‘With the advent of projects such as this, women composers can see that they do have a tradition to be part of, a tradition that goes back over a thousand years, and will only continue to grow.’ Judith Bingham OBE
Sacred Music by Women Composers
"The game changer"
anthology series Sacred Music by Women Composers
In November 2019 MoV broke new ground, publishing the first volume of an anthology series Sacred Music by Women Composers (SATB anthems). The research and preparation of the volumes was funded through loans, voluntary labour and a Crowdfunding campaign.
The volume was launched in style by the Choir of Selwyn College, Cambridge, under their influential director Sarah MacDonald.
We believe this was the first such anthology of choral anthems in the world. In the first twelve weeks over 1,250 copies were sent out to choirs all around the UK, Europe and the US!
Volume 2 was published in April 2020 (Upper Voices anthems) and Volume 3 (Advent to Candlemas Mixed Voices anthems) was published in December 2020 in readiness for the return of music to our churches, cathedrals and schools following the Covid pandemic.
The three volumes address the historical underrepresentation of female composers within the sacred choral tradition, presenting 63 women composers spanning 800 years of music, with many historical works published for the first time, and several works composed specially for our volumes by both emerging and established composers.
The rapid publication of the series was a carefully planned and targeted intervention. The purpose of such large-scale and intensive work was to help reflect the sheer number of female composers of multiple nationalities and who have contributed to the sacred music canon over the centuries.
Carefully-researched biographies and commentaries shed light on historical inclusion as well as historical exclusion; in the case of young living composers many of the works in these books provided them with their first opportunity to have their work published.
The anthology series was very warmly received and inspired the later publication by commercial publishers of similar initiatives.
Some works under the control of commercial publishers are currently included with in the volumes, to give fair representation to those female composers who had already broken through the ‘glass ceiling’ to achieve commercial contracts.
As well as the research of the charity’s Associates and other ‘in-house’ contractors, the volumes draw together the research of several musicologists and academics whose study of particular historical composers has reached a much wider audience thanks to the inclusion of their work within our project.
In October 2022 our friends at the Royal School of Church Music recognised the series as having ‘transformed the landscape of sacred music in the UK’.
As well as the high-quality printed volumes, most of the works published across the three anthology volumes are now available singly from MoV either printed on high-quality ‘music’ paper, or as licenced digital pdfs. Some works are also available through the RSCM Music Shop for wider distribution.
The research, preparation and publication of the anthology series was funded through private loans and Crowdfunding.
The sale of the volumes raises essential funds for the continued running of this project and supports some of the charity’s core costs, enabling us to work with more composers and writers from underrepresented communities.
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Composers' quotes about the anthology series
Joanna Ward: (composer)
‘Projects that let women work together for each other will ultimately be what allows us to break away from the current model of composing success which ultimately keeps individualised women composers (who are often white, wealthy and from a traditional classical music background) as a novelty amongst the male norm of composing silencing the rest of us’.
Alison Willis: (composer)
‘I am very proud to be a small part of this important collection that opens the door to a wonderful and little-heard choral repertoire that has existed for centuries but is only now starting to receive the attention and recognition it has always deserved.’
Joanna Forbes L’Estrange: (composer)
‘Now that the church is no longer a male-only domain there’s a growing need for music which is written…..by female composers. Well done to Multitude of Voyces for creating this excellent Anthology!’
Janet Wheeler: (composer)
‘As momentum grows to programme music by women (not before time!!) this anthology gives church, chapel and cathedral choirs and music directors access to a whole selection in one volume. What a timely and useful resource.’
Henry Websdale (Editorial team member anthology series Sacred Music by Women Composers: former organ scholar at King’s College, Cambridge)
‘The wealth of exciting choral music written by women deserves a serious kick-start. I've particularly enjoyed looking at the contemporary music being produced for the church, as well as looking at historically neglected repertoire. An anthology of this music seems like the best way to bring it to a well-deserved wider audience and should serve to enrich the standard choral repertoire. It seems irresponsible to ignore the substantial contributions of women throughout the ages to our rich choral tradition, which can only benefit from the diverse and exciting music included in these volumes.’
Olivia Sparkhall (Editorial team member anthology series Sacred Music by Women Composers)
‘I might have been programming women’s compositions for the last 20 years but, as a choral conductor, I have been in the minority. It is time choir directors and concert promoters stopped neglecting them. This anthology is a good start.’
Sarah MacDonald:
‘I am absolutely thrilled to be involved with this incredibly important and innovative project. It's been really fantastic to watch this project grow from an idea into a reality.’
A brief introduction to our anthology series
Our anthology volumes in use!
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