A collection of classic Christian hymns spanning the centuries. Some of the hymns are read; others are sung.

First collection of sung and spoken folk ballads (13 in collection).

A selection of twenty hymns sung in this recording.

These light entertainments, originally published anonymously, are an imagined day in the life of each composer (Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Schubert, Chopin, Wagner, Gounod, Mozart, Schumann, Tschaikovsky). This gives the author scope to describe each one's work and life, sketchily, of course, but interestingly.

"Originally modeled on the Psalms and other poetic passages (commonly referred to as "canticles") in the Scriptures, Christian hymns are generally directed as praise and worship to the monotheistic God. Many refer to Jesus Christ either directly or indirectly. Since the earliest times, Christians have sung "psalms and hymns and spiritual songs", both in private devotions and in corporate worship (Matthew 26:30; 1 Cor 14:26; Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16; James 5:13; cf. Revelation 5:8-10; Revelation 14:1-5)...

Padre Ignacio has been the pastor of California mission Santa Ysabel del Mar for twenty years. In 1855 a stranger rides into the mission bringing news and a spiritual crisis. It's really more of a novella than a novel.

On a Grey Thread was first published in 1923, one of the first books of openly lesbian love poetry to be published in the United States. Her early verse is concise and highly original.

The Wind Among the Reeds was first published in 1899 and features short, personal lyrics on subjects such as Irish legends and personal relationships. - Summary by Newgatenovelist

Laurence Hope was the nom de plume of Adela Florence Nicolson, a British poet who wrote verses inspired by India, where she lived. This collection, her first, was originally published in 1901.

Maria Letitia Stockett was a highly respected English teacher in Baltimore, Maryland, but also well-known as an author. In addition to her poetry she wrote Baltimore: A Not Too Serious History in 1928, and America, First, Fast & Furious . This is a collection of her short lyrical poems of nature, sentient and spirit. - Summary by Larry Wilson

John Hall Wheelock is an American poet who during his student years at Harvard University was editor-in-chief of The Harvard Monthly, and began to publish his first poems. He later worked for publisher Charles Sribner and Sons finally becoming senior editor. He received many awards for his poetry including the Golden Rose in 1936 for the most distinguished contribution to American poetry of that year. The poems in The Black Panther reveal a deep spirituality but also a strong humanistic reach, sometimes dark and sometimes celebratory and full of joy...

This book is a collection of English translations of medieval Latin hymns. It contains interesting historical and/or liguistic facts about each hymn, some of which are still used in one form or other in the modern Christian church.Note: An asterisk implies a belief that the piece so marked has not previously appeared in an English translation. - Summary by Devorah Allen

Katherine Hale is the pen name of Amelia Beers Warnock Garvin, a Canadian poet and literary critic. This volume is one of her collections with the background of World War I as a theme, but full of faith and hope. - Summary by Larry Wilson

Twenty, Stella Benson’s first poetry collection, was first published in 1918. It deals with topics such as personal independence, the First World War and London’s landscape.

Published in 1918, Zora Cross’s book of poems, The Lilt of Life, was her third book of verse, and, like her earlier works, largely focused on her experiences of love, erotic entanglements , and motherhood. Many of the poems are written as an homage to her then-husband, David McKee Wright, whom she met while writing for The Bulletin, where Wright was her editor, causing a significant scandal in Sydney literary circles. - Summary by Elise Dee

This 1904 book by composer, conductor and pianist Felix Weingartner examines the development of the symphony as a musical form since one of its greatest practitioners, Ludwig van Beethoven. Beethoven's symphonic works gave the symphony an unprecedented importance as an art form and inspired his contemporaries and later composers to take it more seriously. Weingartner helped create a widespread appreciation for Beethoven's symphonies through his writings on, and performances of, these works. He conducted all of Beethoven's symphonies, and was the first conductor to make commercial recordings of all nine of them.

Elinor Jenkins was a British poet whose published work focuses largely on the First World War. This volume, based on her collection published in 1915, incorporates 16 later poems and was published posthumously in 1921.

