THE VOICE OF MELODY | submission guidelines

1. Eligibility

The project is open to female composers aged 18 or over.

Entrants must submit their own original work for consideration.

2. Number of entries

Each composer may submit a maximum of three chants. Each chant will be considered separately.

3. Musical requirements

Submissions should be original Anglican psalm chants suitable for practical choral use. Single, double, triple and quadruple chants are welcome.

• chants should be written for SATB unaccompanied ensembles; occasional divisi are permitted, but should be used sparingly
• chants must be suited to effective unaccompanied performance, although organ accompaniment should also be practicable
• chants using both traditional and more adventurous harmonic languages are welcome, provided that the chant remains usable for Anglican psalmody
• chants may range from straightforward parish use to more demanding cathedral or collegiate repertoire

The project is intended to produce a varied and practically useful collection rather than music in a single prescribed style.

Suggested Psalms

For each chant, entrants must identify the psalm(s), or sections of psalms, for which they consider the chant particularly suitable.

Psalm numbering should follow the Book of Common Prayer. Where only part of a psalm is intended, the relevant verses should be specified, for example Psalm 42 or Psalm 78.1-16. A complete copy of the BCP Psalter can be found at www.psalter.co.uk.

The suggestions which are submitted are indicative only. They do not mean that the chant is intended exclusively for those psalms. The purpose is to demonstrate that the composer has considered the relationship between the musical character of the chant and the mood, structure or expressive direction of particular psalm texts.

The submission form provides a single text box for each chant in which entrants should list their suggested psalm(s) or section(s) and may include any brief comments they wish to make about their choices.

4. Submission format

Each chant must be submitted as a PDF.

The PDF used for assessment must be anonymous. It must therefore contain:

• no composer's name;
• no initials or other identifying marks;
• no identifying copyright notice;
• no biographical information;
• no filename which identifies the composer.

The online system will assign a separate anonymous assessment reference to each chant. The PDF will be stored under that reference so that the score remains linked to the application without revealing the composer's identity to the assessors.

Please ensure that the uploaded score is complete, clearly legible and presented at a standard suitable for assessment. Illegible PDFs may not be considered.

5. Anonymous assessment

Chants will be assessed anonymously and individually by an assessment panel comprising Richard Shakeshaft, founder of imprimis.uk; Martyn Rawles, Organist and Assistant Director of Music at Lichfield Cathedral; and Käthe Wright Kaufman, Associate Director of Music & Organist at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, Columbia, South Carolina.

Assessors will receive the musical scores identified only by their assessment references. They will also be provided with the entrant's suggested psalm(s) or sections and any accompanying comments, since these form part of the submission, but no identifying information will be supplied.

Entrants should not contact members of the assessment panel directly about submissions.

If circumstances arise in which anonymity for assessment cannot reasonably be maintained, for example because a submitted work is already publicly associated with its composer, imprimis.uk reserves the right to determine how the submission should be handled.

6. Selection

Selection will take account of

• musical quality,
• responsiveness to the character of the suggested psalm text(s),
• singability,
• suitability for Anglican pointing,
• usefulness to choirs,
• originality.

Selection for publication is at the discretion of imprimis.uk and the assessment panel. The total number of chants selected will depend on the quality and range of submissions received.

The decision of the assessment panel will be final, and it will not be possible to provide individual feedback.

Following the closing date, February is expected to be the main assessment period, followed by discussion between the assessors about the final selection. We currently hope to contact successful composers after Easter 2027 and to publish the collection in autumn 2027.

This timetable is indicative rather than fixed and may change, particularly depending on the number and range of submissions received and the amount of editorial work required before publication.

7. Publication

Submission itself does not transfer copyright or grant publishing rights to imprimis.uk.

Composers whose work is selected will be invited to enter into a separate publishing agreement with imprimis.uk on the terms described in the Publication Terms.

A composer who does not wish to accept those terms will not be obliged to do so, but their work will not then be included in the published collection.

8. Originality and rights

By submitting a work, the composer confirms that:

• she composed the work herself;
• it is her original work;
• she owns the rights necessary to submit it;
• she has not entered into any agreement which would prevent her from accepting the publication terms if the work were selected.

9. Editing

Selected works may be edited and typeset by imprimis.uk for consistency of presentation and practical use.

Minor notational, typographical and layout changes may be made editorially. Any proposed change which materially affects the music itself will be discussed with the composer.

10. Personal information and unsuccessful submissions

Personal information supplied as part of the submission process will be used for administering the project and, in the case of selected composers, for publication and subsequent correspondence.

Unsuccessful chants and associated submission information will normally be deleted twelve months after the selection process has concluded. Anonymous statistical information about the project may be retained.

11. Deadline

Completed submissions must be received by 23:59 GMT on Sunday 31 January 2027. Late submissions may not be considered.

12. How to enter

Complete the online submission form and upload the PDF for each chant. You may submit up to three works within a single application.

For each chant you will need to provide:

• the anonymous PDF;
• the suggested psalm(s), or sections of psalms, using BCP numbering along with any necessary comments about why the chant is particularly suited to those texts.

Biographical information is not required at the submission stage. Composers whose works are selected will be asked for a short biography later as part of the publication process.

Questions about the submission process may be sent to chants@imprimis.uk.