Peter Lawson
VIRTUE
for mixed voice choir
Roberton 63310
Level of Difficulty
Attributing a particular level of difficulty to an orchestral piece is awkward!
A piece may be easy for the strings but difficult for the brass; it may feature a tricky instrumental solo but the other parts may be relatively straight forward. A number of the arrangements listed are designed to simplify works to some extent but composers of many original works featured did not consider difficulty when writing them.
What our levels mean:
A = for players up to UK Grade 3
B = Grade 3 to 5
C = Grade 4 to 6
D = Grade 5 to 7
E = Grade 6 to 8
F = Grade 7 and over
Our gradings should be taken only as a rough guide.
To be sure if a piece is suitable for you, take a look at the score.
This a capella anthem, Virtue, was written in 1978, just after completing the song-cycle Care-Charmer Sleep, (Goodmusic GM265). The melody and harmonies of the closing bars of the first of four songs in the cycle, The Good Morrow by John Donne, are quoted in the closing bars of the anthem, albeit with different words from a different metaphysical poet, George Herbert.
The anthem is dedicated to Timothy Salter and the Ionian Singers, who gave its first performance in St Johns, Smith Square a few years later.
George Herbert's poem contrasts the permanence of a virtuous soul to the impermanence of a sweet day, a sweet rose and a sweet spring, which 'all must die', whereas, in the final stanza:
Only a sweet and virtuous soul,
Like seasoned timber, never gives;
But though the whole world turn to coal,
Then chiefly lives.
Peter Lawson
Duration 3 minutes
Audio Sample
Click the play button below to hear a performance which has been computer-generated from the score.