This short piece by Josquin des Prez (French: c. 1455 – 1521) is possibly the most wonderful piece we have presented for our A Cappella Wonders courses: The Agnus Dei (conclusion) from Missa L’homme Armé is Josquin's most famous piece and contains a complex canonic structure including a rare retrograde canon, around which other voices are woven. Watch it here and you can move about in this video 360 degrees with your mouse:

Beati quorum via

Stanford set a paraphrase of the first verse of Psalm 119 in Latin, "Beati quorum via integra est, qui ambulant in lege Domini" (Happy are they that are upright in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD).He composed the text for a mixed unaccompanied six-part choir, SSATBB in the late 1890’s. The three upper voices begin, imitated by the three lower voices. For the second part of the text, the lower voices begin with different material. Watch it here:

I sat down under his shadow

Edward Bairstow was born in Huddersfield in the UK in 1874. He studied the organ with John Farmer at Balliol College, Oxford. After holding posts in London, Wigan and Leeds, he served as organist of York Minster from 1913 to his death. Notorious for his terseness and bluntness, Bairstow did not always endear himself to others. He was knighted in 1932.

I Sat down Under His Shadow is one of his more famous pieces and you can watch it here:

Hosanna to the Son of David

Thomas Weelkes (1576 – 1623) was an English composer and organist. He became organist of Winchester College in 1598, moving to Chichester Cathedral. His works are chiefly vocal, and include madrigals, anthems and services.

Watch “Hosanna to the Son of David” below:

Song for Athene

No choral singer can say his/her journey is complete without mastering this haunting work. "Song for Athene" is a musical composition by British composer Sir John Tavener with lyrics by Mother Thekla, an Orthodox nun, which is intended to be sung a cappella by a four-part choir. It is Tavener's best known work, having been performed by the Westminster Abbey Choir conducted by Martin Neary at the funeral service of Diana, Princess of Wales, on 6 September 1997 as her cortège departed from Westminster Abbey. Commissioned by the BBC, the piece was written in April 1993 by Tavener as a tribute to Athene Hariades, a young half-Greek actress who was a family friend killed in a cycling accident.

Watch it here:

Course Director

We are elated to have our very own Ben England BEM back once again, taking us through these beautiful a cappella works from start to finish.

How it Works

We shall be taught these delightful pieces by Ben England BEM via LIVE stream. This is not Zoom - this is broadcasting whereby Ben will be seen by thousands of people simultaneously for each teaching session.

During the teaching, we shall be given learning tracks with our voice part LOUDER to assist our learning. Ben will sing alto, tenor and bass for these tracks and Ana England, his wife, will sing the soprano parts.

We shall also be provided with conducting tracks to record our own voice, if we wish to do so. There is no pressure here.

We shall then combine all voices in the studio and play the result back to the choir in a Concert Performance.

Course Dates

The dates for our live broadcast rehearsals with Ben England for this course are

Monday 3rd October to Friday 11th November 2022.

More details to follow.

Cost of Course

The cost of the course is included in the subscription. All scores are all included (other than The Song for Athene). These will be sent to you in digital form by email before the course starts.

A Cappella Wonders 3

Course Director

How it Works

Course Dates

Cost of Course