating, because I could see whether my own compositional style changed according to the poet that I was setting. I like to think the collection has lots of variety within it as a result of this approach, but that it all still sounds like my music.

How did you approach setting the texts to music for SATB choir and piano, particularly considering the range of themes/emotions explored in the poems?

When I was setting the texts, it was all about the words. So I read the poems, re-read several times, worked out the underlying tone or emotion, and then without any further ado, began setting them. With everything I compose the very first step is the absolutely crucial one – if I can’t find a way in then nothing else can follow; whereas once the piece is underway it becomes like a game of chess – a series of next moves to be made. So, with each poem I was looking for that first step – and mostly this happened very quickly – in the case of some poems it was a couple of chords I liked, with others it was a rhythmic pattern to fit a specific pair of words for example. Something that did surprise me on this journey though was how my appreciation of the poems changed and grew as I went along. At some stage, I can honestly say that each of the ten poems has been my personal favourite.

How has your other choral and opera writing informed your compositional approach/choices for Living Voices and the aim to create a “vibrant collective choral sound”?

With this collection I worked hard to create pieces that are colourful and imaginative, but fundamentally I wanted to do justice to the original poems. The aim was to compose music that would be accessible to the vast majority of choirs, but that still has enough challenges to keep everyone interested. I guess my other work has just made composing a lot easier since I have strategies and familiar processes which I adopt when composing. I also no longer feel any pressure about what I compose – I just write what I want to listen to, and hope others will feel the same.

Given the themes of Living Voices encompass aspects of modern life such as birth, death, youth and memory, what do you hope audiences will take away or reflect upon after experiencing these pieces?

I hope people can relate to both the words and the music, and to appreciate how the two fit together. Some of the texts pack a profound punch on first reading, such as Joseph Coelho’s ‘The Diarist’s Pages’ which tackles the idea of things in life coming round in circles, while others take a more light-hearted approach to make an equally significant point – I’m thinking of Roger McGough’s ‘The Good Ship Attenborough,’ for example, where the climate emergency is explored courtesy of a particularly playful approach.

And what do you hope choirs will take away from singing these pieces?

Goes without saying really, but I want people to enjoy singing them, and to get involved with the ambition of the collection – if they like singing one of the works I really hope they will be inspired to learn another one!

Living Voices is a new collection of ten inspiring choral pieces composed by Russell Hepplewhite. This innovative project brings together the talents of Hepplewhite and ten of Britain’s most outstanding contemporary poets, each commissioned to create poetic responses to our world today.

Find out more here

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A SEASON TO SING by British composer Joanna Forbes L’Estrange is a brand new 40-minute work for SATB choir/organ or piano, inspired by Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons

Joanna Forbes L’Estrange

A Season To Sing will be published by the Royal School of Church Music (RSCM) in 2025, marking 300 years since the publication of The Four Seasons. This choral re-imagining of Vivaldi’s enduringly popular set of violin concertos weaves texts from poetry and the Bible on the subject of spring, summer, autumn and winter into Vivaldi’s much-loved melodies. It will also include a new setting by Joanna Forbes L’Estrange of Ecclesiastes 3:2 – To everything there is a season. With its seasonal theme, A Season To Sing can be performed at any time of the year, and is expected to become a firm favourite with choirs throughout the world.

Joanna Forbes L’Estrange recalls, “The Four Seasons is the first piece of music I can remember hearing from my childhood. I used to dance around the sitting room to it! I thought a great way to mark its 300th anniversary would be to make it possible for choirs to perform it. Vivaldi’s tunes are so magnificent they deserve to be sung!” 

To make this commission possible, the RSCM is inviting choirs to contribute £300 ($500) each to participate in this project, for which each choir will: 

  • have the opportunity to perform the piece before its general publication
  • meet Joanna Forbes L’Estrange for a Q&A session via zoom
  • be listed in the vocal score as one of the commissioning choirs
  • receive a limited-edition, hardback copy of the vocal score, signed by the composer

This exciting opportunity is open to all choirs, large and small, professional and amateur, and to individual supporters. Deadline for registering – 31 August 2024.

To find out more, please visit

https://www.rscmshop.com/features/a-season-to-sing

Joanna Forbes L’Estrange (b.1971) is a multifaceted musician who performs, composes, records, directs and produces music in a wide variety of genres. Her career began with seven years as soprano and Musical Director of the five-time Grammy® award-winning vocal group The Swingles, with whom she toured the world and produced six albums. Specialising in contemporary crossover music, Joanna is a regular soloist for Mass in Blue by Will Todd (which she recorded for the Convivium label) and Duke Ellington’s Sacred Concert. With the world’s leading orchestras and contemporary music ensembles she performs works by Steve Reich and Luciano Berio and has sung on over 300 film soundtracks.

One of the Royal School of Church Music’s best-selling composers, Joanna was commissioned to compose an anthem to mark the coronation of King Charles III. The Mountains Shall Bring Peace was sung by over 600 choirs around the world including in the USA, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and throughout Europe and the UK. Her music has been performed and recorded by Tenebrae, The King’s Singers, The Swingles, The Military Wives Choirs, The National Youth Choir and London Voices. Television credits include Fleabag, which featured her 1940s-style song You Are, and Glee, which featured her Moonlight Sonata arrangement, written for and recorded by The Swingles.