This short account of the young Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is part of the “Life Stories for Young People” series. It is written in an engaging dialogue format beginning with the young Mozart’s first notes on the piano keyboard at age three to his admission to membership in the Accademia Filarmonica at Bologna, Italy, ten years later. This child prodigy astounded the musical world of Europe to become one of the most cherished of all classical composers.

Tom Maguire was a trade union organiser from Yorkshire of Irish descent whose poetry reflects his socialist beliefs. This volume was published posthumously in 1895 and includes prefatory commemorative remarks by Keir Hardie and John Bruce Glasier. NB Listeners may find some of the references to sexual assault and suicide distressing.

The theme around these poems is how poets expressed their ideas of love as well as the type of language used to convey said love through poetry; it also indirectly highlights how society may perceive love based on how those poets' values may have aligned with/against society during their era. All the poems revolve around a discussion of love through the language they used to describe their feelings of love as well as the images they paint through said language .

Volume 1 in the "The Art of Music" series, published by the National Society of Music. This first volume covers the "Pre-Classic periods", from early human primitive music, through to the music of the Ancient Greeks and other ancient cultures, plainsong, Middle Ages, Renaissance, and up until the music of J.S. Bach. Included are musical examples, which are performed in the audio as they appear in the text. - Summary by Jake Malizia

Two narrative ballads, based on local lore, by the Cumberland poet John Stagg. In 'The Hermit of Rockcliffe', a young fugitive takes refuge with a hermit, hears a bizarre and cautionary tale of what might befall a lusty young man at a masked ball, and learns surprising news about himself. In 'The Rose of Corby' a young maid's elopement with her lover, on the day of her betrothal to a local lord, has an unexpected outcome.

Florence Henniker was a British poet and novelist whose ‘Poesies from Abroad’ was first published in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine in September 1889. This collection also includes ‘An Autumn Lyric’, which was first published in May 1889 in the same journal. - Summary by Newgatenovelist

“... But, beside those great men, there is a certain number of artists who have a distinct faculty of their own by which they convey to us a peculiar quality of pleasure which we cannot get elsewhere; and these, too, have their place in general culture, and must be interpreted to it by those who have felt their charm strongly, and are often the objects of a special diligence and a consideration wholly affectionate, just because there is not about them the stress of a great name and authority.” - Summary by Walter Pater

Volume 2 in the "The Art of Music" series, published by the National Society of Music. This first volume covers the Classical and Romantic periods, encompassing: Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, opera in Italy and France, Romanticism, song literature, pianoforte and chamber music, orchestral literature, romantic opera, choral song, Wagner and Wagnerism, Brahms, Franck, Verdi and other contemporaries. - Summary by Jake Malizia

This is a collection of 27 poems, some seasonal to New Years and Christmas, but others on themes of religion, nature and home.

Born in Ontario, Canada, Walter Percy entered the ministry and pastored churches in New England and Pennsylvania, often speaking on behalf of the temperance movement. Many of his poems were written for his children and are here collected under the topics: nature, fireside, sentiment, memories, philosophy, homilies, country, humor. sacred, song poems, and miscellaneous poems. - Summary by Larry Wilson

The celebrated German-British composer G.F. Handel premiered his now famous oratorio "Messiah" in 1742. In 1785 there was a celebration at Westminster Abbey of Handel's birth 100 years before. It was on this occasion that John Newton decided to preach 50 sermons from the Bible passages that form the libretto of Messiah. The sermons were preached over two years in the Parish Church of St. Mary Woolnoth, Lombard-Street - 3 miles from Westminster Abbey. - Summary by InTheDesert

In these translations from the Danish the author attempted to adhere strictly to the metres of the original, however in some, where this was not possible, she developed her own interpretations.

Alice Meynell was a British poet and suffragist. This collection was published in 1902 and explores the author’s Catholic faith as well as the natural world. - Summary by Newgatenovelist

A collection of poems by the Canadian poet William Wilfred Campbell addressing themes of National Identity, Imperialism and the Divinity of Man. - Summary by Alan Mapstone

A collection of essays on things musical by Vernon Blackburn, including composers, music in different time periods, and modern music.