Sanford Dole is Artistic Director of Bay Choral Guild, a 45-voice community choir in Palo Alto, and Music Director of St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church in San Francisco. Active in the Bay Area as a conductor, singer and composer for his entire adult life, Mr. Dole had performed with, and had his compositions performed by, many of the area’s leading ensembles. He was a member of the San Francisco Symphony Chorus for 23 seasons, and was that group’s Assistant Director from 1987-97. More recently, he was a member of Philharmonia Baroque Orcherstra’s Chorale from 1998-2009 and appears on several recordings in oratorios by Handel.
Based on traditional hymns and chants, these three brief anthems present the seasonal texts in a new and compelling way. “Savior of the nations, come!” and “Creator of the stars of night” are easy and very accessible. “Come thou redeemer of the world,” while more advanced, with close harmonies and disparate key changes, repays the […]
Sanford Dole’s Ave Maria is a harmonized setting of the Gregorian chant antiphon. The soprano part is a metrical version of the Gregorian chant melody. The other parts create a harmonic world that is uniquely Dole’s; what his choirs refer to as the “Dolian mode.”
This delightful piece sets a whimsical poem by the American poet, Susan Kinsolving, about steps taken internationally to make the world a better place. Sanford Dole’s Dance Steps has artistic merit…no one can doubt the artistic merit of Dole’s entertaining piece. I was not looking forward to enduring Susan Kinsolving’s absurdist text, printed in the […]
This energetic setting of Gloria in excelsis Deo, from the Latin Mass, opens with rhythmic patterns that enhance the text. Midway through, the chorus softly occults between two simple chords under an alto then baritone soloists. The opening patterns return before a fugal section at the text “cum santo spiritu.” The final Amen is another […]
A very rhythmic drive characterizes this exuberant setting of the traditional Christmas text, “Christ is born today” set in Latin. Choirs love to sing the jazzy rhythms and harmonies that require care in tuning, but once mastered create a contemporary sound world that will energize any Christmas concert or service.
This setting of Charles Baudelaire’s iconic poem captures the “luxury” and “voluptuousness” of Edna St. Vincent Millay’s radiant translation. The six-part texture allows for thick, evocative chords in Dole’s jazz-influenced harmonic world. Slowly evolving chord progressions paint a picture of a person truly in love with another, asking that they go on a long journey […]
Using jazz-influenced harmonies Dole seeks to capture the mystery implied in the text. Adding the text Noe, and omitting the concluding O beata Virgo verse, the piece builds to a peppier Noel! section before returning to the opening O magnum music and leaving the audience with the quiet chords of the mystery of the scene […]
A lovely setting of the well-known communion prayer by Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), this version has the choir sing both the original Latin and later in English translation. This anthem is indicative of my compositional style, including rapidly shifting harmonic centers. However, it is very approachable for both the singers and listeners, employing simple four-part harmonies […]
This arrangement opens by lining out the plainsong chant over a drone. Then, in succeeding verses we hear it in organum before more complex harmonies and rhythms are added. Finally all voices sing the melody in canon before a concluding fantasia.
An English translation of the poem “Friede auf Erden” by Conrad Ferdinand Meyer (1825-1898) is set for SSATB choir unaccompanied. Referencing the Christmas story, this setting brings to life the text with lush harmonies freely changing key centers as the story progresses. Each of the four stanzas ends with a variation on the musical material […]