Joanna has written many songs and choral pieces in support of equal opportunities for women: We Will Remember Them (for the Military Wives Choirs of Great Britain), A Woman (Wearing Bloomers) On A Wheel (made into a film by the National Youth Girls’ Choir), Suffragette March (part of a larger work, Freedom! The Power of Song, composed in collaboration with her husband Alexander L’Estrange), A place for us maids (commissioned to mark 40 years of female undergraduates at Trinity College, Cambridge), The Three Wise Women (commissioned to mark the 135th anniversary of St Swithun’s School, Winchester) and Byrd Song (commissioned to mark the 400th anniversary of the death of William Byrd). In 2018 Joanna founded the all-female vocal group AQUILA and, in the same year, made history by organising the first ever all-female recording session at Abbey Road Studios in London, recording her single Twenty-first-century Woman for International Women’s Day.

www.joannaforbeslestrange.com

The Royal School of Church Music

The Royal School of Church Music (RSCM) is the Salisbury-based, national, independent charity enabling the flourishing of church music. As the central ‘home’ of church music, RSCM provides relevant education, training and resources to its membership, the wider church, and beyond. It is committed to encouraging the best of music in worship, and to advocating music as a tool for growth of the church.

The RSCM supports thousands of member churches across the UK and worldwide through its international partners. In addition, it also supports many schools and Individual members, and its work is sustained by thousands of Friends, Regular Givers and other donors.

The RSCM is an open, life-long learning organisation, offering face-to-face and distance education and training through its programmes, published resources, courses and activities.

Founded by Sir Sydney Nicholson in 1927, the RSCM’s original emphases were English and choral. Now, in a diverse international context, the RSCM’s work is far broader and more diverse, and aims to make all its work ecumenical in purpose, nature and content.

His Majesty King Charles is the RSCM’S Royal Patron, and its president is The Most Revd and Rt Hon The Lord Archbishop of Canterbury. The organisation celebrates its centenary in 2027.

www.rscm.org.uk

Registered charity no: 312828   

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Choirs are invited to join the RSCM’s Sing for the King project

The Royal School of Church Music (RSCM) announces ‘Sing for the King’, a special choral music commission from acclaimed British singer and composer Joanna Forbes L’Estrange to celebrate the Coronation of King Charles III on 6 May 2023.

The Mountains shall bring peace uses words from the Psalms, including ‘Give the King they judge, O God’, ‘The mountains shall bring peace’; and ‘Sing to the Lord a new song’, and is suitable for all choirs in a range of settings. It has enough grandeur for large choirs to sing on formal occasions, while its accessible melodic sweep lends an intimacy that will be enjoyed by smaller groups and gatherings.

Following its very successful and popular Platinum Project to commemorate the late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, the RSCM is once again inviting choirs across the UK, the Commonwealth and beyond to join in song to celebrate the Coronation of King Charles III by learning and singing The Mountains shall bring peace.

There are two versions of the music – one for SATBS choir and organ/piano and one for union voices with piano. The accompaniments are interchangeable and those choirs not wishing to learn the full five-minute piece can still join in the project by learning the broad, hymn-like melody of the closing section, making it appealing for young or less experience singers.

Choirs and choral groups are invited to share their rehearsals and performances on social media using the hashtag #singfortheking

RSCM Director Hugh Morris says: “We were delighted that in 2022 many hundreds of choirs were united in singing a piece specially written for the late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. Now, in 2023, we hope that even more will want to learn Joanna’s The Mountains shall bring peace and join with choirs from around the world to celebrate the first Coronation in 70 years.”

Composer Joanna Forbes L’Estrange says: “I was keen to find words which reflected not only King Charles’s faith but also something of his passion for the natural world and his love of the outdoors. When I think of our former Prince of Wales, I picture him walking in the Welsh mountains or in the Scottish Highlands. I’m also all too aware that this Coronation is taking place during a very turbulent time for our country and our planet and so I was searching for words which would in some way give us all hope for the future. Central to the commission brief was a big, singable tune, the kind of memorable melody which anyone and everyone can enjoy singing at the tops of their voices.”

The Mountains shall bring peace is available from the RSCM’s webshop (www.rscmshop.com) at £24.95 (RSCM members £19.95) for the downloadable music pack (this includes ALL versions, and is licenced to the purchasing choir/institution so can be shared with all choir members) and £2.95 for printed copies (£2.21 for RSCM Members). Full learning resources, including performance backing tracks, will be available from the RSCM’s dedicated Sing for the King website, which also includes further information about the project, a social media wall, and an interactive map showing where choirs can register their performance (www.rscm.org.uk/singfortheking)

Follow the project on social media using hashtag #singfortheking

Taster of the music here

www.rscm.org.uk

For further press information / interviews, please contact Frances Wilson  frances_wilson66@live.com