The text of Susanni is a translation of Martin Luther’s hymn of 1535, Vom Himmel hoch. The music is based loosely upon the well-known chorale melody, which, at times, is quoted in full in both voices and organ.

Except where indicated, singers should adopt a legato style, especially in the repeated quaver patterns. In the bars which appear to be in compound time, conductors should beat in crotchets.

An inspiring selection of new works from a range of contemporary composers, the Novello New Choral Series offers pieces for all types of choirs, including sacred and secular works from simple, four-part settings to more expansive, yet accessible, repertoire in an exciting variety of styles.

Bill Ives has spent his life in choral music – as a singer, conductor, teacher and composer (writing as Grayston Ives). He was a chorister at Ely Cathedral and later studied music at Cambridge, taking composition lessons with Richard Rodney Bennett. After Cambridge he sang in Guildford Cathedral Choir before joining the King’s Singers, with whom he recorded and performed worldwide.

For eighteen years he directed the Choir of Magdalen College, Oxford. During his tenure the choir earned a Grammy nomination for a disc of music by Orlando Gibbons, and gave the première of Paul McCartney’s Ecce Cor Meum, written especially for them. In 2008 his work as a composer and conductor of church music was recognised with the award of a Lambeth DMus and a Fellowship of the Royal School of Church Music.