“i thank You God for this most amazing” by poet e.e. cummings provides the textual framework for this exuberant setting for mixed voices and piano. Dancing melodies and buoyant meters create a joyous celebration of sound.
MORE»
List: $2.25
Uses: General
Scripture: Psalm 100
Brightly springing from the Psalms, this rhythmic anthem drives forward with unbounded energy. A quintessential statement of praise is punctuated with accessible mixed meter moments and invites all of creation to join in the song! A lyrical, contrasting B section adds interest and dynamic relief before a joyous recapitulation delivers this jubilant choral to a powerful conclusion.
MORE»
List: $2.65
Blake Fragments was written for performance in Frank Lloyd Wright's iconic Guggenheim Museum in New York City and calls for the solo voices to be placed in various positions on the concentric rings that rise up from the central rotunda. In subsequent performances this configuration will generally be impossible, but the soloist arrangement that was used is included should performers like to respond in some fashion to the original arrangement. The piece may be performed with the four soloists singing within the main chorus, though some spacial separation, on a single level, or additionally using a balcony or backstage, might better dupicate the original intentions. To allow for different positions, the four solo parts may be sung by more than four choral members (in the premiere there were two different sopranos covering the soprano part.)
MORE»
List: $3.95
Share a wonderful message of optimism and hope in this happy standard made famous by Frank Sinatra in a swinging setting for young choirs. A must for your next concert! Available separately: 2-Part, VoiceTrax CD. Duration: ca. 2:30.
MORE»
List: $24.99
Filled with the universal hope for peace on earth, this soulful Stevie Wonder song evokes heartwarming memories of Christmases past. Released as a single in 1966, in 2015 it received renewed interest as Stevie performed it with Andra Day.
MORE»
List: $26.99
Pristine in its approach, this beautifully articulated anthem for Holy Week is worshipful and emotive. The minor theme rises and falls like a prayer, representing in sound the sorrow of Jesus' death. Equal distribution of the choir creates a beautiful sonic experience for your singers, and the simple beauty of the unadorned human voices will convey the power and pathos of this descriptive text.
MORE»
List: $2.20
From the iconic opening guitar riff, this 1964 pop hit by the Kinks has retained its popularity to the present day. This setting for younger choirs maintains all the power and emotion of the original, and gives today's kids a chance to experience the music that Rolling Stone named one of the 500 top songs of all time. Available separately: 3-Part Mixed, TB, VoiceTrax CD. Duration: ca. 2:00.
MORE»
List: $26.99
Sam Smith's recording of the theme from the James Bond film Spectre is an epic ballad with a slow buildup to a magnificent payoff at the chorus. A fantastic showcase for choirs of all levels and voicings!
MORE»
List: $1.95
for male voices (T Bar B) and piano (Britten notes that this should be two pianos if performed by a large chorus)
Text: anon: from the Oxford Book of Ballads
Publisher: Boosey & Hawkes
Difficulty level: 2-3
This work had a curious genesis. Britten's stance as a conscientious objector in World War II is well known but his sympathies for those caught up in its ramifications were as deeply felt as anyone's. Written in the middle of the war years, this ballad was composed 'For Richard Wood and the musicians of Oflag VIIb - Germany'. Wood had organised a music festival at this officers' POW camp at Eichstätt, Bavaria between February and March 1943 and Britten's work was performed at seven of the concerts.The story tells of an unfaithful wife and her lover (Lady Barnard and little Musgrave) being discovered in flagrante delicto and murdered by the cheated husband, Lord Barnard. The music is wonderfully descriptive of the tale beginning with a plodding piano part and the prosaic opening of the tale. As the baritones and then the tenors join the fray, so intensity grows as the liaison between the two lovers is laid bare. A 'little tiny page' - Lady Barnard's footman - overhears the assignation made between the two, and he dashes off to spill the beans to his master who hastens to catch them red-handed. Musgrave thinks he hears Lord Barnard's hunting horn urging his horses to speed on. His mistress, however, encourages him to lie longer , thinking it is just a shepherd's horn. And so the die is cast. The ending is a moving slow threnody as Barnard laments the death of his wife, urging the gravediggers to put her on top of Musgrave as 'she comes from nobler kin'.
This is a wonderfully dramatic work which will be well within the capabilities of most reasonable choirs. It needs a group of singers who can sustain long-ish lines in the slower passages, and counter a possible tendency to flatness in these sections as well. Care should be taken over the balance between the three parts and especially over the division between the two bass parts. The ability (desire) to tell the story with a sense of involvement and of passion will make all the difference to a successful performance.
Duration: 10 minutes
Paul Spicer, Lichfield, 2011
MORE»
List: $3.50
John Leavitt has created a cantata designed for Lent and Holy Week. Titles include: What Wondrous Love Is This, Were You There, Surely He Has Borne Our Griefs, Alas! And Did My Savior Bleed and Jesus Died on Calvary's Mountain. Available separately: SATB, ChoirTrax CD, Chamnber Orchestra score and parts (fl 1/2, ob, cl 1/2, bn, perc 1 and 2, hp, str:88442), Preview CD, Preview Pak. Duration: ca. 30:00.
MORE»
List: $9.95