We currently have about 700 titles in our catalogue and, with just two of us to do all the typesetting, artwork, production, packaging and paperwork, it's quite a handful!
Before you send us your compositions it might be an idea to consider these points:
We are a business and just because we reject 95% of the music sent to us for consideration does NOT mean that it is no good: simply that we don't think that it will make money.
Very occasionally, we take on a piece simply because it is so well-written,inspired, or otherwise of such high quality that not to make it more widely available would be a great shame.
We specialize in publishing music for amateur organists and choirs. Many of the pieces which we reject are far too demanding.
Choral music must be rewarding for the singers. This implies at least a grasp of part-writing.
Ask yourself WHY choirs love John Rutter (!) Here is a composer who can write a memorable melody AND satisfying parts for the accompanying voices. There's no point in trying to ape his style: he has already provided enough repertoire to keep choirs happily occupied for years.
The world is already awash with great music. There is no room for anything slipshod, dull or simply workaday.
We don't always get it right but what we're looking for is music which is sincere, direct, superbly-crafted and free from unnecessary difficulties.
What we DON'T want are all the pieces which have already been rejected by OUP, Novello, Boosey and Hawkes, Schotts, Chester, Banks and Kevin Mayhew!
If this all sounds a bit harsh, ask yourself whether YOU would be prepared to spend precious money and practice time on music which was uninspired, derivative, poorly-constructed and shoddy . . .
A few tips for composers of choral music:
There is no point in writing a new setting of a well-loved text unless you really do have something new to say.
Think about the text you propose to set: is it still in copyright? We do have settings of copyright texts in our catalogue but we have to pay (often quite large) fees for their use and, more often than not, sales will not recoup the costs involved in publishing settings of copyright texts.
Consider the Psalms - the richest treasure-trove in existence of texts for choral setting. BUT don't use a modern translation without first checking that you have permission to use it!
The number of four-part (SATB) church choirs has shrunk dramatically in the past twenty years and, for those which remain, there is a huge established repertoire. Consider writing for unison or upper voices.
Publishing should be the final stage in making your music available to the world. Get your compositions performed first - you may find that after hearing (or, better still, rehearsing) your work, you may want to make revisions or, perhaps, find ways of saying what you want to say more simply.
Few churches maintain regular services of choral Matins or Evensong, so, realistically, there is very little market for SATB settings of the morning and evening canticles, or responses.
A few tips for composers of organ music:
Would YOU play your composition in public?
The more technically demanding a piece is, the less likely it is that anyone will take the trouble to learn it (or even buy it).
The days when publishers produced copious quantities of gritty, angst-ridden organ music are long gone. No-one buys it and no-one (if they are being honest with themselves!) really wants to play it or listen to it.
If you are thinking about hymn-based pieces, please remember that the tune on which you are basing your piece may well be in copyright and some copyright-holders are very choosy when it comes to giving permission for pieces based on their tunes.
Don't be afraid to write for manuals-only. Remember that many organists are actually pianists who have agreed to help out at their local church.
Whenever we have secondhand organ music for sale, pieces by Alec Rowley, Eric Thiman and Percy Whitlock are invariably snapped up straight away. This might suggest the sort of pieces which many organists enjoy playing!
You STILL want to send us something? Please don't forget a stamped, addressed envelope!